NBC and News Corp takes on YouTube - with help from MySpace, AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft

By Don Dodge

The LA Times announced that NBC and News Corp are teaming up to launch a new video service to compete with YouTube. At first I thought this was a dumb idea... just like when the record labels decided to launch their own music site to crush Napster. But this is different.

NBC and News corp. will use MySpace, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, and others to distribute their video. Don't you think MySpace, AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft will do everything possible to make this attractive, build a huge audience, and crush YouTube? NBC, News Corp, Viacom, and others know who their friends are...and they are all too happy to help.

In my opinion the Keys To Success are:

• Distribution partners - MySpace, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft. Great! Now add Facebook, BrightCove, and any other cool social site that wants to play.
• Content partners - NBC and News Corp own lots of great content. Now add Viacom, Sony, Time Warner, other TV networks, and film producers. The content must be complete. You must be able to find anything to be regarded as a true destination site.
• Have it your way - The video must be available in short clips, "best of" montages, and full length. Just making the same 60 minute, or longer, shows available on the web will not be very interesting. There are much better ways to experience video...like DVR's, Tivo, DVDs, etc.
• Allow User Generated Mashups - YouTube is cool because you can find short clips of the funniest moments of The Comedy Show, or the best clips of a football game, or a crazy compilation of bloopers. Individuals spend hours editing long videos to find just the right clips. The wisdom of the crowds identifies the winners. The TV and film studios need to find a way to leverage the talent of these consumer editors.
• Multiple business models - They will obviously use advertising, but should also consider pay per play, subscriptions, and rentals like Netflix. This could be a huge revenue stream if they get creative with how to monetize it.
• Flexible pricing - All videos are not created equal. Clips are not worth the same price as full length videos. Old catalog TV shows should have a different price than last night's episode of 24.