'Saturday Night Live' on your Cingular phone

When Saturday Night Live premiered in the '70s, I bet its fans never imagined they'd be able to watch clips of the late-night sketch comedy show on their phones. But now, thanks to a deal between SNL parent NBC Universal, Broadway Video Entertainment, and Cingular Wireless, it's happening. The partnership, announced Tuesday, brings various forms of SNL media content, including original mobile-only programming, to Cingular's phones.

It's the second media-related announcement that the carrier has made this week: On Monday, Cingular began a partnership with MySpace to make the social networking site's mobile service available to its cellular customers. Previously, MySpace Mobile had been exclusive to youth-oriented carrier Helio.

As for the SNL content, there are a few different ways to access it. Subscribers to Media Net Unlimited, a package that costs $19.99 per month and requires a handset that supports 3G wireless broadband access, will have access to over 100 clips of classic and recent SNL episodes through the Cingular Video service. There will also be some mobile-only content in there.

Cingular customers who haven't opted in to a pricey data package will still have access to some SNL mobile goodies, however. They'll be able to purchase graphics ($1.99 apiece) and ringtones ($2.49) so that they can answer their cell phones in style when the Land Shark is calling.