Your phone can show off clips in the pub right now, but give it a few months, and it’ll become your portal to a whole world of telly.

For years we’ve been told that mobile TV is the future. 3G firms have spent billions convincing us to pay for news roundups, sports feeds and comedy shows through our phones, but because of the dodgy picture quality, ropey content and the huge cost in battery life, it hasn’t really caught on.

Even Virgin Mobile’s streaming TV service, which piggy backed proper telly over DAB radio waves, failed to grab much attention, although that’s more likely because of the ugly phone required to receive it.

Next year will see a rebirth for telly on your mobile though, and it’s all thanks to real video on demand.

Nokia has just launched Medeo, a free video portal with top-notch content from film trailers to star interviews and comedy clips. There’s already content on there by Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Cruise and Jay-Z. Plus, it’s all available on-demand, and you don’t need to pay extra to see it. Point your phone at http://medeo.mobi to see it in action.

Even better, the BBC has just flipped the streaming switch on its iPlayer software, meaning any device capable of playing Flash can stream the last seven days of BBC TV or radio absolutely free.

At the moment, only the fanciest smartphones can run Flash applications, but there’ll be an avalanche of them in 2008, just itching to tune into streamed telly without any extra expense.

It’s the beginning of a new generation of on-demand TV through your mobile, and means the days of paying over the odds for iffy programmes through your network’s 3G portal are over. The real broadcasters are here now, and they’re making Mobile TV exciting again.