Fox News Gets Closer To Facebook; ABC News Pulls Plug On Politics App

(PaidContent.org)  This story was written by David Kaplan.

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As Fox News preps an updated version of its Facebook page, NYT wonders why the cable channel isn't turning to its News Corp (NYSE: NWS). sibling, MySpace. It's not because of rival MSNBC's relationship with Fox Interactive social net, Joel Cheatwood, SVP, development at Fox News, responds that it's due to difference in audience, identifying Facebook users versus MySpace as "a little older and a little more sophisticated." Aside from the usual list of featuresdiscussion boards, reviews, polls and photo submissionsthe new Fox News Facebook page has a video player that will let users create personal playlists, and add individual videos on their profiles, as well as sharing the clips with others on their friends list.

And while Fox enhances its Facebook profile, ABC News is pulling the plug on its U.S. Politics app, B&C reported. That's not to say the broadcast news organization is giving up. ABC News promises a new, larger Facebook project should be out in a few weeks. CNN and MSNBC are also following with overhauls of their respective presences on Facebook. B&C pointed out that, compared to the other news networks, Fox News jumped on Facebook early: it has been on the social net since 2006 and has 20,000 fans. Putting that in context, CNN's official page has roughly 6,700 "fans," while MSNBC.com's has less than 600. So far, CBS (NYSE: CBS) appears to be the main hold out, limiting its Facebook activity to a few apps, as opposed to a fan page.



By David Kaplan