AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Business Week

When Rupert Murdoch snatched MySpace.com (NWS) out from under Viacom (VIA) in 2005, a pall of self-doubt and recrimination descended on the folks at MTV Networks, owner of VH1, Spike, and Comedy Central, among others properties (VIA). They wondered: Was the Viacom division that had once dominated youth culture blowing it on the Web, where young eyeballs were congregating?

Today, any regrets over MySpace are a fading memory. MTVN is pushing hard into online games in pursuit of their rich advertising potential and can’t have failed to notice that traffic growth is slowing at social networks.

No Old Media company has placed a more far-reaching bet on gaming. MTVN operates more than 5,000 mobile, console, and online games and virtual worlds—many of them based on TV shows such as MTV’s The Real World and Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants. MTVN has even cut a deal to develop new titles with Hollywood über-producer Jerry Bruckheimer of CSI and Armaggedon fame. And this isn’t just about kids. The network is keen to hook the growing ranks of so-called casual gamers, including women old enough to have a couple of teenagers in the house.

The appeal of games is simple enough. …read more…