Discovery Communications is making its first broad push into the mobile space, with portals for Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Health and Planet Green.

Mobile consumers can access this programming at www.discoverymobile.com and through each channel's Web sites including www.tlc.com and www.animalplanet.com. Crisp Wireless developed the mobile sites for Discovery.

"What we are really focused on is delivering a rich experience," said Doug Craig, senior vice president of digital media at Discovery, Silver Springs, MD. "What we want this to be is an extension of our brand. As mobile usage gets higher and higher, we look at this as the missing piece for the 360-degree experience."

The improvements to discoverymobile.com include live television listings updated in real-time, the ability to register for SMS reminders for favorite shows' broadcast and tell-a-friend links that let mobile phone users send WAP links to others.

Other features include expanded fan sites with quizzes, polls and photo galleries for shows such as Cash Cab, Man vs. Wild and Dirty Jobs, a state-by-state dog park locator from Animal Planet and a consolidated download store featuring ringtones, video and wallpapers.

Consumers can also run keyword searches on recipes from TLC's "Take Home Chef" fan site.

"Discovery is creating an on-demand environment," said Tom Limongello, director of sales at Crisp Wireless, New York. "Not only are they getting viewers at different times of the day, but they're enabling their viewers to discover more of the Discovery network."

In addition to this direct-to-consumer site, Discovery has a round-the-clock mobile programming network called Discovery Mobile that is available to Alltel Wireless, Sprint and MobiTV customers.

Other mobile offerings from Discovery include on-demand mobile video clips through Verizon Wireless' V CAST service and Helio; and streaming video channels from Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet from Alltel and MobiTV.

While Crisp Wireless handles Discovery's mobile content management system, Bango's technology is used for billing and mBlox for SMS.

"Our mobile strategy is really focused on developing a cross-platform experience," Mr. Craig said. "So it's complementary to our television and online experience. What it boils down to is we want our content to be on all platforms.

"We want to deepen the experience to our mobile portal," he said. "So we'll be doing things like daily fact files -- people can sign up to get daily text messages.

"We'll also be doing some premium products like wallpapers and ringtones and then lastly, we'll be looking to tie the mobile experience closely with television and online. And by that I mean things like polling, getting tune-in reminders and also opportunities to get added-value content."

Discovery will soon integrate dynamic ads on discoverymobile.com with clickable banners. The mobile media buys are expected to tie in with other channels.

"A lot of sophisticated advertisers on television and online are looking to get for true cross-platform experiences, so they're also looking to advertise on the mobile front," Mr. Craig said.

Discovery will promote its mobile properties online and on TV. The company will also work with carriers on joint promotions. It is currently working with Verizon for on-deck initiatives.

The company will launch further mobile applications in the next six to 12 months.

"[Discovery is] getting focused on relationships with carriers and on-deck placement and also putting all the pieces together to make this a viable ad-supported platform," Mr. Craig said.