The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences - the body responsible for dishing out niche-market Emmys, including those for daytime TV, sports and news - is to honour original mobile content with a new category of award, the New York Times reports.

Although the US demand for mobile entertainment is small - there are an estimated 500,000 mobile video viewers among the total 193.6 million mobile phone subscribers - some networks are developing custom-made material for people on the move.

Pixar Animation Studios is currently knocking together half-a-dozen animated films destined for the video iPod, hot on the heels of News Corporation's 24: Conspiracy serial for mobile phones. MTV Networks, meanwhile is planning to unleash the animated Samurai Love God on an expectant mobile world.

The new category of Emmy will be formally anounced on Tuesday and, rather confusingly, awarded as part of the Sports Emmys on 1 May 2006. The criteria for nomination are that the material cannot have already appeared on TV and cannot exceed 20 minutes. ®

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