Fox News, the A&E Network, the Bio Channel, the History Channel and The Hollywood Reporter have joined the Nokia Media Network.

The Nokia Media Network is an advertising network that provides brands reach to millions of mobile consumers through advertising on blue-chip mobile publishers, carrier partners and Nokia services. The goal of the additions was to further strengthen the Nokia Media Network's reach in the United States.

"These additions strengthen the Nokia Media Network's offering for brand advertisers, allowing brand advertisers to reach consumers on the mobile Web pages of some of the leading publishers in the U.S.," said Tom Henriksson, head of Nokia Interactive Advertising, Boston. "The Nokia Media Network is a well-performing, handset-agnostic mobile advertising network across the U.S., especially in the areas of entertainment, automotive and mobile content."

These U.S. publishers join other flagship Nokia Media Network publishers such as Reuters, CNET, Agence-France Press, Unidad Editorial, Hearst and AccuWeather; operators like Sprint and Airtel; and Nokia services like Nokia.mobi.

"Sprint is a member of the Nokia Media Network, but consumers don't need to be on the operators' decks to see mobile advertising in action," Mr. Henriksson said. "Mobile advertising is served on the publisher Web sites of mobile publishers, like those announced [yesterday]."

Disney subsidiary mDisney has been running mobile Web advertising on the Nokia Media Network.

"Nokia has a large global media sales force working with top brands and agencies," Mr. Henriksson said. "We have worked with many big brands, including BMW, Kraft, Ford, Pepsi, Paramount Pictures, Disney, etc."

Nokia Interactive Advertising helps brands reach the potential global audience of 3.3 billion consumers with mobile devices.

Through the Nokia Media Network and Nokia Interactive Solutions, Nokia Interactive Advertising provides brands with resources to connect with and engage consumers with mobile advertising.

"The Nokia Interactive Alliance gives brands access to a range of novel mobile ad experiences via one trusted vendor, presenting the opportunity to deliver immersive, highly engaging experiences to consumers," Mr. Henriksson said. "Simply put, we know that succeeding in mobile requires much more than a banner ad alone.

"The program brings together leading mobile marketing solutions, including mobile couponing, location-based targeting, image recognition and other emerging technologies, to offer mobile ad buyers a simple way to increase consumer engagement from their mobile Internet sites, but also by using other mobile mechanics -- including SMS and image recognition -- to make traditional media 'clickable'," he said.

As advertisers struggle to reach personalized targeting with traditional media such as print and TV, mobile advertising is becoming an increasingly attractive channel for brands.

Analyst predictions for the size of the market range between $5-20 billion per annum by 2011.

"In the future, advertisers will be able to reach consumers at the most useful point in time -- when they're looking for the information, at the point of sale," Mr. Henriksson said. "Advertisers will be able to have richer conversations with consumers, who will be presented with useful -- and sometimes enjoyable -- advertising content.

"The mobile device will tell you where your favorite products are stocked, guide you there with mobile maps, give you special offers, and allow you to pay," he said.

As handset technology evolves, so too will the mobile marketing industry as a whole.

"As mobile applications like location-aware browsers, the mobile wallet, NFC, navigation and picture recognition become mainstream, we will see a dramatic shift in usage and the sophistication of mobile advertising," Mr. Henriksson said. "These services will enable us to deploy advertising that is more targeted and useful to the consumer.

"Another area of focus for us is device branding," he said. "Leveraging our 40 percent market share, we can brand the device and packaging, as well as preload it with bookmarks, branded applications and entertainment."