— Aardman And Digital Outlook Launch Characters On Bebo: Wallace & Gromit producer Aardman and Digital Outlook studios have co-produced a set of musical characters for teens, which are debuting today on social network Bebo. Targeted at 14-18 yr olds, the characters, called the JellyBeats, are a collection of jellyfish, each one representing a different musical genre. Aardman and DOS are hoping the Jellybeats will attract an online following, which will allow them to take the characters to other media outlets. The Jellybeats will have their own profile page on Bebo as well as their own web site, which will feature JellyBeats film shorts, free downloads including icons for messenger, an iTunes live feed to the top five tunes in each JellyBeats genre and a gadget which can be placed into most online social networks (release). 

— Kelvin Mackenzie Launches MyVideoRights.com: Kelvin Mackenzie, the brains behind the News Bunny, has launched a new short form video web site to capitalise on the popularity of YouTube. Brand Republic reports that the former Sun editor, and one time BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) MD has partnered up with ex-Endemol head Peter Bazalgette to launch MyVideoRights.com, a site where users can upload videos to be syndicated to publishing companies. The site, which is being run by MacKenzie’s son Ashley, will act as a middle man, collecting fees from publishers and redistributing them back to the content owners for a small cut. The firm wants videos of up to eight minutes. Aside from restrictions on pornography, abusive material, or videos that promote terrorism, the site is open to a variety of subjects.

— Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) To Take Ultralocal Strategy National: Trinity Mirror has had quite a bit of success with its ultra local web sites, each of which cover a single postcode in Teesside. The 22 sites have attracted a number of new advertisers and even spawned their own print versions. The Guardian reports that Trinity Mirror is now planning a national rollout of ultra local sites, which take news from the group’s newspapers and combines it with user generated content. The next site will launch in Coventry in April, with Northumberland to follow.