14 November 2007

Bebo to offer free TV programmes

Users of social networking site Bebo will soon have free access to popular television shows, it has emerged.

Bebo revealed its new Open Media offering at joint press conferences in New York and London, stating that it will offer people "thousands of hours of premium entertainment content from major global entertainment brands and emerging media companies".

The new platform will give media companies open access to Bebo's users, estimated to have reached 40 million worldwide.

Launch partners, which include the BBC, Channel Four, BSkyB, CBS and MTV Networks, will be able to distribute their content using their own video players - which can carry their own advertising - and will get to retain all of the related advertising revenues.

Users of the site will have the ability to curate their favourite videos with their profiles.

Bebo hopes that the new offering will increase audience engagement and, consequently, the value of its advertising.

Greg Clayman, executive vice president of digital distribution for MTV Networks, stated: "Our audiences increasingly expect greater access to their favourite comedy, music and pop-culture programming.

"Bebo's new Open Media platform allows us to distribute our content and our marketing partners' messages in an environment where consumers can quickly and easily share it with others and forge even deeper communities around the programming they love."

Based in San Francisco, Bebo enjoys particular popularity among teenagers and young adults

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