• by Wayne Friedman , April 18, 2006

News Corp.'s fast-growing MySpace.com is looking to place its user-generated content into TV shows.

"There is stuff in development," said Shawn Gold, senior vice-president of marketing for MySpace.com. Gold didn't disclose which networks or programs MySpace was working with, but said in an e-mail, "We are not limited by the News Corp. family."

The enormously popular social networking site is working on deals that, Gold said, will extend the life of a TV sponsorship for a marketer, "integrating social networking into the TV show and their traditional TV buy." All this would expand the life of a TV deal from "30 seconds to 3 months," he added.

MySpace is a major social networking site with 77 million mostly younger users--a figure that is growing by at least 230,000 a month. It has been touted as an emerging powerful tool for youth-oriented branded marketing companies.

Already some 100 advertisers regularly buy into the site including Honda Motors, Toyota Motor Sales, Wendy's International, and Cingular Wireless, to name a few. Additionally, MySpace already has many deals with TV networks who are sponsors on their site. Some may be involved in this deal, says one analyst.

The site's demographics are in line with News Corp's Fox Television Networks recent collective pitch to national advertisers recently, touting itself as a major destination for 12-34 year old consumers.

Said Gold: "News Corp. has been an asset in helping to scale up the business, putting muscle behind our safety [initiatives] and building out our content."