MySpace Video To Launch Branded Channels
World's Leading Lifestyle Portal Inks Content Deals With National Geographic, The New York Times, Reuters, Animation Show, The Daily Reel, Expert Village, Flow, IGN Entertainment, Kush TV, Octane TV, LX.TV, Ripe TV, Studio411, VBS.tv, and Young Hollywood
LOS ANGELES - May 15, 2007 - MySpace today announced the launch of a new section within MySpace Video featuring premium content from the top news and lifestyle brands relevant to the community. In the coming months, MySpace Video will launch "branded channels" for its global network with news outlets including National Geographic, The New York Times, Reuters, and lifestyle outlets including Animation Show, The Daily Reel, Expert Village, Flow, FOX's IGN Entertainment, Kush TV, LX.TV, Octane TV, Ripe TV, Studio411, VBS.tv (from the makers of Vice Magazine), and Young Hollywood.
"The upcoming branded channel launch continues the growing momentum of MySpace Video," said Jeff Berman, General Manager of Video and SVP of Public Affairs for MySpace. "We're empowering our partners to customize their own video channels and use them as hubs to create a niche experience for users. Today's announcement is a sign of things to come for MySpace Video."
All branded channels will live inside MySpace Video and will contain varying video content offered by each respective partner. In response to user demand, the initial set of MySpace Video branded channels focuses on the categories of news and lifestyle.
Branded news channels within MySpace Video will include:
National Geographic: The National Geographic Channel and National Geographic Digital Media will provide MySpace with award winning short-form content drawn from National Geographic's vast archives and latest television productions, including new episodes of acclaimed series such as Explorer, The Dog Whisperer and Naked Science. Produced specifically for the web, this content will include extended interviews and web-exclusive clips as well as news of the planet, tips on green living and installments from Atmospheres, scenes of incredible beauty from around the world. The New York Times: The New York Times is the #1 newspaper Web site, with 14.5 million unique visitors a month (Nielsen NetRatings, March 2007). The New York Times on MySpace will offer video on a variety of topics, from national news to movie reviews, politics to cooking, the environment to the Times's signature 'Vows' videos. And as the presidential election cycle shifts into high gear, MySpace visitors will be able to watch The Times's in-depth coverage of the candidates and the contests via reports filed from the campaign trail Reuters: MySpace visitors will be able to watch Reuters most popular programs, including the weekly Oddly Enough: And Finally program which highlights the most incredible off-beat news stories from around the world. Reuters will provide its extensive global entertainment coverage through the daily "Talk of the Town" and weekly Reuters Showbiz Week programs. Reuters on MySpace will also offer Reuters "Quick Cut" which showcases 30 seconds of the day's most compelling news video.Branded lifestyle channels within MySpace Video will include:
Animation Show: The Animation Show channel will feature ground breaking animated short films from around the world, including interviews with artists behind many of the legendary short films. These shorts represent the best and brightest talents in the world of animation and this collection will serve as a companion to Mike Judge's (King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-Head) legendary theatrical program, The Animation Show. The Daily Reel: The Daily Reel will give MySpace a daily dose of "the best" in online video. The Daily Reel's editorial staff scours hundreds of video sites to find quality material, then packages it all together with detailed production notes and a razor-sharp editorial voice. The Daily Reel features the best and most talked about videos, or the "High 5", showcasing the best five videos on a single topic. Expert Village: As the largest producer of how-to videos for the Internet, Expert Village will provide MySpace with 10-20 new videos per week from their continuously growing library of over 16,000 exclusive videos ranging from "How to make the perfect Margarita" to "How to Deliver a Baby in the Back Seat of a Taxi Cab", and everything in between. IGN Entertainment: The IGN video channel will feature original video clips from the worlds of gaming, movies and television, including video game reviews; movie and game trailers; celebrity interviews, and behind-the-scenes features. Much of the channel's content will be powered by the site's IGN Video offering ( http://video.ign.com), home to the popular "IGN Weekly" video show - a 15-minute summary of what's new and hot in gaming and entertainment. IGN Entertainment is a unit of Fox Interactive Media. Kush TV: Video programming from Kush TV will include coverage of Family Values Tour with Korn, the hottest celebrity parties, action sports