wat.tv: TF1 ventures into social networking

TF1, the leading TV channel in France, is trying to have its very own myspace.

It has just opened wat (We Are Talented) to the public. It's a free online social networking service, merging blogging and media sharing (pics, music, video, mobile media).

A noteworthy feature is the imminent launch of a"wat TV" area. More on this later.

wat has signed a deal with Skype allowing members to interact using controls of the software directly embedded into the member profiles.

All "classic" social networking features are available on wat. But the page design and usability outperforms myspace, and it is natively media-oriented (i.e. share music, photos, videos without clunky widgets...).

It is solely designed for France, TF1's main market, where it is a very powerful player in content and advertising.

Nota: TF1 has just announced buying 20% of JFG Network, editor of Overblog, a French blogging platform boasting 2 million monthly audience and 320 000 blogs.