• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, July 24, 2006

MTV Networks is launching a new TV channel in the United Kingdom that will air video clips provided by consumers, according to a report in today's Financial Times. The channel, MTV Flux, also allows users to personalize the offerings by selecting the music videos that will air on their screens.

Viacom reportedly intends to take the channel live on Sept. 6. It will be available for free and carry ads, according to the Financial Times. Additionally, if the initiative is successful, Viacom might extend it beyond the United Kingdom, Michiel Bakker, managing director of MTV in the U.K. and Ireland, told the Financial Times.

The move comes at a time when traditional entertainment companies are awakening to the potential of user-generated media--including both the consumers who create content, and those who merely appreciate such efforts.

Consider, earlier this month Variety reported that Carson Daly signed 20-year-old video blogger Brooke "Brookers" Brodack to a development deal.

Additionally, the current No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart, Cassie Ventura's "Me & U," first found a following on MySpace, according to a report today by Reuters. Ventura's profile has been viewed more than 7.3 million times between November, when she first posted the track on her MySpace page, and now, according to Reuters.

Too, earlier this month, NBC decided to defer to the tastes of YouTube users. The TV network said recently that it's going to revive the failed WB pilot, "Nobody's Watching," a script development and Webisodes deal.