events, and many more. KushTV will also feature interactive programming such as America's Hottest Bartender and reality based shows Shifting Shifty Shellshock and Beverly Hills Confidential. Kush TV is the first high definition video network for online, mobile and digital cable platforms that targets young adult audiences with original programming, live events and exclusive coverage of today's hottest stars in entertainment, music, comedy, gaming and action sports. LX.TV: Video from LX.TV will provide MySpace users with inside access to the hottest new dining, nightlife, and shopping destinations in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and beyond; intimate conversations between SuChin Pak and highbrow tastemakers such as Tim Gunn and David Cross; in-depth profiles of the most influential emerging fashion designers and contemporary artists; and exclusive reality documentaries on the privileged lifestyles of socialites, investment bankers and models. Ripe TV, Octane TV and Flow: Video clips from Ripe TV have everything young adult, male audiences desire in entertainment - gorgeous women, breakthrough music, extreme sports, edgy humor, and outrageous stunts. Octane TV's videos tests the speed limit of coverage content that delves into the prolific car culture, including major industry events, profiles, street racing, motocross, auto stunts, rally racing, and drifting. Flow TV's video will resonate with MySpace hip-hop fans, featuring highly stylized, short-form shows ranging from 5 to 15 minutes in length. Studio411: Studio411, the leading action sports film studio, will offer MySpace visitors the best action sports content from the worlds of Skate, Surf, Motocross, Ski, Snow and BMX. Fans can browse and find video from the most exciting footage the sports have to offer, including exclusive archived films from star athletes like Travis Pastrana, Tanner Hall, Bob Burnquist, Ryan Sheckler, Laird Hamilton, Dave Mirra and Tara Dakides. VBS.tv: From the makers of Vice Magazine and creative director Spike Jonze, the VBS.tv branded channel will include the best segments from VBS's genre-defying original programming. Including domestic and international news, underground cultural coverage and popular music, the VBS.tv channel will have MySpace-only exclusive content including series debuts, bonus episodes, interviews with VBS producers and hosts, and conversations with VBS's MySpace friends. Young Hollywood: Young Hollywood will offer one-of-a-kind footage providing the MySpace community a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their favorite stars in Music, Fashion, TV and Film. Young Hollywood will showcase premiere videos on MySpace before they can be found anywhere else such as Robbie William's "secret" game and interviews with DJ Paul Oakenfold and Whitestarr's Cisco Adler. Young Hollywood will introduce you to the next big thing, before it becomes the next big thing.MySpace Video's branded channel announcement comes on the heels of the recent partnership announcement with Mark Burnett for a new political reality show, INDEPENDENT.
Other recent announcements including MySpace's exclusive partnership with Michael Eisner's Vuguru to air Prom Queen, and the launch of a dedicated film trailer community Trailer Park, continue the high volume of upcoming product and content developments from MySpace Video.
About MySpace.com
MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. By integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums, MySpace has created a connected community. As the second ranked web domain in terms of page views*, MySpace is the most widely-used and highly regarded site of its kind and is committed to providing the highest quality member experience. MySpace will continue to innovate with new features that allow its members to express their creativity and share their lives, both online and off. MySpace's international network includes localized community sites in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Latin America.
*Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, April 2007. For more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com.
Contacts
MySpace
Dani Dudeck
(310) 969-7148
ddudeck@myspace.com
MySpace
Tracy Akselrud
(310) 969-2813
takselrud@myspace.com
National Geographic
Russell Howard
(202) 912-6652
rhoward@natgeochannel.com
New York Times
Diane McNulty
(212) 556-5244
mcnuldc@nytimes.com
Reuters
Ty Trippet
(646) 223-4386
IGN Entertainment
Dan Berger
(310) 969-7842
dan.berger@fox.com
Animation Show
Robert May
(818) 973-7602
robert@animationshow.com
The Daily Reel
Jay Strell
(212) 691-2800
strell@kensunshineconsultants.com
Expert Village
Mark Hall
(786) 281-7007
markh@egoeast.com
Kush TV
Danny Chu
(310) 864-3738
dchu@kushtv.com
LXTV
Morgan Hertzan
(212) 476-4976
mhertzan@lx.com
Ripe, Octane, Flow
Erin Burke
(917) 689 4975
Erinburkepr@aol.com
Studio411
Christy Anderson
(310) 407-0333
canderson@studio411.com
VBS.tv
Ben Dietz
(718) 233 3660
ben@vbs.tv
Young Hollywood
R.J Williams
(310) 481-2282
rj@younghollywood.com