On today’s TenSpot - counting down to Vevo’s launch - how can it improve on the Hulu model and get subscriptions/micro and macro (macro being monthly/yearly subscriptions?) transactions; MySpace backgrounder from FT; Aardvark (Vark.com) social search eyed by Google - a blocking move for Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt) on Twitter?; a brilliant NYT article on Jerry Maguire as “Representative Man”; niche private sale site OneKingsLane.com’s funded by Kleiner Perkins; Peter Liguori to Discovery to grown OWN; and Mahalo reaching 13M uniques quickly…

via I want my Vevo: Will video site be next-gen MTV? - CNET News

[Note: New Medici is working on Vevo's launch campaign with client MP+G] Rio Caraeff, Vevo’s CEO, says the music video is only one of the site’s features. The obligatory playlists will be available but music lyrics will also be offered. Vevo’s mission is to attract [cpm] rates of $25 to $40.  “What we’re really doing is taking back control of everything,” said [Doug] Morris, who operates the largest of the top four recording companies. “This is us taking control of our future…Vevo enables us to provide consumers with about 80 percent of all the music videos in the world. So, this is really like MTV on steroids. We’re starting with that kind of audience. But now we’re in control of it. We don’t have to go through a middleman anymore.”

via The rise and fall of MySpace - FT

[Long article but light in reporting from FT - doesn't talk about why things went haywire, Levinsohn's reason for departing, but good overview for newbies] But by the beginning of 2008, things began to sour. Facebook, a rival social network that was simpler and easier to use, was gaining momentum and starting to grow more quickly than MySpace. Murdoch confidently told the world that MySpace would make $1bn in advertising revenues in 2008 – but the company missed its target. Users began to desert the site, which had become cluttered with unappealing ads for teeth straightening and weight-loss products.

via Aardvark Mulls Over A $30+ Million Offer From Google - Techcrunch

[Great real-time answers company - Demand Media or Mahalo should raise funds to buy them, or else Google or AOL gets them] Social search service Aardvark is considering accepting a $30+ million offer by Google, say multiple sources close to the companies (one source says it’s $40 million). The company, which was founded by ex-Googlers, has raised around $6 million in venture capital to date.

via Representative American Men - Jerry Maguire and Ryan Bingham - NYTimes

[Amazing article on "Jerry Maguire" and "The Air Up There"s Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) - a must-read for entrepreneurs and film lovers] Jerry is a full-blooded avatar of the Protestant-Emersonian tradition that continues to flourish, often unrecognized, in American civic culture, and in our popular art as well. He believes, above all — and the movie all but insists — that it is possible for apparently discrepant values and identities to be perfectly congruent. Decency, wealth, love, fame: these are not contradictory but rather mutually reinforcing expressions of that secular grace known as happiness. We are innately entitled to pursue it, and a broad highway and a good car will only speed the capture. “Jerry Maguire” is a success story made up of episodes of failure.

via Kleiner Perkins Joins the Private Sale Rush - Bits Blog - NYTimes

[Niche private sale/ecommerce companies are springing up everywhere] Kleiner Perkins has invested in One Kings Lane, a site that hosts three-day sales on home decor, furniture and gifts that are marked down by 50 percent to 70 percent. The sales are for members only, though anyone can sign up. Josh Kopelman and Reid Hoffman, both prominent angel investors, also invested.

via Company Town | The Morning Fix - LAT

Zaslav is betting on [Peter] Liguori and his marketing savvy to help raise the profile of Discovery’s channels and partnerships. Liguori [...] will be Discovery’s point person to work with Oprah Winfrey and Christina Norman, the chief executive of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. OWN, the joint venture between Discovery and Winfrey, is scheduled to launch in January 2011 on what is now the Discovery Health Channel.

Liguori will oversee Discovery’s recently announced joint venture with Hasbro Inc., to relaunch a channel aimed at children. He also will be responsible for Discovery’s marketing, corporate communications, business affairs, media technology, production and operation departments. He will chair Discovery’s Content Committee, which includes general managers from its various channels, including Discovery, TLC and Animal Planet.

via CHART OF THE DAY: Mahalo Is Kicking Butt - SAI

[Will be interesting to see how Demand Media, Mahalo and AOL square off for user/reporter-gen publishing] Jason Calacanis’ startup Mahalo’s traffic has been chugging higher and higher since June, when the company shifted to a new model, creating a Wikipedia-for-profits that incorporates crowd-sourced content and revenue sharing.

via Vevo Nabs EMI Before Launch, Now Only Missing Warner Music - NewTeeVee

[Feels like Hulu redux - with EMI being Disney coming in before the Vevo launch tomorrow night; I guess Warner Music Group equals CBS...] Vevo announced today has signed up EMI Music, adding even more videos to its soon-to-be launched online music video site. With the addition of EMI, Vevo will have three of the four top recording labels in its stable, with Warner Music Group being the only holdout.