‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ to Stream Concerts on Myspace
Media portal Myspace, trying to regain cultural relevance, has inked a one-year pact with ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to stream extended sets of latenight talker’s musical guests over the Internet.
Performances by select artists appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” will be live-streamed on Myspace following their appearances on the Alphabet net. Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light will be exclusive sponsor of the three concerts during summer, which kick off June 18 with Australian duo Empire of the Sun.
SEE ALSO: Jimmy Kimmel Finds Will Smith His Next Role (VIDEO)
“With the newly launched Myspace as a collaborative partner, we’re looking forward to broadening the scope of what we can offer to an even broader audience,” Scott Igoe, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” music producer and booker, said in a prepared statement. Live concerts and archives will be available at myspace.com/jimmykimmellive.
CBS’s “Late Show With David Letterman” for several years has run the similar “Live on Letterman” web series, which has topped 160 million views to date on websites including CBS.com and Vevo since 2006. NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” meanwhile, posts video replays of musical guests.
Myspace, once a high-flying social media site that collapsed with the rise of Facebook and Twitter, is now owned by online ad network Specific Media and Justin Timberlake. They acquired the property from News Corp. in 2011 for $35 million; News Corp. previously bought Myspace in 2005 for $580 million.
SEE ALSO: Top moments in ‘Jimmy Kimmel’ history
Under the new owners, Myspace has relaunched as a site aimed at music discovery, with access to 53 million music tracks and videos. “As the go-to destination for the best music on late night, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ has a great track record of recognizing new and emerging talent,” said Christian Parkes, Myspace’s global marketing veep.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” moved into the 11:35 p.m. slot last August against Letterman and Leno. Show is shot live in front of a studio audience and produced by Jackhole Industries in association with ABC Studios.
Separately, NBC is playing musical chairs with its latenight lineup. Jimmy Fallon is set to replace Leno as “Tonight Show” host early next year, and the Peacock tapped “Saturday Night Live” vet Seth Meyers to take over the “Late Night” gig.
Related stories
ABC Exec Quinn Taylor to Oversee Longform Programming at NBC
'MDA' Telethon Heads to Primetime on ABC
Get more from Variety.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
