During a lull, on my Monday afternoon at work, I decided to check out the latest goodies posted on YouTube by NBC. To my surprise, NBC’s YouTube channel was nowhere to be found. Lo and behold, it appears that this will be the new reality for users who enjoyed watching the latest Conan, SNL, and Leno clips on YouTube.
Sometime on Sunday afternoon, NBC’s YouTube channel was taken offline. This was picked up by Valleywag, and was formally confirmed by General Electric on Monday.
NBC’s promotional videos have experienced a lot of love on Google’s YouTube. Videos like “Lazy Sunday,” “Dick in a Box,” and various clips from shows like ‘The Office’ were embraced by YouTube viewers.
The reason for the takedown seems to be the impending launch of NBC’s own online video venture, named Hulu. It is slated to be unveiled sometime this month.
NBC is not ruling out posting its short video clips on other sites in the future, according to an NBC Universal spokeswoman.
Is YouTube losing its appeal? This question seemed excessively pessimistic earlier this year, but there seems to be something to be said about this possibility now. Shabby and spammy videos frequently garner the most views on any given day, and it seems that there are many users trying their best to game the system, and some of them are succeeding.
If YouTube continues to lose big to quality content providers, like NBC, it could lose even more of its luster in the future.
Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071022/wr_nm/
nbc_google_dc;_ylt=AiauzjgHPHgwe.9c0mVdhvn6VbIF
http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/10/nbcs-youtube-ch.html
Jason Hahn
e: jhahn221@gmail.com
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