Click here to visit the new home of AOLTV!

Hot on HuffPost TV:

See More Stories
EDITION: U.S.
CA Canada US United States UK United Kingdom
Powered by i.TV
May 26, 2012

Major networks might take on YouTube with new video site

by Adam Finley, posted Dec 9th 2006 1:16PM

computerNews Corp., Viacom, NBC Universal and CBS have been chatty-chatting with one another since the beginning of the year about one very important thing: THEY MUST KILL MISTER BOND. Wait, sorry, that's incorrect. I have trouble thinking of Rupert Murdoch and not seeing him seated at the head of a long table stroking a small exotic animal like some James Bond villain.

No, the actual news is that these three networks are in talks to develop a site to compete against YouTube, a site originally created for users to share videos that quickly became a place to find almost any TV clip you could imagine. CBS has already launched its own channel on YouTube, and others have taken advantage of YouTube's large audience. Disney and ABC have decided not to take part in the possible new venture.

I don't write about industry stuff much because thinking about these things makes my brain cry, but I have to ask if this is a good idea for the networks to develop their own video site, or if they should sign on with YouTube and take advantage of what's already proved to be popular. Either way, at least networks are starting to figure out that "television" no longer has to mean "something seen on TV." As technology keeps improving, and network not putting content online is going to be left in the dust, or so it would seem.

Link Squad

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

4 Comments

Filter by:
Gary Bourgeault (bizofshowbiz.com)

What I've heard so far is that it's simply going to be a site that offers existing content, if they're able to come to agreement on it. Who cares about something like that if that's all they do? That type of site already exists through numerous deals they've already made.

If they were to create original content, that may be something much more appealing and have a chance at better success.

Disney already has said they have no interest, as they're confident in their brand. Maybe these guys need to get some confidence in their own. I don't see this as anything compelling, if there ever is an agreement that is made.

December 09 2006 at 10:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
TomB

The best part of YouTube, IFILM, etc., is that they don't embed commercials into their videos. Watching a one minute video on AOL TV, for example, with a 30 second commercial just isn't worth it for me. I think if their new venture includes commercials in the videos then it will never work.

December 09 2006 at 4:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Whoosh

i can see the day when everyone will have their own television station. good god, the remote is gonna be huge!

December 09 2006 at 3:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Vito

It's possible that they might make something worthwhile, but the odds are much higher that they'll put something together that is both not accessible for all browsers or operating systems, and unwieldy because of how much effort they'll put into making the videos overly secure and filtering all of the videos for any traces of copyrighted material. MotherLoad, Adult Swim Fix, NBC's video site, Yahoo! TV, E! Online, all of these places have unreliable video content that doesn't work in most browsers.

Sad part is, YouTube would probably be more than happy to accommodate them by finding a way to include ads on certain content. The best solution would be to let people put clips of their stuff on YouTube, and offer full episodes with ads on their own site. But that's probably not what they want to do.

December 09 2006 at 2:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

Follow Us

TV Squad Hot Topics

From Our Partners