MySpace launches YouTube rival

Online social networking powerhouse MySpace has set out to knock YouTube from its throne by launching a website devoted to Internet video and television shows.

MySpaceTV is a platform for homemade video and professional productions, such as news programs and "webisodes" made for the Internet of US shows like Prom Queen.

"This works just as well for NBC and Fox and for the aspiring Steven Spielberg as it does for the kid doing skateboard tricks on the weekend," MySpace vice-president Jeff Berman told AFP.

"We've seen video explode as a way for users to connect."

The test program unveiled is customised in seven languages for the US Internet firm's users worldwide.

The site's creators hope to replicate the success of MySpace, which gets more visitors than any other website in the United States and is the most popular online social community in the world, according to industry statistics.

The teen-oriented website is a forum in which people share pictures, journal entries, videos, music and more on personalised profile pages.

MySpaceTV is taking on YouTube, the undisputed king of online video sharing.

Its share of the US market surged 70 per cent in the first five months of 2007, reports tracking firm Hitwise.

Since February, MySpace has gained on Google-owned YouTube when it comes to the numbers of videos streamed to people's computers