MTV Networks video, coming soon to a site near you

MTV Networks announced Tuesday that it will distribute its video content across the Web through deals with a number of social-media sites and video portals: GoFish, Veoh, MeeVee, and Imeem. Through this initiative, users of the video sites will be able to view both short- and long-form content provided by MTV Network as well as embed them on blogs and social-networking sites.

The partnerships will start to go live over the next few weeks; representatives from Imeem, for example, said that MTV Networks video content will appear on the social network, which focuses on ad-supported streaming media, in February.

Jon Stewart: He's back from the writers' strike and invading the series of tubes.

(Credit: MTV Networks)

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, operates a total of 145 television channels and 300 Web sites across the world, but is best known for pop culture-oriented brands like MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and Spike TV.

Tuesday's partnership announcements add to existing Web syndication deals with AOL, Bebo, Fancast, Joost, and MSN. Additionally, some MTV Networks programs already have extensive content available on their own sites; last year, the Comedy Central programs The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and later South Park became fully available on the Web in a library of ad-supported clips.

The company's decision to syndicate its content to select partner sites across the Web comes at a time when many other big media players are choosing to do the same thing. NBC and News Corp. joined forces to create Hulu, which has both a central portal as well as syndication partners. Rival CBS, meanwhile, has amassed its own set of video syndication outlets.

For all these content creators, it's a way to make sure that their video can circulate online with advertising support. MTV Networks' parent company, Viacom, still has a $1 billion lawsuit standing against the Google-owned YouTube for allegedly facilitating the distribution of pirated video. And two of MTV Networks' new syndication outlets, Veoh and Dailymotion, are partners in the antipiracy coalition announced in October designed to combat infringing content--a coalition from which Google is notably absent.

[SeizeCTRL]

Who Cares

MTV itself is a complete waste of time. I've hit my preview guide and went 48 hours advance and did not see one block scheduled for MUSIC! *** is Music TeleVision when it's nothing but lame ass reality shows and pimp my freaking car because I want to waste a lot of money crap... Oh and I how much I love to watch rappers brag about their fancy mansions. <br /><br />We used to joke about "remember when MTV used to play music" and was happy when M2 came out. It was refreshing and you could see Coldplay and Radiohead followed by Johnny Cash. It was good times... but now it's been twisted by the retard execs and turned into the same crap MTV is. A bunch of lame ass shows.<br /><br />As for the other channels in the line up, I guess it would be cool for Comedy Central and such, but MTV, no one gives a rats ass.<br /><br />All it took was a bunch of "piracy" and "copyright infringement" to get them to do what should have been done 5 years ago.

[faust]

Nice rant

But the facts show what a tool you are.<br /><br />MTV still runs video orientated shows in the am, afternnon and before evening primetime. MTV2 and VH1 Claasic both play videos during the day.

[jerrymerfeld]

Obviously lots of people

I haven't had the chance yet to watch a lot of what's posted on YouTube these days, but knowing that "TV stations" are posting their own material for the view of the public is definitely good news.<br /><br />Plus, the way YouTube displays videos is pretty small and grainy from what I can remember. I have friends and family that pretty much swear by YouTube... but it doesn't go fullscreen.

[StaceyFoxy]

I might care

At least I will care if the line-up includes older programming as well as the new. If I can get full-length episodes of "Daria" anywhere, I'll take it.