ReadWriteWeb

MTV and MySpace have just announced a new joint venture to create a weekly TV show called "The MySpace Chart," which will be shown on MTV2 in the UK. The videos appearing on the show will be decided by votes from MTV viewers on the site's own website and by MySpace users on the show's MySpace homepage. This collaborative effort between the two properties could help launch some new, undiscovered artists from the MySpace social network since there will be some room on the show reserved for new musical talent.

Last November we reported that the web-based scripted drama "Quarterlife" was making the unlikely jump to primetime television. Last night, Quarterlife debuted on NBC in the 10pm time slot, and the results were disappointing by television standards. The web-turned-TV show pulled a 1.6 share among 18-34 year olds, and averaged just under 3.9 million viewers for the time slot, good enough for third place. Interestingly, one of the shows it trailed was the CBS drama "Jericho," which was rescued from cancellation due to a massive grassroots web campaign to save it.

According to an AP news story that ran yesterday afternoon, the upcoming MySpace Music service is definitely happening. Based on reports from music executives, who spoke only under the condition of anonymity, News Corp. has approached the four major record labels to discuss the launch of a music service that would operate via the MySpace social networking site. The executives also confirmed earlier rumors about the nature of the services that would be offered - according to them, the service will offer free streaming music, mp3 downloads, and a subscription plan. Can we say iTunes killer?

Syndicated from last100, our digital lifestyle blog

It's official: Toshiba, the leading partner in the HD DVD camp, has waved the white flag. The next generation DVD format war is over. Blu-ray wins.

The move to stop production of HD DVD players and recorders was an "agonising decision", according to Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida, but one that the company had to take after "judging that there is no way of winning the competition."

The high definition DVD format war has been raging for quite some time now, but it looks as though there may finally be a victor. The HD DVD camp, started by Toshiba and including heavyweight backing from Microsoft, has been gradually losing ground over the last year. Recent events, which we discuss below, make it almost certain that the HD DVD format will be joining Betamax in format heaven soon.

With the high profile launch this week of Qtrax, a free and legal P2P music offering (ReadWriteWeb coverage), ad-supported music downloads are very much in the spotlight, and as always RWW network blog last100 has its finger on the pulse, with great news coverage and analysis of the week that was in digital music, including an exclusive interview with the CEO of a large ad-supported music web site.

Our digital lifestyle network blog last100 has a great round-up of the latest announcements at CES. Steve O'Hear is seeing a lot of products that bridge the gap between the PC and TV, or bring Internet content directly to a television. Highlights include the SlingCatcher (Sling Media), D-Link’s newly launched PC-on-TV Player, TiVo Desktop 2.6 (TiVo), and Internet-connected TVs from Sharp, Samsung and Panasonic.

Starting in January, Amazon will launch a dedicated music shop for selling albums by bands discovered via Amsterdam-based Sellaband. The albums will be sold for £8.99, reports The Times Online -- or about $18, which is rather hefty given that jewel case CDs are sold for just $10 on the Sellaband site.

The British Broadcasting Corporation quietly launched a beta version of their spiffed up new homepage last week.

The new page, which the Beeb has dubbed a "lick of paint," draws on a number of so-called web 2.0 design aesthetics: rounded corners, large fonts, big buttons, a soft color palette, and a liberal dash of AJAX.

On our network blog last100, Daniel Langendorf writes:

"The Internet is not just a place to get the latest scores and follow your favorite team in the standings. The Web has evolved so well that it has displaced traditional media as the first-stop source for all your major-sports needs.

Except for local coverage, there‚Äôs no need to watch TV sportscasts anymore. Pardon the sports pun, but the Internet has all the bases covered — from providing the usual scores, standings, and statistics to rich, always-available highlights, interviews, streaming games, downloadable games, podcasts, extensive season and historical archives, and a host of mobile solutions from wallpapers and ringtones to live GameCasts with Audio. Best of all, there are no timetables.

The Big 4 professional sports leagues in the U.S. — the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL — have leveraged existing footage (usually developed through their ‚Äúofficial‚Äù networks) to create their own unique content. The leagues flood their Web sites with an overwhelming array of branded digital content so fans can stream games, download ones they missed, and watch clips packaged in so many ways the head spins."

It's a bold hypothesis - that the Internet has replaced television for sports coverage. But check out the table compiled by last100 to support it: