MySpace

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

NBC last week announced the launch of a new social media game, called "Mission: Chuck Me Out" (http://www.chuckmeout.com), that is designed to reward viewers who use popular social networking sites to promote the network's returning action-comedy series, "Chuck" (note: the series' third season premieres at 9:00PM Eastern, January 10th, before the series moves to its regular day and time--Mondays at 8:00PM Eastern--on January 11th).

Paramount Digital Entertainment (PDE) on Tuesday launched an original, interactive supernatural thriller series, called "Circle of Eight," exclusively on MySpace. The 10-part series, which was produced in association with Mountain Dew's Green Label Studios, is billed as using gaming and social media to propel its story forward. Its first three episodes are currently available on MySpace (myspace.com/circleof8); episodes four and five will be made available November 3rd; and the remaining episodes will be made available each week through the series' finale on December 8th.

MySpace contacted [itvt] Tuesday to let us know that it has launched the second season of its original broadband video game show, "BFF." The show, which is hosted by Jake Hurwitz (of the "College Humor" Web site, MTV's "The College Humor Show," and the comedy duo, "Jake and Amir"), challenges best friends on how well they really know each other. Pairs of best friends, aged 18-24, are asked questions about each other in several rounds, and receive prizes at the end of each round, based on the number of questions they have answered correctly.

Turner Sports offered a range of interactive and social features to supplement its coverage of last week's PGA Championship, including the broadband video coverage that it offered on PGA.com as part of its long-term deal with the PGA of America (note: the Turner Sports-PGA partnership, which was formed in 2002, was recently extended through 2019).

In a posting on its corporate blog Thursday, Justin.tv, a San Francisco-based company that bills itself as "the largest online community for people to broadcast, watch and interact around live video" (it claims to have around 428,000 live video channels, to which 20 hours of video are uploaded each minute, and says its Web site receives over 41 million unique visitors per month), announced the launch of a number of new Twitter, Facebook and MySpace features on its service:

"Married on MySpace," a 13-episode, Web-based interactive TV series that is a joint venture between the eponymous social networking company and Endemol, is set to premiere this Friday.

MySpace UK and FremantleMedia last week announced plans to offer a new, interactive broadband video drama series, called "Freak," that has been developed by FremantleMedia's new-media arm, FMX, and that is sponsored by Red Bull and by Procter & Gamble's Tampax brand. The show--which is set to launch on MySpace UK in July (international versions of the show are slated to launch some time later), and which FremantleMedia describes as an "edgy, teenage coming-of-age story"--will have its own MySpace page, where two new short-form episodes will be uploaded each week (note: eight of the show's 13 episodes will be available in HD).

Jason Hirschhorn, the former president of Sling Media's Entertainment Group who resigned from that position earlier this year, has been named chief product officer of News Corp.-owned social networking company, MySpace--in what may be a sign of MySpace's growing interest in providing broadband video programming and other digital entertainment content. Prior to joining Sling Media, where he was tasked with, among other things, implementing that company's broadband video entertainment service, Sling.com, Hirschhorn served as chief digital officer at MTV Networks, overseeing the company's digital media businesses, products and strategies.

News Corp.-owned social networking company, MySpace, contacted [itvt] Monday to let us know that it is teaming with its corporate stablemate, Fox, on a user-generated video contest to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the satirical animated series, "The Simpsons." Riffing on the iconic couch gag that concludes the opening credits of the series, the contest invites viewers to create live-action videos of their own original couch gags and upload them to a "The Simpsons" MySpace page.

--Broadband Video App can be Embedded in MySpace Profiles
--Company Beta-Launches MySpace Video Content on Mobiles