Slide, Hulu, and Others Sign Major Agreement

Posted by Nick O'Neill on October 1st, 2008 4:16 PM

Max Levchin has been trying to build Slide TV for a while now. From people that have spoken with him it appears that his focus has been to build out channels through slide that give users access to premium video content. The only thing standing in the way of the company’s (or Max’s) vision has been the lack of premium content on any of their channels.

Thanks to a new agreement announced today between Slide, Warner Brothers, News Corp, CPS, and Hulu, Slide is now one more step closer to their vision. On Thursday Slide will launch “FunSpace Channels” which will provide them with a platform for distributing the video content.

Back in November I called social networks the new t.v. and this further suggests this as a continuing trend. Given that the company has the most popular application on Facebook it will surely drive a lot of traffic. While Bebo has continued to release original content, most other social networks are opting for the partnership agreement route. While not video content, MySpace Music is another example of the partnership model.

Unfortunately for Facebook, the company now has two of the largest applications profiting from music and video content. All Facebook gets is more page views which isn’t exactly the worst thing but it may not be the most profitable. It will be interesting to see how the conflict between applications and platforms plays out over the coming months as mainstream media moves on to the platforms.