• Retuers, Thursday, March 2, 2006 10:17 AM

Viacom, owner of MTV Networks, is entering the social networking business, Company CEO Tom Freston announced at a Reuters media summit yesterday. Viacom is under increasing pressure from the likes of News Corp., which has taken the lead in the race to stay relevant to today's fickle consumers through the strategic acquisition of MySpace and IGN. Far from believing the race is over, Freston said the era of social networking has "just started." Within the year, Freston said Viacom will have some sort of presence in the social networking sphere, although it's unclear whether the company will do this through partnerships or acquisitions. That would put Freston and Viacom toe-to-toe with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which has attracted some 60 million users to the online hangout MySpace. Freston admits that social networking is a difficult space to try and monetize, especially because interactions are between consumers using the site. "You're asking people to advertise between conversations between two people." Then there's the small problem of safety, as social network sites are crawling with sexual predators--MySpace could potentially face litigation in Connecticut, as the state Attorney General continues to investigate the company's role in six or seven sexual assault cases. This is a massive red flag for advertisers wary of having a client's brand associated with indecency.

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