Facebook is “currently the leading social network” stated Joel Cheatwood, SVP of Development at Fox News. “They also have a user that’s a little older and a little more sophisticated.”

FOX News, a television subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE:NWS.A) has made a deal with a social network.  And guess what… It’s not the News Corporation social network subsidiary, MySpace.com.  FOX News signed a partnership with MySpace.

Why did FOX News sign with Facebook?  Perhaps this is because MySpace signed a deal with MSNBC speculates The New York Times. 

Tomorrow, Facebook will be launching a channel for FOX News on the social network complete with a wall, reviews, polls, photo submissions, discussion boards, etc.  Through Facebook, FOX News viewers will be able to post individual videos on their profiles, create playlists, and share clips. 

“Facebook’s continued growth and demographic profile makes them an increasingly important alternative outlet for viewers and fans to digest news and customize FNC content in a casual and fun environment,” added Cheatwood. ”The enhancements and added features to our existing page will provide current FNC ‘friends’ with a better experience and attract additional Facebook members to make our page an active part of their profile.”

Related Link:
1. MarketWatch

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is working wtih Seth MacFarlane on a new cartoon advertising project.  This coming September, MacFarlane will be launching a new series called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy” which will only be available on the Internet.

Google will be syndicating the cartoon comedy series through AdSense. Instead of a static ad, Google will be laying out a video for the cartoon series on select websites that target the intended demographics.  The videos will have ads embedded within them.  The project will be in two minute clips in a series of 50 clips.

“We feel that we have recreated the mass media,” stated Kim Malone Scott, Director of Sales & Operations Google’s AdSense division.

The division of Google that handles these distribution services is called Google Content Network.  Google provided MacFarlane with data regarding how long people tend to watch web videos before moving on to new content.

MacFarlane is the founder, voice actor, screenwriter and producer of Family Guy and American Dad.  These two programs air on FOX.  One of Family Guy’s most famous characters is Glen Quagmire.  Quagmire is known for saying “Giggity, Giggity, Giggity” when he finds himself attracted to a woman.

Seth MacFarlane spoke at Harvard for Class Day a couple of years ago.  The speech is available on YouTube.

[Source: NYT]

“What comes out of this community is that we’re taking 2000 of our loyal viewers and giving them a seat at the table in the decision-making process,” stated Melva Benoit, FOX’s Senior VP of Audience Intelligence and Research Strategy.

FOX Networks, a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE:NWS.A) is teaming up with social networking company, Passenger to create a private community for FOX fans.  This private community will give FOX feedback on their marketing/shows.  Over 2,000 FOX fans were invited to preview upcoming shows and networks with TV producers.

This community will have a say in what shows are released by FOX on TV.  The community will also input ideas in FOX’s overall marketing strategies.  Passenger also worked with ABC on a similar initiative. Other high-end brands like Coca-Cola, AMEX, and Mercedes worked with Passenger as well.

“These communities are for very purposeful interaction, which sets them apart from standard communities providing an environment for hanging out,” stated Justin Cooper, co-founder of Passenger.

Passenger was co-founded by Justin Cooper and Andrew Leary.  Passenger have raised $20.5 million in funding thus far [VentureBeat].  Passenger is based in Los Angeles, Calif.

“Bringing Flektor’s unique Web-based tools to MySpace will enable users to make their profile even more unique than they already are,” stated Clint Brauer, VP of Marketing for Flektor. “The glitter text, slideshow creator and polling feature applications were developed by Flektor as another means of self-expression and we are thrilled to share them with MySpace users.”

Flektor, the profile enhancement tool built around MySpace profiles and is owned by Fox Interactive Media/News Corp. announced recently that they will be lauching several easy to setup applications called MySpace Apps.  These tools include Pimpin’ MySpace Slideshows, Truth Polls, and Glitter Text.  MySpace Developer Platform is powering the applications.

The widgets created through Flektor does not require users to import images or create separate Flektor accounts.  By using MySpace’s Developer Platform, Flektor is able to connect their own widgets to an individual’s MySpace user direct account.

Flektor applications will have safe access to a user’s friend list, interests, photos & photo albums, video, status, and moods.  Flektor was started in 2006 and is based in Culver City, Calif.  The company was acquired by News Corp./FOX Interactive Media in May 2007. 

Information Source:
[1] Business Wire: Flektor to Launch Glitter Text, Slideshow Creator and Poll Applications on MySpace

“We want to be very closely associated with online video, where we see a huge opportunity. There is a lot of online video available but very little is advertiser-friendly and even less of it is bought and sold on planner-friendly terms. We are going to capitalize on our knowledge of how television advertising is bought and sold, but adding the unique targeting and performance capabilities of online video.”
-Hernán López , President of .FOX Networks

News Corporation’s .FOX Networks division has acquired 56% in video advertisement company, UTarget. The Windsor, United Kingdom-based advertising company has 630 publisher websites with 15 second ads built in before the videos.

