Will NBC Universal and News Corp's HULU.com be another flash in the pan like NBC's NBBC.com?

NBC Universal and News Corp are probably putting the final touches on their soon to be launched online video joint venture, Hulu.com. Both companies are the latest big media players attempting to keep audiences from running to Youtube to see their programming by creating a video destination of their own. Viacom made every single episode of "The Daily Show" available online at the newly launched Thedailyshow.com. But back to Hulu. This won't be NBC's first run at an online video venture. A year ago with much fanfare NBC launched a mediocre site called NBBC.com. The site has since vanished into thin air. The venture was a flop right out of the gate due to it overly corporate look and discription (see image below). Online video ventures need to have a welcoming image sans the corporate lingo. Audiences and most advertisers could care less about that. It was an attempt to interact with NBC's audience but it turned out that NBC's audience didn't want to interact with them, and around that time there was a little site called Youtube smoking up the place. So will News Corp's involvement make a difference this time around? We think so. With News Corp's Myspace, if the right people are in charge of this new venture, it can make some noise. But it won't be an issue for the folks at Youtube, because at Youtube, the audience runs the show. EARLIER: Fresh Off The Wires: NBC Launches "NBBC"

Can big media take on the mighty Google?

-LENN HINDSMANN When Google swallowed Youtube in a $1.6 billion deal, it set off the online video race. Big media companies knew it would take loads of cash and new technology to go up against the internet monster, so some of them teamed up and some decided to go it alone. Now it looks like there is some kind of joint goal among big media and the major internet companies who stand beside them to crush Google. But will Google CEO Eric Schmidt even give them the chance to catch up? While the big media guys are busy trying to figure out how to challenge Google’s Youtube, Schmidt has been building the company via some smart and key acquisitions quietly moving into traditional media territory. Maybe this is exactly what Schmidt wants, so while big media leaves their back door unguarded he can slip right in and catch them by surprise. One by one, the big media companies and the Internet giants have started to ante up for the big poker game over the future of the video content business. Google started it all with its acquisition of YouTube. Then GE’s NBC-Universal and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. responded by joining forces to create “NewCo,” which Comcast, the country’s largest cable company, also just joined. Sumner Redstone’s CBS followed with the announcement of their own independent distribution initiative, called the “CBS Interactive Audience Network”. Standing alongside these big media giants are all the biggest Internet portals, including Yahoo!, AOL , and MSN. What has essentially happened, in a very short period, is that most of the existing Internet and media establishment have lined up on one side of the fence in support of each other, all against GooTube! Viacom Needs to Team Up With Google, Rather Than Sue It [SeekingAlpha]

The fight for your eyes

-LENN HINDSMANN There is a major race going on among media companies. We all know big media like to compare dick sizes, but the question is who will have the biggest dick of all in the long or short run. Google may have been called idiots for paying $1.6 Billion for Youtube, but perhaps they saw something on the horizon and jumped on it when they got the chance. For years big media has controlled what, when, how, and where you watch your favorite television programs, but with a major shift going on from old to new media, they are now begging you to take the controls. Enter search engine blinkx and other search engines fighting to become thee destination for professionally made online programming. Suranga Chandratillake, founder of video search engine blinkx, likes showing off his new remote control. It can't change programs on TV, but this mouse-controlled tool will help users channel surf the Web. Much like the on-air channel guides on cable and satellite TV, the blinkx tool provides a comprehensive list of network TV programming available on the Web. Then, it lets users call up a show—from virtually anywhere on the Web—with the click of a mouse. The Surfer's Guide to the Web TV Galaxy [Businessweek]

Will Google end up disappointing Microsoft?

-SHOMARI HINES Microsoft is reportedly in talks to buy online ad -server DoubleClick, stepping up it's efforts to cash in on the booming Internet ad market. However Microsoft may have some competition in that running from rival Google. John Battelle believes the guys at Google are up to something and could swoop in and do a Ross levinsohn on Microsoft. Could a battle between Google and Microsoft lead to DoubleClick upping their asking price or will one of them bow out quietly if they feel its not worth a fight? It's a strange fact of life that Web "frienemy" (yes, we love that word) Google, doesn't accept third-party ad tags. Given the news that competitor Microsoft is considering a bid for the ad-server DoubleClick, which serves graphical CPMs for a huge portion of the ad world, rumors have surfaced that Google is planning to build its own third-party ad server for graphical ads. GoogleClick [John Battelle's Searchblog]

We all know where Viacom's frustration really came from

-Shomari Hines So by now we have no doubt that you heard that Viacom is taking it to the courts with Youtube over some copyright issues. We thought we heard the last of this when Viacom ordered Youtube to pull all their content but it looks like Viacom was out for blood from the start. So what’s really up with this crazy $1 Billion suit which probably won't go to court anyway? What kind of message is Viacom trying to send by bringing this lawsuit to a site that basically promotes their content? Sure we can understand where Viacom is coming from but, was a lawsuit really necessary? We think Viacom is still letting off steam from missing out on Myspace which many now refer to as the MTV of the internet. Viacom is pissed and they are letting it show. Why get tied up on legal crap when they could be putting that time and energy into correcting their digital fuck ups. Hell if they’re so pissed they should send some goons to Tom Freston’s house and slap him around for a few ticks. He is who they should be pissed at.

