MSNBC.com last week launched a project to offer free, ad-supported video and other news content on mobile phones with Web access.
It is one of the first major experiments to see whether consumers will embrace traditional advertising on their mobile devices, the Washington Post reported.
The service, downloadable from the MSNBC Website, will deliver banner ads alongside MSNBC news stories, or 10- to 15-second video ads before clips of NBC's "Today" show.
The new service is unusual for mobile telco. Most such mobile video offerings have required either a subscription to a special service such as Verizon Wireless's V-Cast or fees to the material's creator, such as 99 cents a month for CBS News to Go.
