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By James R. Hood
ConsumerAffairs.com
May 22, 2006
Look out, parents. Starting today, MySpace.com is launching an expanded series of video downloads that Rupert Murdoch hopes will be the key to "monetizing" the vast teen hang-out site he bought last year for $580 million.
Until now, parents have feared their teens were exposing themselves to predators with their MySpace.com profiles, but at least they didn't have to worry that the kids were piling up charges on the family credit card. That all changes today.
MySpace is among the world's top Web sites in terms of viewers but lags badly in the revenue department because teens exchanging photos and gossip aren't terribly attractive to advertisers.
Hoping to remedy that, Murdoch's News Corp. is building a "Have it you way" page with help from Fox Entertainment, another Murdoch property, and fat-food giant Burger King.
The page will offer two free episodes of Fox's drama "24" and will feature a "social network" page where users can interact with each other, create their own content and, not so coincidentally, download the entire first and fifth seasons of the TV series for $1.99 per episode -- note that's per episode, not per season.
Parents, that ka-ching sound you hear is Murdoch's cash register ringing up transactions on your credit card. Just as iTunes has proved a bonanza for Apple and an often unexpected expense for parents, so MySpace.com today makes the magic transition from worrisome but free to worrisome and potentially expensive.
Fox announced earlier this month that it would start selling television shows including "24" and "Prison Break" on iTunes.
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