Well, well, well. Here's something that just came into my inbox, and presumably the inboxes of the rest of the digital-media press corps: an e-mail from the media team at Hulu, the joint video venture between NBC Universal and News Corp., announcing that the company will be running an ad during Sunday's Super Bowl XLIII. Considering the game airs on NBC, a Hulu ad is not too hard to fathom.
It seems like there's always a rumor about some huge tech announcement that will come to light during the annual football-and-advertising bacchanalia, like that Beatles-iTunes thing two years ago that never surfaced. But at least we know this one actually exists, and to boot, it sounds like Hulu is really hoping to make a splash along the lines of Apple's landmark "1984" ad that aired 25 years ago.
"During Super Bowl XLIII this Sunday, look for the launch of Hulu's ad campaign," the e-mail read. "Finally, we'll reveal the secret behind Hulu."
Ooh! Secrets! I love secrets! Clearly we will learn one of three things this Sunday:
1. Hulu is the Matrix.
2. Hulu is Luke Skywalker's father.
3. Hulu is people.
Aw, heck. With a revelation like this on the way, who cares whether the Steelers or Cardinals win?
MySpace's political initiatives didn't end with the primaries: the News Corp.-owned social network has unveiled a contest in conjunction with NBC News and MSNBC.com in anticipation of the major parties' campaign conventions.
Part of the Decision '08 initiative between MySpace and NBC News, it's a competition to choose MySpace's "citizen journalist" correspondents at the major parties' national conventions later this summer.
Entrants, who must be MySpace members who are 18 years or older, must answer one of the following questions via a video submission: "Why do you vote?" "Why are you the best person for this job?" and "How will you stand out in the crowd and get the scoop no one else can?" Entries open at noon Pacific time on Thursday, and close on July 16.
Contest judges will be MSNBC personalities Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist, as well as MySpace president Tom Anderson (yes, that Tom) and Lee Brenner, director of the site's "Impact" political activism section. They'll choose five finalists, from whom two winners will be chosen by members of MySpace.
Convention reports, both text and video, from the two winning "journalists," will then be featured in MySpace and MSNBC's campaign coverage.
Social network MySpace might've chosen MTV as its media partner for the 2008 presidential primaries, but on Tuesday it'll be launching an election news hub in conjunction with the more traditional NBC News and MSNBC.com.
Called Decision '08, the new site is part of MySpace's "Impact" political channel, and showcases election news (complete with links to MySpace profiles of NBC News anchors and analysts), opinion, video from MSNBC, polls, and a discussion forum.
This is very similar to what MySpace rival Facebook is doing through a partnership with ABC News. For NBC, it's a way to reach a younger audience that likely isn't watching nightly news broadcasts.
"The 2008 election is proving to be the most youth- and technology-driven race in history, and MySpace is a significant forum for political discussion today," Lee Brenner, MySpace's executive producer of political programming, said in a statement. "We are privileged today to be partnering with such revered news organizations...and to be taking our first steps in what will be a unique and engaging collaboration for the MySpace community."
MySpace is owned by News Corp., which operates MSNBC competitor Fox News.
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