BermanBraun, the studio launched by former Yahoo entertainment chief Lloyd Braun and film industry vet Gail Berman, has entered a deal with Microsoft to create an MSN-branded celebrity gossip and entertainment site. Kara Swisher first reported the launch yesterday, along with the tidbit that BermanBraun will also produce a daily “Lunacy Report” roundup up weird news appearing on Yahoo. Sounds very similar to Yahoo’s recently-folded “the 9,” which ran for two years but now redirects to Yahoo Entertainment.
MSN is the last of the traditional portals to do the gossip destination thing, having previously taking the approach of integrating its coverage of such stories as Bill Murray’s infidelities with harder news content. The new site will join a congested field that also includes AOL’s TMZ, PerezHilton.com and Yahoo’s OMG. BermanBraun will share ad representation with Microsoft, Swisher also reported.