Justin Timberlake popped up on stage at CES 2012 to announce that MySpace, the social network that he's co-owner of, is redefining the way we watch TV.
In an exclusive partnership with Panasonic and its Viera Connect platform, the once giant social network will launch MySpace TV. The service is designed to bring together exclusive channels, combined with social networking.
"It feels like forever ago that we’d all get together around the set and watch the Cosbys. Along the way, TV stopped being a shared experience, and just became something you consume whenever you have a minute alone. But the problem is that people want to share and talk about what’s happening with their favourite shows and characters," said Timberlake. "Myspace is all about creating an experience where people can connect to what they’re passionate about and connect with each other based on that shared love."
MySpace TV will provide an app for Panasonic customers, allowing them to tap into the channels provided and use the social networking features.
It's planned that the service will launch with music (the social network has a catalogue of more than 42million songs and 100,000 music videos to use), although news sports and reality TV will all come online.
Content will come from a variety of providers, including on-demand services and real-time broadcast networks.
It's not just about having the content it's what you can do with it that's more important. Social networking wise, it's sharing content and seeing what's trending with friends. You'll also be able to virtually watch a show with friends commenting on it as you go.
Live sync features will let you use a tablet, smartphone or computer to view the content or even send it to a friend so that they can join in. It's also promised that you can live transfer anything you're watching, moving from your tablet to your TV at the touch of a button for example.
While it all seems pretty clever, we're not entirely sure that it's going to be enough to change MySpace's fortunes – it's all going to depend on the content that's available. We don't have any details of a UK launch yet.
