MySpace today announced the launch of a new section within MySpace Video featuring premium content from top corporate news and lifestyle brands. MySpace Video will launch “branded channels” for National Geographic, The New York Times, Reuters, The Daily Reel, Expert Village, Flow, FOX’s IGN Entertainment, Octane TV, Kush TV, Ripe TV, Studio411, VBS.tv, and Young Hollywood.

“The upcoming branded channel launch continues the growing momentum of MySpace Video,” said Jeff Berman, General Manager of Video and SVP of Public Affairs for MySpace. “We’re empowering our partners to customize their own video channels and use them as hubs to create a niche experience for users. Today’s announcement is a sign of things to come for MySpace Video.”

All branded channels will live inside MySpace Video and will contain varying video content offered by each respective partner. In response to user demand, the initial set of MySpace Video branded channels focuses on the categories of news and lifestyle.

Branded news channels within MySpace Video will include:

• National Geographic: The National Geographic Channel and National Geographic Digital Media will provide MySpace with award winning short-form content drawn from National Geographic‚Äôs vast archives and latest television productions, including new episodes of acclaimed series such as Explorer, The Dog Whisperer and Naked Science. Produced specifically for the web, this content will include extended interviews and web-exclusive clips as well as news of the planet, tips on green living and installments from Atmospheres, scenes of incredible beauty from around the world.
• The New York Times: The New York Times is the #1 newspaper Web site, with 14.5 million unique visitors a month (Nielsen NetRatings, March 2007). The New York Times on MySpace will offer video on a variety of topics, from national news to movie reviews, politics to cooking, the environment to the Times’s signature ‘Vows’ videos. And as the presidential election cycle shifts into high gear, MySpace visitors will be able to watch The Times’s in-depth coverage of the candidates and the contests via reports filed from the campaign trail.
• Reuters: MySpace visitors will be able to watch Reuters most popular programs, including the weekly Oddly Enough: And Finally program which highlights the most incredible off-beat news stories from around the world. Reuters will provide its extensive global entertainment coverage through the daily “Talk of the Town” and weekly Reuters Showbiz Week programs. Reuters on MySpace will also offer Reuters “Quick Cut” which showcases 30 seconds of the day’s most compelling news video.

Branded lifestyle channels within MySpace Video will include:

• Animation Show: The Animation Show channel will feature ground breaking animated short films from around the world, including interviews with artists behind many of the legendary short films. These shorts represent the best and brightest talents in the world of animation and this collection will serve as a companion to Mike Judge‚Äôs (King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-Head) legendary theatrical program, The Animation Show.
• The Daily Reel: The Daily Reel will give MySpace a daily dose of “the best” in online video. The Daily Reel‚Äôs editorial staff scours hundreds of video sites to find quality material, then packages it all together with detailed production notes and a razor-sharp editorial voice. The Daily Reel features the best and most talked about videos, or the ‚ÄúHigh 5‚Äù, showcasing the best five videos on a single topic.
• Expert Village: As the largest producer of how-to videos for the Internet, Expert Village will provide MySpace with 10-20 new videos per week from their continuously growing library of over 16,000 exclusive videos ranging from “How to make the perfect Margarita” to “How to Deliver a Baby in the Back Seat of a Taxi Cab”, and everything in between.
• IGN Entertainment: The IGN video channel will feature original video clips from the worlds of gaming, movies and television, including video game reviews; movie and game trailers; celebrity interviews, and behind-the-scenes features. Much of the channel‚Äôs content will be powered by the site‚Äôs IGN Video offering (http://video.ign.com), home to the popular ‚ÄúIGN Weekly‚Äù video show ‚Äì a 15-minute summary of what‚Äôs new and hot in gaming and entertainment. IGN Entertainment is a unit of Fox Interactive Media.
• Kush TV: Video programming from Kush TV will include coverage of Family Values Tour with Korn, the hottest celebrity parties, action sports events, and many more. KushTV will also feature interactive programming such as America’s Hottest Bartender and reality based shows Shifting Shifty Shellshock and Beverly Hills Confidential. Kush TV is the first high definition video network for online, mobile and digital cable platforms that targets young adult audiences with original programming, live events and exclusive coverage of today’s hottest stars in entertainment, music, comedy, gaming and action sports.
• LX.TV: Video from LX.TV will provide MySpace users with inside access to the hottest new dining, nightlife, and shopping destinations in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and beyond; intimate conversations between SuChin Pak and highbrow tastemakers such as Tim Gunn and David Cross; in-depth profiles of the most influential emerging fashion designers and contemporary artists; and exclusive reality documentaries on the privileged lifestyles of socialites, investment bankers and models.
• Ripe TV, Octane TV and Flow: Video clips from Ripe TV have everything young adult, male audiences desire in entertainment ‚Äî gorgeous women, breakthrough music, extreme sports, edgy humor, and outrageous stunts. Octane TV‚Äôs videos tests the speed limit of coverage content that delves into the prolific car culture, including major industry events, profiles, street racing, motocross, auto stunts, rally racing, and drifting. Flow TV‚Äôs video will resonate with MySpace hip-hop fans, featuring highly stylized, short-form shows ranging from 5 to 15 minutes in length.
• Studio411: Studio411, the leading action sports film studio, will offer MySpace visitors the best action sports content from the worlds of Skate, Surf, Motocross, Ski, Snow and BMX. Fans can browse and find video from the most exciting footage the sports have to offer, including exclusive archived films from star athletes like Travis Pastrana, Tanner Hall, Bob Burnquist, Ryan Sheckler, Laird Hamilton, Dave Mirra and Tara Dakides.
• VBS.tv: From the makers of Vice Magazine and creative director Spike Jonze, the VBS.tv branded channel will include the best segments from VBS’s genre-defying original programming. Including domestic and international news, underground cultural coverage and popular music, the VBS.tv channel will have MySpace-only exclusive content including series debuts, bonus episodes, interviews with VBS producers and hosts, and conversations with VBS’s MySpace friends.
• Young Hollywood: Young Hollywood will offer one-of-a-kind footage providing the MySpace community a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their favorite stars in Music, Fashion, TV and Film. Young Hollywood will showcase premiere videos on MySpace before they can be found anywhere else such as Robbie William‚Äôs ‚Äúsecret‚Äù game and interviews with DJ Paul Oakenfold and Whitestarr‚Äôs Cisco Adler. Young Hollywood will introduce you to the next big thing, before it becomes the next big thing.

MySpace Video’s branded channel announcement comes on the heels of the recent partnership announcement with Mark Burnett for a new political reality show, INDEPENDENT. Other recent announcements including MySpace’s exclusive partnership with Michael Eisner’s Vuguru to air Prom Queen, and the launch of a dedicated film trailer community Trailer Park, continue the high volume of upcoming product and content developments from MySpace Video.