MySpace, Hulu working on new video service

Rupert Murdoch said in July he wanted to reshape MySpace into an entertainment hub, and sources say the site now plans to launch a new video service sometime in the next several months with the help of sister site Hulu, CNET News has learned.

The big question is whether MySpace's service will offer downloads or a subscription service.

Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman

(Credit: Dan Farber/CNET Networks)

Murdoch, the chairman of media conglomerate News Corp., intends to overhaul MySpace Video by bringing in a larger number of feature films, TV shows, and music videos. The social network's new video area will be given a major face lift, more exposure, and be re-branded so as to make it more attractive to advertisers, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans.

A MySpace spokeswoman declined to comment.

Murdoch's News Corp. owns MySpace and a large chunk of Hulu, which also boasts NBC Universal and Disney as its other stakeholders.

MySpace already streams some of Hulu's TV shows and a tiny number of full-length movies to users. But MySpace Video, as it is now, can't come close to competing with the Web's top video services, such as YouTube, Netflix's Watch Now, or Crackle.

A visit to MySpace Video on Monday evening revealed a section that provided few clues that feature films or prime-time TV shows were even offered there. Besides being buried, the content is displayed on a jumbled Web page. The links to the few long-form films and shows are mixed in with the much more plentiful short clips and trailers. To be frank, the site is a mess.

"MySpace's intention is to do a much better job of monetizing the video area," said one source.

What isn't clear is whether MySpace Video will offer downloads and subscriptions. Last week, Murdoch and and Jeff Zuker, CEO of NBC Universal, said ad-supported Hulu is considering whether to offer pay-per view and a subscription service.

Whether a new MySpace video service would also offer these isn't clear.

But it seems logical to set up a Hulu storefront at MySpace, which would enable the site's users to purchase a movie download or rent a flick without having to hop over to Hulu.

[yourseek]

if hulu's going to offer subscription service, they better get on the ball with the bandwidth delima they have going. Love that netflicks can check your bandwidth and offer you a feed that fits it and never skips a beat, where as with hulu it can take 3 hours to watch a 23 minute tv show because of buffering issues, that's if you can even get it to pull up any of the show depending on the bandwidth you have going at the time.

[renGek]

I watch shows on hulu routinely. I don't have these issues that you experienced. I'm guessing its more a problem of your ISP than hulu itself. Maybe they are throttling your connection to hulu.

[BtmnHatesRbn]

MySpace? What's MySpace? Oh, I didn't know it was still 2005.

[abcd9009]

I concur. I think somebody needs to have a "talk" with Murdoch about a thing called FACEBOOK!

[basraw]

HULU streaming some Austin Concert live on FACEBOOK soon.