BBC, ViaCom go opposite directions with YouTube: Who will benefit the most?
By Ruben Francia
The BBC and ViaCom have each decided to take opposite directions in dealing with copyrighted material on YouTube. The BBC will not be hunting down copyrighted clips uploaded by YouTube members, while ViaCom has demanded the removal of more than 100,000 illegally posted clips. Who will benefit the most from these moves? Is it the BBC, ViaCom or Google’s YouTube?
The BBC became the first international broadcaster to officially sign on with YouTube in a deal announced Friday. The partnership helps the government-funded BBC bring content to worldwide audience. On the other hand, Viacom is insisting on keeping YouTube at a distance.
The BBC is keen to reach broader audience and, in particular, use YouTube to bring new revenue. By promoting current programming via YouTube, BBC also hopes to attract users to its own Web-based, on-demand iPlayer service.
“This groundbreaking partnership between the BBC and YouTube is fantastic news for our audiences,” said Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC told TechNewsWord. “YouTube is a key gateway through which to engage new audiences in the UK and abroad.”
“It’s essential that the BBC embraces new ways of reaching wider audiences with non-exclusive partnerships such as these,” Thompson said in a statement published by Reuters.
The non-exclusive partnership will create branded BBC “Channels” on YouTube where users will be able to comment, rate, recommend the clips to friends and post their own video responses to communicate with the BBC and other viewers.
Ashley Highfield, BBC’s director of Future Media and Technology said “the BBC would not be hunting down all BBC-copyrighted clips already uploaded by YouTube members – although it would reserve the right to swap poor quality clips with the real thing, or to have content removed that infringed other people’s copyright, like sport, or that had been edited or altered in a way that would damage the BBC’s brand”.- Associated Press
On the other hand, ViaCom traffic to its Web sites rose dramatically in the past month, after it demanded that the Google-owned video site remove more than 100,000 illegally posted clips. Traffic at Comedy Central’s site was up more than 90% for the month, while MTV’s site and Nickelodeon were up by 50% and 30% respectively.
Viacom CEO Philip Dauman at TheDailyReel said “the spikes in Web traffic validated the company’s move against YouTube”.
According to research by Hitwise, YouTube’s traffic has not suffered after recent copyright problems and the pulling of Viacom content. In fact, the very controversy of Viacom’s demands may have attracted curious surfers.
With all of the above, who do you think will benefit the most from these events?
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March 2nd, 2007
Ruben, isn’t the real question, who do you think will benefit most? Aren’t you the expert?
March 3rd, 2007
Yea, you raise a vaild question here. YouTube will never loose in any situation like this (unless they get sued), but quite possibly everyone is the winner in this case. The BBC and Viacom surely aren’t complaining, and YouTube is well… YouTube.