BBC content available from today via MySpace

First ever worldwide deal of its kind

24 January 2008 17:30 GMT / By Katie Scott

You can currently watch BBC clips through YouTube and then there is, of course, BBC's own IPTV service, the iPlayer, but now The Mighty Boosh, Robin Hood, Top Gear and lots more are available through MySpace.

From today, BBC content can be watched around the globe through MySpaceTV at http://www.myspacetv.com/bbcworldwide.

MySpace users will be able to visit and subscribe to the BBC Worldwide’s MySpaceTV video channel in order to view, embed and virally share BBC content across the MySpace community.

Simon Danker, Director, Digital Media, BBC Worldwide, said: "MySpace is recognised as the largest social networking site and this partnership continues our strategy of putting BBC content right at the heart of where audiences spend their time and watch video online.

"The breadth of content we bring to this deal means that MySpace users will easily be able to find a favourite clip to put on their profiles and share with their friends, whether that is a Top Gear stunt or something a bit different from The Mighty Boosh. With the global nature of the deal, this is a great opportunity to put the best shows from the BBC in front of new audiences."

BBC Worldwide content will be immediately available across MySpaceTV’s 27 international territories and nearly 110 million global active users.

Travis Katz, Managing Director, International, MySpace, added: "This is the first global network deal for MySpaceTV and we believe it’s the future of collaboration between the web and networks around the globe.

"Bringing the BBC onto the MySpace network is a sign of how the market has changed and how companies like ours are shaping the future of entertainment."

The deal bodes better for the relationship between media magnate and MySpace owner Rupert Murdoch and the BBC, which has been a little rocky in the past.

As the FT reported upon the news of the tie-up, Murdoch said in 2003 that the UK government had allowed the BBC to act anti-competitively. "It gets anything it wants and has done from any government", he complained.

Three years later, his son James, the chief executive of BSkyB, took up the theme, accusing the BBC of taxpayer-funded "megalomania".

Full tags

Biz, Online, Software, MySpace, BBC, iPlayer, IPTV, YouTube