Verizon Wireless has launched a mobile TV service in the States, with full-length programmes and picture quality similar to regular TV.

The joint venture between the second-biggest US mobile phone provider and the Vodafone Group costs $15 a month, which includes eight channels broadcasting full-length TV shows to phones 24-hours a day.

The content, currently only available in 20 states, includes a live feed from MTV and programming from CBS, NBC, ESPN, Fox, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Some programmes are shown at the same time as regular TV, while others are rescheduled to match the heaviest mobile phone television viewing times.

Spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said the picture quality of the new service will be on a par with home TV and roughly twice as clear as Verizon Wireless's existing Vcast video service.

Mobile video services first launched in the US in 2004, but only have about 7 million customers out of 232 million mobile subscriptions. The uptake has been slow due to high prices and previously poor quality compared with television at home.