Today, News.com reports that Rupert Murdoch is “planning to distribute movies and TV shows to consumers from the company’s network of Internet sites, including MySpace.com.”
It appears that Murdoch’s Fox Entertainment Group will be offering downloadable versions of its hit TV series, such as 24, for $1.99 per episode. Movies will go for $19.99, apparently.
Such a move was not altogether unexpected, after Murdoch’s News Corp paid $580 million for MySpace last year.
MySpace is already one of the most visited Web sites in the U.S. However, though there has been criticism from people like fellow Tidbit contributor Steve Outing, as well as reports of the dangers of online social networking.
But obviously, if you cast your net where there are fish, there will be a catch.
One thing, though: MySpace is about grassroots interests, and smash hit TV series are about smash hits. You don’t have to be Chris “Long Tail” Anderson to see that those are two separate stories.
If the MySpace crowd wanted blockbusters, I wonder if they would hang around at MySpace. There’s (probably) a reason why the band Death Cab for Cutie has more MySpace “friends” than Shakira. It has to do with sharing, relating and recommending. It has less to do with marketing budgets and campaigns. Maybe selling 24 will annoy people at MySpace?
My bet is that Apple’s iTunes will respond really fast. Since iTunes has an established model for selling entertainment online, it could end up doing a better job. At least it probably won’t annoy its customers by pushing blockbusters.
