Aggregator Limited and MercuryMedia have entered into a co-venture agreement to develop and launch a new Internet TV service which will enable easy access to an extensive library of documentaries and factual films. The service, called 'joiningthedots.tv', is due to launch in February 2007 with over 200 titles to create an online resource where the viewing public can increase their awareness of the world. With a motto of 'independent films for independent people' joiningthedots.tv will address a global audience which is increasingly underserved by traditional broadcast television. It will offer a wide range of factual programming, including current affairs, history, observational, polemic, arts, nature and science, as well as providing non-partisan forums and a portal for user generated factual content.

NeuLion Incorporated, the company driving convergence between television and the internet, announced today that Africast TV has chosen NeuLion's iPTV Service as the platform for the first global African Consumer Broadcast Network. The service is scheduled to be launched in December and will roll out more than 30 TV channels in the next few months.

The big news today definitely surrounds Brightcove, who has finally launched their new service that allows content owners of all sizes to launch their own Internet TV channels for free and empowers them to generate revenue through advertising and video download sales.

You can check out what some companies are saying about the new service such as TasteTV, who has been using the Brightcove platform for their Indie Food Channel.

Coinciding with the launch of the Brightcove Network, the company announced the availability of several new services designed to generate revenue and increase distribution for Internet TV channels.

Warner Music Group and Brightcove announced an agreement to offer consumers easy-to-use, on-demand access to WMG's extensive catalog of music-based video content including music videos, artist interviews, live performances, and "behind the scenes" footage from its award-winning artists and labels. This agreement further increases WMG's opportunities to make its video catalog commercially available in the digital space as well as marking a first for the Company to commercially distribute its video content directly to consumers.

Music fans can easily add the video players to their blogs, web sites, and personal profile pages using the player sharing services provided by Brightcove. It's about time, but is it too late? You can already do the same with YouTube.

Comcast and Sony look to add a little fright to the Halloween season and beyond by launching a new platform, called FearNet, to provide video content via cellphones, Comcast's video-on-demand service, and the Internet.

FearNet will feature over 200 horror films from Lions Gate, Sony Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The movies will be free using the Comcast On Demand service and FearNet web site.

Officials at Comcast said FearNet represents the future of their blended solution: offering programming over the Internet and via video-on-demand.

Joining the ranks of YouTube and MusicNation, who are both holding online video contests, Yahoo! announced the "Yahoo! Talent Show," an eight-week online video contest dedicated to discovering original talent on the Internet. The contest starts today and an open call invites users to send in their submissions by uploading video clips of themselves demonstrating their best talents.

From skills in filmmaking and animation to stand-up comedy, pet comedy and performance art, Yahoo! wants to see people who have what it takes to get noticed by users and judges to become a "Web Celeb."

The Los Angeles (LA) Kings are launching an online video portal for the new NHL season with its long-standing partner VirtuPoint.

Together, VitalStream and VirtuPoint will broadcast KingsTV, at www.lakings.com. KingsTV provides fans with coverage of live events including press conferences, pre-game build-up and post-game interviews. Hockey fans can watch interviews with players after morning practices and then see post-game analysis, press conferences and interviews with the coaches and players from both sides.

Starting today, AOL will offer consumers downloadable movies and television shows from Paramount Pictures through the AOL Video portal. AOL has already forged partnerships with other major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

Through AOL Video, a selection of movie and television titles from Paramount Pictures are available for download with prices ranging from $9.99 to $19.99 per movie. Once downloaded, videos can be viewed offline as well as on other PCs and compatible portable devices.

Access E, Japan's entertainment broadband channel has entered into an international distribution agreement with MixCast, a global urban lifestyle television outlet. Access E's programming on MixCast focuses on style, celebrity profiles and interviews, and Japanese street culture. Now Access E programming will be available to viewers worldwide through MixCast's phone, web, and television distribution.

SIVOO, an Internet TV network with a vast collection of Spanish and Chinese on-demand entertainment programming, has launched a completely redesigned website. New features include enhanced functionality, to make it easier for consumers to navigate the site and to access and watch their favorite multicultural programming. The site's URL is www.sivoo.com.

Uniersal Music Group has opened up a lawsuit against Grouper Networks Inc. and Bolt Inc., both popular online video sharing sites. The lawsuit alleges widespread infringement for allowing users to post hundreds of music videos from popular artists and other copyrighted material without authorization.

In yet another online video announcement, CBS Corporation and Yahoo! signed a deal to make local news video from 16 of CBS's owned stations available on the Yahoo! news portal.

Yahoo! News users will have access to 10 to 20 local news video stories per day, from each of the 16 markets. The video includes breaking news stories, as well as other locally-focused features and reports.

After months of beta testing, CNET Networks officially launched its online video destination, CNET TV. CNET TV is a web portal where viewers can access all of CNET's videos providing reviews and reports on the latest technology and consumer electronics.

CNET also announced a partnership with Verizon to distribute CNET's video through on-demand television. Verizon, which currently offers Verizon, FiOS TV in seven states, will also make CNET's video content available to its on-demand subscribers, including product reviews, help and how-to videos, and commentary on breaking news.

TANDBERG Television rolled out a new interactive application to complement the broadcast debut presentation of the Discovery Channel and Discovery HD Theater series, DISCOVERY ATLAS, running each Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET/PT throughout October. Viewers can enhance their DISCOVERY ATLAS viewing experience through a live, synchronous interactive application accessed via the show website: http://www.discoveryatlas.com.

EuroNews and TVext have reached an agreement to make EuroNews programming available at www.tvext.tv. The partnership allows viewers in the U.S. and Canada to watch U.S. and international news live from their desktop, free of charge.