A NYT article today claims “Hollywood Loves the Tiny Screen. Advertisers Don’t.” But I still think the mobile phone is the advertisers dream. Most Americans carry one and an increasing number have ones with screens and broadband access that enable people to watch content.

Entertainment giants have begun producing things for the tiny screen like MTV’s “Dances from Hood” while the mobile phone has been used to help popularize movies like Borat and television shows like Prison Break.

The networks haven’t been able to make their traditional advertising model work yet. That’s going to change quickly in my view but a few things have to happen.

First, people have to be able get phones that actually make sense for watching video content. Japan’s iMode service was a success because the DoCoMo, the mobile carrier that runs this mobile-based web portal worked with mobile manufacturers to make a bigger phone. Apple’s iPhone may do the trick but it has to be both a good phone and a good device for viewing content.

Second, more phones have to be hooked up to faster Internet connections. The promise of mobile phones isn’t as little television sets where you endure mindless ads for the price for watching a riveting episode of 24. The promise is as a small computer where the sophisticated online advertising platforms, such as Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, can offer companies pay-per-click, pay-per-action, and contextual advertising that is targeted to specific consumers and that can really drive sales.

All this is going to take time at least in the U.S. which follows Asian and Europe in doing clever things with mobile. But there’s no doubt in my mind that the mobile phone will become a major outlet for advertisers.