The acquisition price was undisclosed. Hernán López , President of .Fox Networks reported to paidContent that the its a “reasonable multiple” based on its revenue of the last 12 months: £5 million+. UTarget will now be called Utarget.Fox. UTarget ads will now be delivered to News Corporation’s subsidiaries such as MySpace in different countries.

Information Source:
[1] paidContent: Fox Buying Majority Of UK Video Ad Outfit Utarget by Robert Andrews

“Responding to the needs of our growing Hispanic membership, MySpace Latino offers content that is culturally relevant to Latinos in the U.S.,” stated Vice President Managing Director of MySpace Latino, Victor Kong. “Thanks to our strategic media and content partners, MySpace Latino will showcase the sports, entertainment, and video content that our users are most passionate about, while creating a truly U.S. Latino bilingual hub for our users online.”

Social networks are rushing to adapt to different languages and cultures around the world with MySpace and Facebook being no exception. Today MySpace officially unleashed their site in Spanish called MySpace Latino. MySpace has roughly 9.7 million Hispanic members using the social network.

One thing that MySpace beats Facebook at is catering their look & feel to the Hispanic community rather than just translating the language. MySpace Latino has several relevant partners such as ImpreMedia, the Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), Billboard en Español, and Remezcla.com. MySpace Latino has several relevant partners such as ImpreMedia, the Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), Billboard en Español, and Remezcla.com. MySpace Latino will also feature an exclusive show called Show Secreto that stars Tego Calderon, Locos por Juana, Circo, and a special guest.

Some of MySpace Latino’s newest communities include Acústico, Get Your Band, Backstage, La Oficina, Entérate, TodoFútbol and En Tu Ciudad.  Competitors include ElHood.com, Quepasa.com, MiGente.com, LatinosConnected.com, MyGrito.com, and Vostui.com

“It’s intended to be a completely open field. Any developer can sign up for and start building applications,” stated Kyle Brinkman, GM of MySpace Developer platform.

MySpace, the largest social network on the planet (so far) has announced that they have just launched their development platform. When Facebook first launched their Developers platform, several partners had applications already available for adding before independent programmers could get their hands on the Facebook APIs.

The MySpace Developer launch has documentation and sample code. There are some overviews of how Google OpenSocial works, which helps power many of the application scripts.  There are Developer blogs authored by Aber Whitcomb (CTO) and Allen Hurff (VP of Engineering).

The three APIs provided by MySpace Developers includes OpenSocial with MySpace extensions, MySpace Action Scripts, and REST API. REST API is code that makes faster communication available between MySpace and third party sites.

The directory of applications won’t be available until March.  It is expected that many applications that gained instant popularity on Facebook will be added on MySpace.

[Information Source: PC Mag/Mashable]

What would a social network be without an incubator to power the applications that are instant viral hits within their online communities? Facebook has it so MySpace is HAD to get it. Just like how MySpace had widgets first, so Facebook HAD to get it. And I won’t be surprised if Bebo and Friendster quickly respond by setting up their own shops as well. The name of the company that MySpace is setting up is tentatively going to be called Slingshot Labs according to The New York Times.

Facebook’s incubator had $10 million in size powered by the social network, Accel Partners, and Founders Fund.  They started this fund in September 2007 to encourage give developers an incentive to create rich applications to give Facebook more appeal and possibly make additional revenue for themselves.

Josh Berman (MySpace COO) and Colin Digiaro (Senior VP of International Corporate Development) may be the ones heading the incubator.  Amit Kapur (VP of Business Development) may step up as the MySpace COO to fill in for Berman [source: TechCrunch].

While the two incubators may become hyper-competitive against each other,  they both give a good enough of a reason to quickly develop widgets.  What might be interesting scenario is if both companies want to fund the same company because the company created a successful widget for both MySpace and Facebook.  Who would they choose?  MySpace has mainstream clout, but Facebook is growing at a faster pace than MySpace.  Would it be more prestigious to receive funding from Slingshot or fbFund?

MySpace now has official custom social networks for two of the most populous countries in the world: India and China.  I am surprised that they did not release this earlier.  The social network has local Indian bands featured on the homepage and has partnered with Channel [V].  Channel [V] is a music TV channel broadcasted in India and several other countries. 

MySpace India also hosts a profile called indiHub, a channel that focuses on Blogs, Special Programs, Artist of the Week, and MySpace Extras.  The current artist of the week is New Delhi, India’s Jalebee Cartel.

MySpace has also hired Tarun Tripathi as their Director of Marketing and Content.  Tripathi is a former producer for Yash Raj films and will begin reporting to MySpace VP of Asia, Sung Lee. 

Now that MySpace is entering the social network steadily is Asia, Facebook should seriously consider doing the same.  Over half of the world’s population is located in that continent alone.  The more quality users Facebook can strategically attain, the higher their $15 billion valuation will become. 

[Information Source: contentSutra]