NBC and News Corp to create 'YouTube killer'

Author: Wil Harris
Published: 23rd March 2007
Comments (7) Stumble
Will YouTube be kicked into touch?

Will YouTube be kicked into touch?

NBC, News Corporation and other big media companies are combining to create a new video sharing site which will attempt to rival YouTube.

The 'portal', which has no name as of yet, will stream ad-supported TV shows and clips from various television networks and will also allow users to embed video in their own pages. Movie content will also be included in the deal, although the number of people happy to watch The Devil Wears Prada in streaming flash is yet to be ascertained.

AOL, Yahoo and MSN will also run the content on their own pages. However, it seems that viewing of the videos will be restricted to US residents only, and some content may be available to download.

The content giant notably not signed up to the deal is Viacom, which has decided to pursue its own independent web strategy in the fall-out of its lawsuit with YouTube.

Internally, Google and YouTube staff are reportedly calling the new venture 'ClownCo', due to the somewhat hastily prepared press releases, scattered content deals and general confusion that seems to be surrounding the announcement. A conference call to announce the deal yesterday was littered with contradictions and lacked a lot of detail, suggesting that the deal smacks of a kneejerk reaction to YouTube's popularity.

Commentators have suggested that the new company could be a massive failure - with such a wide alliance of partners, who actually all compete with each other, the management of the company could get very sticky indeed.

Do you think the big media companies can pull off a turnaround and embrace the web, wiping out YouTube? Let us know your thoughts over in the forums.
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Quote r4tch3t 23rd March 2007, 10:45
And how difficult would it be for Youtube to match this? Not very difficult I would assume.
Quote TheEclypse 23rd March 2007, 12:04
A competitor is always good, if they give YouTube a scare it could lead to some interesting new functionality.
Quote Dr. Strangelove 23rd March 2007, 14:26
Why is it that so many companies can't seem to create anything novel? It seems to me that an "alliance" between such big companies should be able to come up with something new rather than just copying what other people/companies do.
Quote DXR_13KE 23rd March 2007, 22:21
USA only? i think this will be shoved into someones ass.
Quote ralph.pickering 25th March 2007, 19:53
Surely it would be easier to take a site that already is getting the hits and has huge brand awareness, and form an alliance with that site with some kind of content for ad-revenue deal? Or is that too easy? Maybe getting their content to people and generating revenue isn't part of their strategy...
Quote Havok154 26th March 2007, 10:32
Is this anything like all the "ipod" killers we always hear about?

You can make a site for anything, but unless the target audience likes it more, you're screwed. The fact that stuff like youtube and such became so popular because it was the "anti-corporate" and had the feeling of it being "for the people, by the people" type of thing. I'm sure this'll go over as big as all those corporations that tryed to make myspace knockoffs and ended up dieing right away.
Quote Sparrowhawk 27th March 2007, 23:53
Quote:
Originally Posted by Havok154
Is this anything like all the "ipod" killers we always hear about?

You can make a site for anything, but unless the target audience likes it more, you're screwed. The fact that stuff like youtube and such became so popular because it was the "anti-corporate" and had the feeling of it being "for the people, by the people" type of thing. I'm sure this'll go over as big as all those corporations that tryed to make myspace knockoffs and ended up dieing right away.
Amen. The Microsoft "iPod" killer tripe is what I first thought of too. No one ever called a clunky interface and a "Plays for S***" sticker novel, whereas the iPod was made in spite of the RIAA giving it that extra "anti corporate" feel.
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