I wanted to do a quick roundup of some of the interesting stories that have caught my eye over the past week that I thought it might be of worth for interested C3 readers to take a look at.
1.) MySpaceTV. The new service, available here, is an upgrade of MySpace video with the idea of creating a forum for cross-platform distribution of professional content, including of course News Corp. content. The plan is for an international video platform with 15 countries and seven languages and an emphasis on customization. The company may be looking to compete with YouTube in relation to video views, but the focus seems to be much more on professional content for the MySpace platform. See more at Mashable.
2.) Lycos Further Integrates blinkx. Lycos has increased its relationship with video search engine blinkx so that the blinkx function will be fully functional on the Lycos MIX platform. Users can do a blinkx search within the platform. More from Minic Rivera at 901am.
3.) BBC YouTube Platform on thePlatform. BBC Global News will be working with Comcast's thePlatform, an online video technology, to help the network deliver its news through YouTube. The branded BBC Global News site on YouTube is promised to feature up to 30 news clips daily. See more from Daisy Whitney at TelevisionWeek.
4.) Penny Arcade Speaks Out Regarding Doritos. Via Geoffrey Long, Penny Arcade spoke up last week regarding the Doritos brand experiment with the mystery flavor that I wrote about back in June. See more from them here.
5.) Jason Mittell on The Wire. I forgot to mention that C3 Consulting Researcher Jason Mittell has posted an essay he's been working on for the book Third Person through his blog. It is an interesting read on combining procedural drama with the serial form.
6.) An Engaging Business Decision: MTVN and IAG. C3's partner MTV Networks is partnering with IAG Research to look further into engagement with MTVN shows, product placements, and traditional commercials. Particularly interesting move for us, considering C3's focus on the importance of engagement and qualitative measures of the degree of audience interest in a media product. See the press release here.
7.) Lifetime Using Commercial Ratings for Upfront Deal. The cable network struck a major deal with Group M for $70 million in the upfronts based on its commercial ratings. More from Michael Learmonth at Variety.
