Free shows on networking site
2007-11-14 08:14
London - A host of media groups
including CBS, BSkyB and the BBC will provide free video content
to the 40 million users on Bebo and keep any advertising
revenues under a deal with the social networking site.
Bebo said on Tuesday its new "Open Media" system would allow
users to store their favourite video and music content within
their profile pages, and share it with others on the network.
The company expects the thousands of hours of entertainment
content to make the site more attractive to users and therefore
increase the value of its own advertising.
For the media companies involved, they will use their own
video players to distribute content and will retain all of the
advertising-related revenues. They will not be charged to
distribute their content.
"Every media company is looking for better ways to deliver
their content online," Bebo President Joanna Shields said.
"By opening our platform to media owners, who gain free
access to our community while retaining control over their
brand, their content and their revenues, we are creating
valuable new inventory for advertisers and a new business model
for the entire media industry."
Social networking sites such as Bebo, Facebook and MySpace
are hugely popular with younger web users - an important yet
hard-to-reach category for advertisers - but media groups have
struggled to convert their soaring popularity into revenue.
Bebo says its average user ranges from 13 to 24 years old
and spends 40 minutes on the site each day they log on.
Facebook recently announced a new advertising system that
will let companies introduce ads into the user pages of its 50
million members, and launch dedicated pages on the site for
their brands.
Hulu, a free, advertising-supported online video service
formed by NBC Universal and News Corp, launched at the end of
last month.