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GoTV Networks, which produces videos about the music industry and others for both mobile and broadband networks, is getting close to launching a social media widget for sites like Facebook, where people can store and share videos, images, audio and text, mocoNews has learned. The application, called "Live From You," will launch in beta soon for GoTV employees and a select group of others. We got a sneak peak Thursday at GoTV's headquarters in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Here's the details: Live From You Widget: Users will upload media to the widget, which displays it in a chronological time line that can be categorized into albums. GoTV servers will store all of the content. The service will launch first on Facebook and then other social networking sites down the line. GoTV also developed a java client for the phone, so photos, videos and audio can also be uploaded from a device. The photos can be geo-tagged if the device supports GPS. Each widget will be personalized, and appear as "Live From (user's first name)." New Path For GoTV: CEO Thomas Ellsworth explains that the widget came about after the company and its board began looking at adding a user-generated component for fans, but quickly realized the amount of content would likely swamp GoTV's staff with too much media, making it difficult to find the best clips and other media. With the widget, user-generated content won't get thrown into the mix of professional content, which is still at GoTV's core. Ellsworth likens it to an "accidental tourist" journey of sorts that lifted it through the "fog of user-generated content." Where's The Money In User-Generated Content?: Ellsworth acknowledges that the big question is "how do we monetize this?" The answer is that the service will be ad-supported (and what isn't these days?). When a user logs in to the widget, there is a button to show or hide "deals," which can range from GoTV-produced...

Santa Monica-based public radio station KCRW has been using Kyte.tv for the past month and today provided some results on how the live-video streaming service has been going. The station used Kyte.tv to post video clips from a mobile phone during the Democratic and Republican party conventions to give its audience some additional coverage that usually falls outside the realm of radio. Producers at KCRW used Nokia ( NYSE: NOK ) devices to shoot short videos and post them on their website throughout the conventions. The clips from the convention, which range from a Barack Obama look-alike to Mitt Romney being chased by the press, have been viewed more than 124,000 times, the station announced Tuesday. During the station's subscription drive last month, a webcam "Speakeasy" was set up outside the phone room where volunteers, staff and others were encouraged to talk about the station and why others should support the organization. During the 11-day drive, clips from that camera were viewed more than 132,000 times. ( Release ). Social Media Deals Report: This 199-page report, filled with charts and data, examines the categories, number and size of VC and M&A deal in social media from 2007 through 2008. Visit the ContentNext Reports page

In a celeb-obsessed world, the cellphone is fast-emerging as the perfect tool for keeping abreast of gossip. In a lengthy feature, the IHT covers the number of gossip magazines and web sites turning out mobile versions, and how their runaway audience numbers are reshaping existing media properties. The numbers certainly are compelling. According to Nielsen Mobile, TMZ.com, which launched a mobile site in April 2007, had 1.1 million visitors in July, while Online's mobile site attracted 1.2 million visitors. In June, Yahoo ( NSDQ: YHOO ) Entertainment had 2.9 million visitors, compared with two million visitors to Yahoo Sports and 1.5 million to Yahoo Finance. Four out of ten searches on Yahoo! oneSearch is for celeb or entertainment news. In comparison, People.com's mobile site only attracted 771,000 visitors in July, but then users must first pay $3.99 to download its mobile application to view the gossip. People however, is planning to relaunch in November, and drop the pay model, in hopes that the mobile site will bring more traffic to its web offering, which in turn will mean the company can charge more in ads. It will also have the technology to put in banner ads on the mobile site. Both People and E! are saying that cellphone audiences are no longer just early adopters and that audiences are increasingly mainstream, and "middle aged." People reports that 30 percent of its magazine audience, access its mobile site. This, of course, is great news for the sites, but maybe not so good for those celebs who actually want to keep a low profile. As CBS ( NYSE: CBS ) Mobile general manager Jeff Sellinger, puts it, "We are all going to be walking television stations," with more celeb gossip likely coming in from "regular" people. Video blogging company Seesmic is rolling out a new cellphone service in which anyone can record a video of a celebrity they've spotted and upload it to the internet to share with their friends and other...

MTV Networks ( NYSE: VIA ) is launching its first ad-supported, mobile video-on-demand service with carriers. With the U.S. Air Force signed on as its first advertiser, pre-roll ads from the military branch will run prior to sponsored episodes of The How To Show , MTV's made-for-mobile series where musicians, celebrities and athletes teach various tricks of their trades. The campaign will also play on MTV's WAP site. MTV is also working with MobiTV , an existing partner, to launch a research project looking into the effectiveness of premium mobile VOD advertising. MTV, MobiTV and others are seeking how best to program and optimize video ads on mobile VOD services while still retaining viewers. MTV is preparing to experiment with pre-roll ads in various lengths and formats across all of its mobile VOD channels to learn more. MTV has more than 80 distribution deals and 40 on-demand and streaming mobile video services across the globe. In July, MTV said it streamed almost 10 million mobile video clips on demand. Our mobile application for Blackberry and other Smartphones brings you the latest headlines when you're on the go. Go here to download .

A group of executives from MediaFLO USA, MobiTV, MTV, Disney ( NYSE: DIS ) and Fox sat in on an afternoon panel that addressed the various business models and use types that comprise the mobile TV space today and where they hope to see things going as more models and technologies converge. Predicting what the customer wants: Greg Clayman , EVP of digital distribution & business development at MTV Networks: "It's less about predicting what people want, but as we put product out there, we provide more and more of what people are gravitating to." Two years back MTV was rolling out its first short-form mobile video offerings on carrier decks then it moved onto linear video platforms such as MediaFLO and Sprint ( NYSE: S ) TV. Earlier this summer the network launched ad-supported WAP video sites. Like many others in this space, MTV believes users want a mix of all three, but don't want to be bothered with different price packages and user interfaces that diminish the quality of the experience. Tim Connolly , VP of mobile distribution at Disney/ESPN and ABC: Full episodes are performing particularly well, but live sports are the sweet spot. "I actually think we're there today… The real issue that we have is awareness… We're on the doorstep, and it's not an issue of price and that people aren't willing to pay for video." Jonathan Barzilay , SVP of programming and advertising at MediaFLO USA: "There's pretty much nothing you can do where you don't end up learning something." Under that premise, MediaFLO is doing more short-term event-based programming such as the UEFA EURO 2008, Olympics and XGames channels it programmed over the summer. Kevin Grant , VP of sales at MobiTV: "It's actually almost too early to tell… It's still too hard to find, it might be too expensive depending on the carrier… We're just so at the early form right now." What business models work best? Clayman: Subscriptions...

MobiTV is taking a calculated gamble on business-related content through a new service that will launch on RIM's Blackberry Bold next month. Mobi4BIZ will combine live TV and video-on-demand content from CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox Business and TheStreet.com ( NSDQ: TSCM ) and real-time stock data from CNBC. Ray DeRenzo, SVP of product, programming and marketing: "Most of the people that would be interested in this content have smartphones." The service, which MobiTV expects carriers to sell for around $10 a month, will eventually extend to more carriers and devices following the initial launch with RIM ( NSDQ: RIMM ). Mobi4BIZ features a customizable watch list that will give users the data and video they deem more important. Each time users log in to the service, the most relevant new clips will be displayed as thumbnails for browsing. The application will also be the first to make use of technology improvements MobiTV's been working on that will improve video quality, speed up channel changing and allow for targeted ad insertion. The same tweaks will roll out on MobiTV's existing services as well. ( Release ). Check out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent.org Job Board.