Viacom taking Youtube to court just for the hell of it

Viacom is taking their dislike for Youtube to a whole new level. The media giant is suing the pants of Chad Hurley and company over airing copyrighted content. But we won't attempt to say anymore. Just read the email sent to Viacom troops by CEO Phil Dauman regarding their beef with Youtube as well as a press release announcing the suit obtained by our friends in our heads at Gawker CONTINUE... TO: All Viacom Employees FROM: Philippe Dauman DATE: March 13, 2007 As you already know, Viacom has spent months trying to come to an agreement with Google and YouTube in order to provide our popular video content on the YouTube platform. Unfortunately, they refused to negotiate a reasonable licensing offer. Instead, YouTube continues to take no responsibility for airing copyrighted content, and selling advertising against it. None of this advertising is shared with us, and despite many promises, Youtube has not taken any significant steps to keep our creative works off the site and no timetable has been set. Therefore, today Viacom has brought action in U.S. District Court against Google and YouTube in order to protect our creative works from their continuing and intentional infringement, and to be compensated for the significant past infringement of our copyrights, which resulted in damages in excess of $1 billion.The decision to take this step was thoughtfully considered by our entire management team and our Board of Directors. We had hoped and expected that Google and YouTube would voluntarily comply with the law, and would respect the creativity and hard work of the people whose imagination, effort and investment created some of the most popular entertainment on their platform. We have continued at our expense to take down our content from YouTube but have seen no significant movement from Google or YouTube to rectify this untenable situation. As always, I greatly appreciate all your continued good work and support. The attached press release describes today's announcement in more detail. VIACOM FILES FEDERAL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT COMPLAINT AGAINST YOUTUBE AND GOOGLE Suit Seeks Court Ruling to Require YouTube and Googleto Comply With Copyright Laws and Pay $1 Billion in Damages NEW YORK, March 13, 2007 - Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) today announced that it has sued YouTube and Google in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for massive intentional copyright infringement of Viacom's entertainment properties. The suit seeks more than $1 billion in damages, as well as an injunction prohibiting Google and YouTube from further copyright infringement. The complaint contends that almost 160,000 unauthorized clips of Viacom's programming have been available on YouTube and that these clips had been viewed more than 1.5 billion times. In connection with the filing, Viacom released the following statement: "YouTube is a significant, for-profit organization that has built a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others' creative works in order to enrich itself and its corporate parent Google. Their business model, which is based on building traffic and selling advertising off of unlicensed content, is clearly illegal and is in obvious conflict with copyright laws. In fact, YouTube's strategy has been to avoid taking proactive steps to curtail the infringement on its site, thus generating significant traffic and revenues for itself while shifting the entire burden - and high cost - of monitoring YouTube onto the victims of its infringement. This behavior stands in stark contrast to the actions of other significant distributors, who have recognized the fair value of entertainment content and have concluded agreements to make content legally available to their customers around the world. There is no question that YouTube and Google are continuing to take the fruit of our efforts without permission and destroying enormous value in the process. This is value that rightfully belongs to the writers, directors and talent who create it and companies like Viacom that have invested to make possible this innovation and creativity. After a great deal of unproductive negotiation, and remedial efforts by ourselves and other copyright holders, YouTube continues in its unlawful business model. Therefore, we must turn to the courts to prevent Google and YouTube from continuing to steal value from artists and to obtain compensation for the significant damage they have caused."

Youtube to further distract already distracted mobile-ites

Not to our surprise, Google's Youtube is joning forces with Verizon Wireless which will allow customers to watch Youtube videos. YouTube videos will be viewable on cell phones for the first time under a deal with Verizon Wireless, which will also allow users to upload videos shot with their camera phones. You know, now that we think about it, Youtube should start paying these people for providing content for them. What if all Youtubers were to stop posting videos for a year, Youtube will go to shits. The mobile YouTube service, to be launched in early December, will be offered for no additional fee as part of Verizon's V Cast service, which costs subscribers $15 per month or $3 per day. The companies declined to provide an exact launch day, saying the technologies being employed are still being tested. Verizon Wireless to feature YouTube videos [AP]

Afternoon Wire: DreamWorks bail out, Magic in media, Google stashes cash for a rainy day

The great escape from DreamWorks Billionaire Paul Allen and other investors in movie studio DreamWorks are looking to bail out washing their hands of the studio and anything DreamWorksy. Paul Allen and others plan to sell $330 million of shares in an offering that will unwind the partnership that controls the movie studio. Bringing magic to media Magic Johnson will finally bring some clarity on at least one new venture, when he launches Magic New Media. Mr. Johnson, who is chairman-CEO of both Johnson Development Corp. and Magic Johnson Enterprises, said his new venture will include wireless and the web. "Every company's looking for these eyeballs," Mr. Johnson said later in a brief interview with Advertising Age. "There's no urban play." Hmmm you may want to back that up a bit Magic. Putting away for a rainy day Google has reportedly stashed away about $200 Million just in case they have to go to court to fight off any lawsuits related to their new company Youtube. We would say they will pretty much need that and maybe more. Critics of the YouTube deal have argued that Google would face major lawsuits from media companies whose copyrights were infringed by content being illegally uploaded onto the YouTube site.

Weekend Wire: The Corporatization of Youtube. What did they really think things would be the same?

Youtube may be rubbing the little people who made them who they are the wrong way. The company now under the control of the mighty Google, has been entering major deals with major media and record companies which has been pissing off the sites top posters who have been making their feelings known by posting angry videos on the site. Chad Hurley and company may be on their way to becoming a portal for big media leaving the little guy out on the curb. "It is starting to appear as though the regular guy doesn't have a chance on YouTube anymore," said Paul Robinett, who posts videos under the "renetto" moniker. "The majority of the content on YouTube belongs to people like me, yet they seem to be cutting deals with everyone that owns content but us." Robinett, who has posted upwards of 130 videos and is ranked on the site's "most subscribed" list, said he is frustrated because it appears he is being crowded out by the increasing devotion to professionally produced content. hey Paul here is an idea, start your own underground online video site devoted to unprofessionally produced content. VIDEO VENOM [NYP]