This is the first time the NTA has presented an award for non-television content and is recognition of mobile media's acceptance by the media industry and its growing importance for content providers.

The NTA says the new Emmy is in response to the burgeoning number of individuals and companies announcing plans to produce original programming for these media. President and CEO of the NTA Peter Price says: "We want to take a leadership position in encouraging and recognizing creativity in editorial content and video production for these emerging media."

Major content providers are developing material for the mobile market. The News Corporation, which released a mobile phone serial or “mobisode” called "24: Conspiracy", is planning to introduce two new serials – "Love and Hate", and "The Sunset Hotel" – soon. MTV is to release an animated serial for mobile phones, called "Samurai Love God", early next year.

At a Digital Hollywood mobile video panel discussion, Nicholas Lehman, senior vice president of Strategy and Operations for MTV Networks Digital and Music Media Group, said: "For 40 years, nothing changed – a movie was a movie and a TV show was a TV show. Now, every month, something changes in the technology world. The challenge for any emerging market is whether you can invest enough in it to make it worthwhile. You need to have a product people want to see – you can't treat a one-minute mobisode differently to a 45-minute TV show. It has to be good; otherwise, you're wasting your time."

Consumers agree. Ericsson Consumer & Enterprise Lab, Ericsson's market research unit, polled young adults about their views on content and mobile video. Respondents said that, in terms of quality and creditability, having a well-known TV content provider supplying the content was very important to them. They indicated that it needs to be fast, easy, convenient, on-the-go content with high entertainment value, such as sports highlights, short news clips, music videos, comedy shows and serials. The content they would be interested in is more or less the same type of content as they watch on TV, but that it has to fit the mobile usage situation.

These special usage requirements and the growing number of original mobile video content helped spur the NTA to offer the new award. In doing so, the NTA recognizes mobile media's growing importance and is awarding mobile content the same credibility as traditional content.