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May 15, 2008

Windows Live Messenger gets TV app

Watch Channel 4 shows while you chat

Carrie-Ann Skinner

Windows Live Messenger users can now watch and share video content while they chat with Microsoft's Messenger TV service.

Microsoft has signed deals with Channel 4 and EMI to offer clips of more than 20 popular TV shows, such as Skins and How to Look Good Naked, as well as music videos to users while use Live Messenger.

The clips, which will be up to four minutes in duration, are accessed by simply clicking on Messenger TV in the Activities tab. The service is also expected to provide access to MTV, including clips from South Park and Pimp My Ride.

"Up to now online video has been something that people have tended to watch alone, but Messenger TV changes all that," said Peter Bale, executive producer at MSN UK.

"With this innovation we are creating a truly social experience, integrating the connected online community with the more traditional shared experience of viewing TV, allowing our users to share videos with friends."

The clips will feature ads before the content begins as well as a banner that runs at the bottom of the Messenger TV window.

According to Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of ComScore, watching videos is now the third most popular online activity behind search and shopping.

"In the past year the emergence of online videos has exploded throughout Europe In the UK alone, over 87 percent of the online population accounted for nearly 10 billion minutes," he said.

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