February 07, 2007 | Wednesday

BSkyB and Google team up on launch of UGC channel

By Jon Myers, Director Of Search in Search Engines |Google |Search Technology

BSkyB is set to launch a user-generated content channel called Sky Cast on both TV and the internet, with video technology powered by Google.

In December, the broadcaster and search engine announced they were to work together to provide Sky’s broadband customers with search, e-mail and a video-sharing website.

As a point of differentiation to existing video-sharing and social networking sites such as MySpace and YouTube, the broadcaster is working on how the user-generated video could be linked into its existing programming strands. Users of the UGC channel will be able to edit, upload and share their own video content.

Media Week understands the service will launch within a matter of weeks, rather than months.

A spokesman for Sky said: “We are working with Google to move into the user-generated content space, and it will be integrated across all platforms. We are looking at how we will generate the content and Google is assisting us in that process.”

Google will provide the search bar on Sky’s broadband portal and share those search advertising revenues with the broadcaster.