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MySpace to sell episodes of '24'

Fox hit will be among the first News Corp. TV shows downloadable from the popular social-networking site.

Candace Lombardi
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.
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Candace Lombardi
Social-networking site MySpace.com will soon begin offering download-to-own television shows for $1.99, News Corp. announced Monday.

The site's video store will open May 22, the same day "24," a popular Fox thriller about a fictional counterterrorism agency, airs its season finale. MySpace also plans to set up a "24" social network, through which fans can sound off about the show.

As part of the video store launch, fast-food chain Burger King is sponsoring free downloads for two preselected episodes of "24," one episode of Fuel TV's "Firsthand" and one episode of Speed Channel's "Pinks," News Corp. said.

Fox already offers "24" through Apple Computer's iTunes store for the same price, as well as "Prison Break," "Unan1mous," "Stacked" and popular classics like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Last year, News Corp. acquired MySpace parent Intermix Media for $580 million. MySpace is now part of Fox Interactive Media, a News Corp. sister unit of Fox Entertainment Group.

"MySpace is the largest video site on the Web, with more video uploaded every day than any other site on the Internet," Ross Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media, said in a statement.

YouTube, a leading video-sharing and community site, says it has 40 million daily viewers. According to News Corp., MySpace has grown to more than 75 million members.