From the MTV & Sony BMG partnership announcement

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:50:23 GMT

Very enjoyable press event in London today with the announcement of major partnerships for MSN Video with MTV Networks and Sony BMG. The event was well attended, the presentations went well and there was a good Q&A session.

With the Sony BMG presentation, it was very clear that “record labels” are embracing the future and turning themselves into “music entertainment companies” with multiple revenue streams, rather than an all-out focus on shifting CDs alone. The MTV content show-reel was very slick and it is going to be great to have shows such as South Park and Pimp My Ride on MSN Video. From the MSN point of view there was a very clear focus on video entertainment and how this can be “shared” across the overall network.

We also introduced an interesting research project on “Three Screens” (Mobile, PV, TV). The research was based on audience interviews from five markets (including Brazil) and showed how people were using video and the different screens in radically different ways from the past. One very interesting angle was that “shared viewing” is now being achieved through communications networks (e.g. everyone comments on a video, sends the link to their friends) rather than everyone “sitting on the sofa together”. We also talked about the new Live Video Search which is really neat (it allows you to preview a video without linking through to the host site) – check it out here.

PS: More images from the event in our photo gallery.

- Alex Dale (Marketing Director)

Live in Europe: MSN Video

From the MTV & Sony BMG partnership announcement