World's First Global Network Deal With Myspacetv

JANUARY 24th

BBC Worldwide Signs World's First Global Network Deal With Myspacetv

The Mighty Boosh, Robin Hood and Top Gear Come to the Global Social Networking Platform

WELLINGTON -January 24, 2008-BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC and MySpace, the world's largest social networking platform, today announced the launch of a ground-breaking partnership to bring new and archived short form BBC content to MySpaceTV (www.myspacetv.com). The announcement marks the first global agreement of this type between MySpaceTV and a major broadcaster.

Under the partnership, the best BBC video content will be made available online globally via MySpaceTV, the social networking site's popular new video platform. MySpace users will be able to visit and subscribe to the BBC Worldwide's MySpaceTV video channel in order to view, embed and virally share BBC content across the MySpace community.

Under the deal, current and archived video content from BBC Worldwide programmes will be available on MySpaceTV including some classic moments in TV: Meg Ryan and Victoria Beckham being interviewed by Parkinson, Jeremy Clarkson and his team on Top Gear and some breath taking clips from Attenborough's natural history series. Also available will be some gripping moments from classic series such as Doctor Who, Robin Hood, Torchwood in addition to some hilarious sketches from The Catherine Tate show, Red Dwarf and The Mighty Boosh.

Simon Danker, Director, Digital Media, BBC Worldwide, said: "MySpace is recognised as the largest social networking site and this partnership continues our strategy of putting BBC content right at the heart of where audiences spend their time and watch video online. The breadth of content we bring to this deal means that MySpace users will easily be able to find a favourite clip to put on their profiles and share with their friends, whether that is a Top Gear stunt or something a bit different from The Mighty Boosh. With the global nature of the deal, this is a great opportunity to put the best shows from the BBC in front of new audiences."

BBC Worldwide content will be immediately available across MySpaceTV's 20 international territories and nearly 110 million global active users. Localized versions of MySpaceTV are available in seven different languages across the UK, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Latin America, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Austria.

The deal represents a further move by BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm, to broaden the reach of their content to new channels and outlets, to engage with audiences around the world and to promote content which will be available on Kangaroo[1] in the UK and BBC Worldwide's commercial media player internationally.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of explosive video growth driven by dozens of industry content partnerships and user interface changes. MySpaceTV (http://www.myspacetv.com) is an integrated component of the company's worldwide community and content platform, continuing the evolution of the company's video offering by aggregating the best elements of video and empowering MySpace users to view, create, and share videos in new ways throughout the community.

BBC content will be available to view at www.myspace.com/bbcworldwide from 24th January 2008.

BBC ANNOUNCEMENT HOT ON THE HEELS OF MAJOR AUSTRALIAN PUSH FOR MYSPACETV

In addition to the ground-breaking partnership with BBC Worldwide (media release below), MySpace Australia today announced a series of major MySpaceTV announcements; including a major local partnership with the ABC.

* The local arrangement with the ABC, which launches next week, will see some of biggest Australian TV shows of 2007, including Summer Heights High, The Chaser's War on Everything and Enough Rope with Andrew Denton added to a custom channel on MySpaceTV [www.myspacetv.com]

* "The ABC and BBC deals ensure MySpace users are now able to add new clips from the best in local and international TV programmes to their profiles and continues the growing momentum of MySpaceTV ... we're empowering our partners to customise their own video channels and use them as hubs to create a niche experience for users," said Rebekah Horne, Vice President, Fox Interactive Media, MySpace.com, Australia & New Zealand.

* These latest announcements follow on from a string of coups for the video arm of the social networking juggernaut; last year, The National Geographic Channel announced they would be adding content from their vast archives and latest TV productions to include on a customised channel [www.myspace.com/ngchannel]. Locally an exclusive partnership with action boards sports company Rip Curl allowed their company's content be broadcast and promoted to a global audience on MySpaceTV [www.myspace.com/ripcurl ]

* In addition, MySpace also announced the appointment of Mike Kerry as Business Development Director for MySpaceTV, Australia. Mike's previous experience include hosting and producing major TV shows including Channel [V]'s hugely popular "Room208", Channel 7's "Wild" and most recently Network Ten's "Cyber Shack". "Getting Mike on board is a huge coup for MySpace Australia and is the icing on the cake for what will be a major year for MySpaceTV," said Horne.

About BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The company exists to maximise the value of the BBC's assets for the benefit of the licence payer and invest in public service programming in return for rights. The company has six core businesses: Global Channels, Global TV Sales, Magazines, Content & Production, Home Entertainment and Digital Media. In 2006/07 BBC Worldwide generated profits of £111 million on sales of £810 million.

About MySpace
MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the world's most popular social network 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 first 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, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, Latin America, Denmark, Norway, Brazil, Finland and the United Kingdom. Fox Interactive Media is a division of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS )(NYSE:NWS.A )(ASX:NWS )(ASX:NWSLV ).

(*) Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, December 2007. For more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com .

ENDS

© Scoop Media