MySpace gunning after YouTube with pro TV
updated 04:50 pm EDT, Wed June 27, 2007
MySpace TV incoming
MySpace is set to launch a service that will compete more directly with YouTube, according to the social network's co-founder Chris DeWolfe. Titled MySpace TV (link to be active soon), the site will represent a complete reworking of the company's knowingly lackluster web video feature to speed up finding videos and otherwise compare more closely to its Google-owned rival; the page will focus heavily on professional content with ads appearing before TV shows and other videos to give an incentive to major outlets such as NBC. User-made videos will also be easier to find as every MySpace page will have a mirror TV site that shows just the videos, says DeWolfe.
The interface itself should also be cleaned up and split into easy-to-browse categories, addressing a problem with the sometimes crude look which the company admits needs to change. "When you go to MySpace video now, what you see is far less appealing to the eye than what you get from other video sites," MySpace executive Jeff Berman says.
MySpace TV officially launches tomorrow and will initially be accessed from 15 of the company's localized pages. Like YouTube, the company expects to filter out illegal material but says that deals struck with content producers should eliminate the desire to upload bootlegs. [via NY Times]
