Myspace gets their ABC's and their BBC's

Myspace has signed a deal with the ABC and BBC to setup channels for the respective broadcasters on the site.

It's a positive for myspace who get strong, legitimate and LEGAL content on their site. It's unclear what the benefit is for BBC and ABC but it would be reasonably safe to assume there is some royalty and it allows them to monetise their content.

Article here --> http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23101438-5014239,00.html

Myspace have a lot of current distro type deals with content providers (Rip Curl, BBC, ABC, Oyster Magazine) - what is blurry is how these actually help the bottom line of the company as most of the channels are ad free currently.

The overwhelming positive is that it strengthens myspace's position as a provider of great content. Out of all the publishers they have one of the most enviable collections of content - bands, movies, actors, celebrities - they are all on myspace and most treat it as their main digital channel. I think it's a smart move for myspace to diversify their offering to consumers beyond straight profiles and comments.

It will be interesting to see the January Neilsen numbers when they are released Feb 15. Myspace has been flat in terms of audience for the past 2 months and Facebook is gaining quickly. At the same time YouTube continues to rise, with over 3.8m local users (myspace is at just over 3m). This time last year the two sites were very close in terms of monthly unique audience.

Another danger lies in potential revenue hits to myspace from Facebook, whose local advertiser options are quickly becoming more sophisticated and cost effective; and YouTube, who have been introducing some very strong options to the market in the past 6 weeks.