The So-Called YouTube Rival

Last Thursday, March 22, NBC and News Corp. officially announced their plans to unveil a new online video service aimed at rivaling the ever-popular YouTube. Since its inception, YouTube has put corporate media companies on edge with the rampant unapproved use of copyrighted material so often found on the video sharing website. While some have decided to freak out about it (Viacom is currently suing YouTube and Google for $1 Billion, citing copyright infringement-MSNBC), others have decided to embrace the technology and make deals (read: Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, and CBS-News.com). Bucking the trend, joint coordinators News Corp. and NBC have decided to create their own online video website.

How original.

The goal of this project can be summed up in a quote, taken from this New York Times article. Peter A. Chernin, COO of News Corp., says,

"We’ll have access to just about the entire U.S. Internet audience at launch. And for the first time, consumers will get what they want — professionally produced video delivered on the sites where they live."

Let's dissect this statement. The claim of having access to "just about" every American on the Internet is quite possibly true, as such sites as Yahoo!, AOL and MSN are under the NBC/News Corp. umbrella. As far as claiming to know what consumers want...Well, that's another argument. It seems like a careless assumption made by a money-mongering COO. And you all know what assuming does! (...it makes an ass out of you and me...excuse my English).

There is a reason why YouTube is so popular, and it is not because of professionally produced videos. No, it is because of amateur, user-generated content. YouTube makes it possible for the most untalented of filmmakers to become an Internet superstar, almost based solely on content, not the quality of the video. After all, the slogan you see under the YouTube logo at the top of the site's homepage is "Broadcast Yourself", not "A Place To Watch Professionally Produced Videos". While the most popular content is unprofessional video, are the head thinkers at NBC and the News Corporation really thinking? Well, of course they are. About themselves. But that is a given, right? In fact, according to this article by Kevin Kelleher on TheStreet.com, there was little talk between Jeff Zucker (CEO of NBC) and Peter Chernin about the consumers when the idea was being formed. Rather, the buzz to them was all about the advertisers and copyright holders. Why? Because advertisers make them money and providing only licensed, copyrighted material will keep them out of harm's way and in the good graces of the law. Because if they can help it, there is no way the average citizen will view their content without going through them.

Then again, there must be a reason why they believe this idea will work, and possibly pose a serious threat to YouTube's popularity. What leads them to believe this is that people are willing to watch a TV show on NBC.com with all of the advertisements. Apparently if one misses a favorite show, little will stop that person from catching up on what was missed, even if it means laboring through numerous ads and watching it on a computer screen. All of the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) allow free viewing of their major shows online after the show has aired on realtime television, with marked success. But how big is the audience that actually watches network shows online? I'm going to guess that it is not as large as the number of people who spend time on YouTube every day both uploading their own and watching other videos.

The questions to ask are as follows:

-Do people want to see professional video, or homemade?

-What is special about professionally done video?

-Isn't the draw of YouTube the user-generated content and freedom of distribution?

The whole Internet world knows that YouTube is awesome because it is for the user, by the user. When Google bought YouTube there was some thinking that the introduction of a major corporation would commercialize and de-personalize the service, but so far that has not been the case. So is there reason to worry, or even care about this new thing from NBC/News Corp.? I think not. I predict that the site will be used to view network shows that aren't available on YouTube, and YouTube won't be affected much at all, in terms of site hits. So, go for it! It may or may not be the success that Peter Chernin and Jeff Zucker think it can be, but either way YouTube will remain the number one video site on the Internet (unless MySpace catches up).


All of this leads to another thought, however: Is it appaling to anyone that so much attention and money is being focused on such a trivial issue such as online video, minor copyright infringement, and what coroporation is winning or losing these money battles? The amount of money and effort expended in the altogether silly and contemptible entertainment industry could probably clothe and feed our nation's homeless and educate those unable to receive ample education. And of course to help clean up the mess that Katrina left. But I suppose that's not what is important here. No, instead of focusing on ways to better ourselves to in turn better others and create an environment/culture that stimulates love and compassion, we are more concerned with ourselves and how to watch that missed episode of Grey's Anatomy. What a world we live in. But I have hope!


"And I broke down at the break of dawn and saw looming in the clouds above the Pentagon (as real as the Holocaust, as strong as the Parthenon) visions of Sudan, Iraq, and Vietnam. And I stood silent upon a flooded levee and stared at the ruins of a merchant city and the president who came to dine with the noble elite. He didn't do a thing. I saw three ships come sailing in through the passage of the Caribbean. I saw children coming home in coffins; Millions marching on Washington. And I asked, when is the revolution?" -Brett Dennen, "I Asked When"