NBC, MSNBC to Be Exclusive News Providers for MySpace’s Decision ‘08

News Corp.-Owned Social-Networking Site Reaches Deal with NBC News

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/21/2008 6:55:00 PM

NBC reached a deal with social-networking site MySpace to be the "exclusive" provider of election news on a new Decision ‘08 subsite.

NBC News and MSNBC will supply news and analysis to the site on MySpace's IMPACT public-affairs hub. It will also include an RSS feed, an interactive map, voter-registration information and blogs.

MSNBC will incorporate the effort into its own political site.

MySpace may be owned by Fox News Channel parent News Corp., but the site was touting NBC's news chops in glowing terms in a release announcing the exclusive deal Monday.

“The 2008 election is proving to be the most youth- and technology-driven race in history, and MySpace is a significant forum for political discussion today,” said Lee Brenner, in charge of political programming for MySpace. “We are privileged today to be partnering with such revered news organizations as NBC News and msnbc.com and to be taking our first steps in what will be a unique and engaging collaboration for the MySpace community.”

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams was pitching the site in a banner ad on the MySpace home page Monday. "Check us out. Become a friend," Williams said in the ad.