Myspace Names New Head of MyspaceTV

MySpace (Rupert Murdoch's virtual playland) named Internet video veteran Tom Bosco VP and head of sales for MySpaceTV. In this newly-created position, he will oversee sales of video advertising across all of MySpace.

Bosco was a key player in the high-profile launches of both MSN Video and AOL Video.

"Tom has been on the frontlines of online video advertising for two of the major players in the space," said a spokesperson from Fox Interactive Media, MySpace's corporate parent. Video is a top priority for the company and monetization is key to maturing the business online."

MySpaceTV launched earlier this summer and quickly became the second most visited video site on the Web. The vids.myspace.com domain attracted 17.9 million visits in July, according to data from Nielsen//NetRatings, compared with YouTube's 55.1 million.

Current monetization on the Fox-owned property includes custom advertising, standard media buys and sponsorships. "Custom profiles have provided brands with a great way to reach consumers in a two-way conversation that they've never had before," said the FIM spokesperson.

The nature of MySpace's social networking profiles, and user-generated videos has been a challenge to monetize. The sheer volume of random videos has been difficult to sell to advertisers, said Emily Riley, analyst at JupiterResearch. "Before they start offering premium placements, they'll need to determine how to categorize video, increasing the importance of different video channels."

Videos on MySpace TV include both produced content and user-generated videos. MySpace recently made deals with content partners including the Onion, LonelyGirl15, Sony Minisode Network, NBA, NHL, The Producers Guild, National Geographic, the New York Times and Reuters.

It will be interesting to see the direction Bosco takes as he takes over at MyspaceTV. I only hope that this media giant doesn't take drastic measures to capitalize financially on the over-popularity of the site. As a Myspacer 4 Life here at Rollett Marketing, we are seeing more and more defectors, (including a page by myself) to Facebook. I love the fact that people are making money on Myspace (that is my business by the way) but I am hoping that the corporations find a way to advertise in a non evasive and in your face way!

Myspace keeps making the big moves, so we'll see what happens in the next few months as the Myspace/Facebook war wages on!