We're really happy to announce that Smashface has signed a licensing and distribution deal with Next New Networks for JETSET! This deal will give JETSET a stable platform for at least the next twelve months, and it will allow us to focus our energies on thinking of new ways to interact with our audience and make great content.

Zadi and I have known Tim Shey for a few months, but it seems a lot longer -- he's one of the founders of NNN. They were a sponsor of the Halloween Videoblog Festival last year, and at that party I got a chance to talk with Tim about what they were planning on building with NNN. I liked the things I was hearing, such as how they were focused on niche content, identifying audiences around which they could build networks of their own new shows, and creating an infrastructure that allows content creators to be free of worrying about platforms and distribution models. Seemed like a pretty smart approach to us.

We also liked that there were people at the helm of the company that had serious experience building and growing media companies. Herb Scannell and Fred Seibert basically built MTV, Fred built Frederator Studios, and Herb was president at Nickelodeon Networks. For some people in the online world I think there is a certain fear about working with companies with top people who come from mainstream media. That thought crossed our minds, as well.

When the Channel Frederator Awards were held here in L.A. in January, we got to spend an afternoon with Tim to talk much more in-depth about NNN's plans. We could see that they were not approaching this thing as if they had all the answers. They knew that there were going to be hurdles to cross and things to figure out, and they seemed to be genuinely interested in hearing criticism. A year of planning had gone into NNN, and in that time Channel Frederator had become a really fun show that we were watching regularly. This allowed us to get a sense for how they might approach their other shows.

Zadi and I had been thinking about the future of JETSET since it first rolled out the door. We knew we had something that could really reach a wide audience and break boundaries in terms of audience interaction, but time and money were always an issue. I was working a full-time job until January, and we did not want to be in a position where we were going to miss opportunities.

After talking to Tim, it seemed quite plain to us that we were thinking in very similar ways about building online shows and making them as interactive and engaging as they could be. They were calling them "networks," but they are really just groups of shows that serve the same audience with niche content. This is what we wanted to do with JETSET eventually -- build a network of teen shows with JETSET as the hub. Zadi had been hatching that idea since last June.

We presented the idea to Tim of making JETSET a part of Next New Networks, and things came together very quickly with the help of Barrett Garese at UTA. Even though it's their clearly stated mission to build new shows, I think we could all see the potential of placing an established show like JETSET into the infrastucture they had already built since we seemed to have such similar plans. So it made very natural sense for all of us that way.

Zadi and I have a very steep task ahead of us -- to be one of the first shows to try and figure out how to engage viewers on primarily mobile devices. Some 60+% of JETSET viewers watch on their phones, iPods, or PSP's. We're really glad to have the support behind Smashface to help JETSET solidify and grow while we all work on developing this industry. And we're excited about the possible opportunity to help NNN develop shows around JETSET eventually.

These are interesting times. :)