NewsCorp owned MySpace yesterday announced the launch of MySpaceTV, a new dedicated MySpace branded competitor to YouTube. The new MySpace video sharing site will work independantly to the regular MySpace social networking site.
According to the NYTimes, MySpaceTV will also have a strong focus for professionally produced content from the likes of NBC Universal and Fox (also owned by News Corp), in addition to the regular user generated content.
MySpaceTV to Overthrow YouTube?
It will be a standalone site (though it will clearly reside under the tutelage of Murdoch & Co all the same) that may likely stand as the biggest challenger to the online video industry crown, YouTube – and could possibly even have the power to dethrone the Google-owned entity.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast, right? No one yet knows how well MySpaceTV will do, even with the very large catalogue of homemade and professionally tailored clips already held in redundancy on Photobucket’s servers; even with the ties MySpace has made with media companies.
Besides, in the latter department YouTube has put together a list of partners of its own as well, and the names reach around the globe.
To tell you the truth, I don’t think MySpaceTV will subvert the industry king and claim #1. Yes, Murdoch loves to have his cake and eat it too and he’s already a big step ahead of Google in one popular area on the Web – social networking.
However, I strongly doubt he’ll wind up standing tallest. Google will maintain hold over its thunder. At least in the short term.
Why Will Google and YouTube Beat MySpaceTV?
How exactly do I forecast that Google stays on top (though with less breathing room, of course)? Easy… the folks at Google know the Web a heck of a lot better than the folks at Newscorp and MySpace.
Murdoch bought his way into Web 2.0. Google started with second-hand servers and a prediction (that search would be king in the future) that, with persistent coding and unique thinking, proved to be very, very, very right.
Yes, one can argue that it’s all about timing, and that Newscorp, like Google, got into the game at precisely the right moment. But there’s more to it than luck.
YouTube may have been the “flavor of the month” at the best time, but the fact that it’s maintained it’s place isn’t due to unknown forces. Sure, the site needs work, as to all popular places on the Net, but no worries. Regular housekeeping will continue; renovations will be done regularly as well.
Long term, companies need to remain viable, and as long as Google doesn’t start to sag keeps its workforce leading rather than following, I doubt very much that it’ll see YouTube bow to MySpaceTV.
Nonetheless, it’s good that MySpaceTV will be playing strong at the table. Its presence will keep Google sharp and alert. It’s never good to see a Web company get lazy (ahem, Yahoo!, ahem).
[Paul Glazowski is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com]
