• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, March 9, 2007

News Corp apparently is mulling creating a video portal that could potentially rival YouTube. Fox Interactive Media head Peter Levinsohn reportedly told investors at a Bear Stearns conference this week that the company is in talks to amass a trove of video clips for online distribution.

"We're in very active negotiations with all of the media companies to create the most robust video offering from professional content on the Web," he said, according to Variety.

The comments come on the heels of a Business Week report that News Corp was gearing up to allow MySpace members to embed video clips of Fox shows on their profiles.

While News Corp's specific plans for MySpace remain murky, it seems that the company has ambitions for MySpace beyond mere social networking. In addition to expanding its video offerings, News Corp also is prepping a news service for MySpace, Terry Heaton reports today on his PoMo blog. Heaton relies on "inside sources" as well as the company's sales materials to conclude that News Corp will aggregate news and blogs from around the Web, while also incorporating social functionality, like enabling users to comment and rate stories.