The portal will attempt to become a hub for young people throughout Greater Manchester by offering a range of audio and video entertainment.
The plan is part of a renewed investment in online for the Guardian Media Group-owned title, which relaunched its main MEN site in February.
Ruth Spratt, digital and broadcast director for GMG Regional Media, said entertainment is a priority and that it will be watching how other media owners commercialise entertainment online.
“Entertainment is a big area for us and we’re going to launch a comprehensive site for Greater Manchester to attract the elusive 18 to 24-year-olds,” said Spratt.
“It will be interesting to watch the development of ITV.com. This is one of the ways media companies are stemming their losses in traditional areas.”
MEN Media will launch a dedicated jobs site – The Jobsmine – in January 2008. The publisher is busy courting recruitment agencies in a bid to become the biggest jobs portal in the North West.
Part of MEN Media’s investment in online video will see estate agents and other property firms create promotional videos to be hosted on MEN Media’s sites.
MEN Media restructured its senior management team in September, appointing Mark Rix to the top job.
The paper went partially free last year and has extended the number of free copies distributed from 50,000 to 90,000.
In May, the MEN announced 40 redundancies, including nine compulsory redundancies.
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