First on Mars - Flashy web TV aggregator

There's no shortage of places to find online video these days. Most TV networks offer full length episodes of at least a few shows, and video portals like Hulu and Joost offer content from a wide range of sources. First on Mars wants a piece of that pie, and has taken an interesting approach that's more akin to FanCast or AOL Video's strategy of aggregatings programs from multiple sources including Hulu, CBS, PBS, and other network sites.

First on Mars has an attractive, if busy interface built on Flash. You can browse a long list of shows and networks and add favorite programs or shows to a playlist with the click of a button. Unfortunately there's no easy way to search, which means things can get unwieldy.

The site also lets you browser programs based on "mood." For example, if you select "Bleak," you see tiles for shows like American Gothic, Battlestar Galactica, and Jericho. If you're in a "Financial" mood you get an odd choice of programs including The Colbert Report, Cribs, and My Super Sweet Sixteen. I'm not sure what that says about our culture -- or about the number of programs available online.

First On Mars displays videos by loading web sites in a frame, which means you'll see the videos exactly as they appear on the original web page. But for some reason the selection seems to be a bit more limited than what you'd find on some of those original pages. For example, clicking on the PBS icon brings up Nova, but not Frontline.

[via VentureBeat]

Tags: first-on-mars, online-video, tv, web-video