Bob Wright, the chief executive of NBC, said today in an interview in the Financial Times that , acquired by NBC in March in a $600m (£321m) deal, would become the cornerstone of its online activities.
It plans to increase the amount of cross branding between iVillage and NBC television shows, as well as launching iVillage Live, a television show on the site. There may also be the addition of subscription-only areas to iVillage.
There have been many comparisons between NBC's acquisition of iVillage and News Corporation buying , but Wright argued that iVillage has none of the negatives of MySpace -- which has to deal with the problem of internet safety online and regulatory issues of what content is appropriate for teenagers.
"MySpace is a playground in a rough neighbourhood. We're a suburban restaurant," he told the FT. But at the same time he admitted that social networking was "a phenomenon we're going to have to deal with".
Certainly iVillage is a veteran in online terms, having been founded in 1995, and has an average of 362m page views a month across the iVillage network, according to ComScore Media Metrix.
When NBC acquired iVillage it revealed plans to promote the site on programmes including 'The Today Show' and 'Project Runway', as well as in health and lifestyle segments of its network of TV stations, which include Bravo and the Sci Fi Channel.
It also uses the portal, which reaches nearly 11% of women in the US, to promote its coverage of the NFL football competition, with a new blog called The Female Fan, which aims to explain the game to the wives and girlfriends of avid male supporters.
The FT also reports that NBC is testing a new website for , which will give access to all interviews and features run on the cable channel for a subscription fee.
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