There's been a lot of activity in recent weeks for major corporations to catch a bit of the YouTube rush, especially now that the video sharing site has beat out MySpace in popularity. It all smells like serious bouts of identity crises if you ask me.
First there's MTV Flux or is it Flux? In fact it's a little of both. The new social networking service includes extensions on TV, the Web, and on mobile. Flux users can push content via mobile and Web that will play alongside videos of their choosing. Even text messages could end up being displayed on the channel and self-created avatars will serve as the users' online identities. Official launch of the site is set for August 1, with the TV channel following on September 6.
Also riding the YouTube wave, AOL plans to relaunch its video service on August 4. Along with user submissions, content will also include 45 video-on-demand channels featuring programming from the History Channel, Comedy Time, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, WNBA, and Warner Bros. And following the lead of Amazon and Apple into the Netflix arena, AOL plans to enable users to subscribe and rent videos later this year.
Joining the video sharing, social networking fray is CNN with its citizen journalism site, CNN Exchange. The site --- which enables users to submit audio and video clips, as well as articles and graphics via web or mobile phone --- went live today. CNN Exchange I-Reports are being powered by blip.tv's video publishing services and the best content may end up on TV. CNN blogs, including Anderson Cooper's 360° blog are also featured on site.
With the current trend of online users flocking to user generated media sites like YouTube and MySpace --- and blogs --- professional media organizations are finding themselves having to fully embrace these concepts. What do you think of the new video services?
Related Stories: | Topics:Technology, internet + web, YouTube LLC, Cable News Network LP LLLP, MySpace Inc., MTV Networks Company, Internet |
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Recent Comments | 6 Total
August 2, 2006 at 2:46pm by Kevin Dugan
It makes no sense to me why a financially strapped mainstream media outlet would want to cook up its own video solution when it could simply partner with YouTube. It's not as simple and straightforward as linking the sites together, but it could be beneficial to both organizations.
More on this topic here: http://tinyurl.com/hatd8
August 2, 2006 at 5:49pm by Rick
you left out one important element in the "MTV + AOL + CNN = YouTube" equation: Kazaa. YouTube is the best place to find copyrighted videos without paying those troublesome royalties. It's also the best place for child molesters to find home movies of your children. Good riddance to bad rubbish...I will start uploading movies when I see a site for videos that is more like Flickr--ie, one that includes the ability to attach a CC license or limit viewing to friends and family.
August 2, 2006 at 6:50pm by Bruce Lewin
Personally, I think this is a case of change is good!
August 2, 2006 at 8:13pm by Megan
Even Bill Gates said he wouldn't touch YouTube because they operate with a laissez faire attitude towards piracy. Also, why would CNN, MTV or AOL want their logo anywhere near some of the content on YouTube? That should be the most interesting - when YouTube tries to find advertisers as pre-rolls to videos depicting disturbing footage.
August 3, 2006 at 12:28pm by Jeff
Personally, I like Yahoo! video because its integrated into Yahoo!'s other, community-oriented services.
It's far from perfect (I've got a laundry list of observations, suggestions, and flat-out complaints about Yahoo!'s execution of its "social Web" strategy), but it seems to strike a happy medium between YouTube's non-existant content and copyright standards and CNN Exchange's "we're only doing this because we have to, and, oh, by the way, we now own you" approach to user-generated content.
August 3, 2006 at 1:53pm by Eric
piracy and disturbing video is rampant on Youtube. No doubt. I have built a syndicated Internet Broadcast company out of that complaint. As a business. www.lsnproductions.com. As a business owner if I find my preroll video served by a company like Booyah next to a college kid jumping off his roof. Im ticked; that would suck for my brand.