Murdoch Spins a Nifty Web

The same can surely be said of Viacom's (VIAB) Neopets online destination and its branded MTV Networks vehicles.

From "pay to play" and enhanced ads on the gaming front to selling ads around online traffic of social networkers, there is gold to be mined in these audiences. Both Viacom and News Corp. now have platforms that include sophisticated online communities of gamers, socializers and aficionados of everything from A to Z.

Neopets, while skewing younger, has enormous potential given its usage figures. Some 111 million-plus users own things called Neopets around the world, according to the site. Among News Corp. Internet properties there is an aggregate audience of some 70 million users, close to 50 million of them on myspace.com talking about the music they love, their favorite hairstyles and which user they intend to "socialize" with on Friday night.

While no one has fully figured out how to monetize online audiences of that size, a look at the attractive demographics of MySpace.com or Neopets tells at least part of the story: It's a virtual orgy of potential for media companies.

The sites' raison d'etre -- they are an evolutionary form of social networking and fun games -- is what is attracting media hard-chargers. The old theater adage that you need to put bums in seats has ceded largely to the notion that the bums are on the Internet.

Avatars (online identities) or player characters are Web-based platforms for people to meet, discuss and direct users to stores, movies, television shows, you name it. People also trade, buy and sell virtual property regularly and play highly interactive games. The popularity of socializing and gaming through these sites goes beyond the Xbox and several giant leaps further than water cooler chat.

Investors of a more mature nature don't need to understand the ins and outs of these virtual worlds. But the News Corp. and Viacom acquisitions show that the big players have landed firmly on Mars and they're finding there's plenty of life there.

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