Sprint and Time Inc. Form Three-Pronged Partnership with Heavy Mobile Focus

Sprint and Time Inc. today entered into a mobile content, advertising and retail alliance under which Tim will delivers its branded content within a section of the SprintZone application on certain Sprint devices. Time Inc.'s content will include the latest entertainment, lifestyle, sports and business news.

First introduced on select devices — including the HTC EVO 4G, Samsung Intercept and BlackBerry Bold — back in 2010, the SprintZone application initially allowed customers to pay bills, manage their account, and check voice and data usage. With this partnership, however, customers will also have access to a section, updated in real time, that pulls content from Time Inc.'s brands to deliver stories, photography and videos. Best of all, users will be able to customize this experience by brand.

"This opportunity with Time Inc. is ideal for potentially introducing many of our customers to new content from Time Inc.’s well-known brands," said Mike Cooley, vice president of New Ventures at Sprint. "With the option of preselecting categories, such as sports, news or entertainment, we are giving our customers a premium choice of the content they will receive for no extra charge."

Time Inc. and Sprint will also collaborate on mobile advertising solutions that take advantage of Time Inc.'s 20-million strong mobile network, as well as Sprint's recently introduced Pinsight Media+ targeted advertising service, which boasts TRUSTe certification. With access to each other's premium mobile properties and audiences, the companies will be able to extend the reach of client ad campaigns.

Finally, the retail aspect of this new partnership will see Time Inc. providing its content in Sprint retail stores, chiefly using that content for demonstrating the capabilities of devices.

"Time Inc. is home to some of the biggest consumer media brands, and our audiences are seeking out our content on every mobile platform available," said Cyrus Beagley, senior vice president and general manager of Time Inc.’s Advertising Sales & Marketing Group. "We are thrilled that our arrangement with Sprint will make content from People, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly and other brands available to an even broader, highly engaged mobile audience."