BigShinyThing

As part of the trial, users can watch sports, TV shows, cartoons and classic films such as Dressed to Kill and The Night of the Living Dead with reasonably subtle banner ads along the top of the screen. Google Video had previously offered access to film and television content for a small fee, but its entry into the free-to-air market may be the watershed moment in the explosion of video on the web.

Whilst YouTube continues to tussle with broadcasters over copyright [say hello vintage Bill Hicks content, wave goodbye ...] and its own shaky quality issues, Google is now offering high quality and legitimately distributed TV content which is paid for by advertisers not viewers. Somewhat ironically, Google Video’s current advertiser list includes Netflix, the DVD rental service.

Various broadcasters have experimented with distributing their content online but with a very Web 1.0 mindset. For example, Channel 4 in the UK have been offering premium content such as episodes of Desperate Housewives for a small fee. Our verdict? We couldn’t be bothered and 99p per view makes the whole experience feel a little tawdry — what value content? A much more rewarding experience was The Apprentice, the entire last season, viewable for free and on demand on the BBC website. Falling neatly between these two extremes, we think that yet again Google has grabbed a bit of the future/now.

Source: The Independent.

UPDATE: according to Mediaguardian today (27/06/06) NBC has come to its senses somewhat and has signed a deal with YouTube to share promotional clips with the site. The agreement marks a U-turn by NBC, which in February forced YouTube to remove various programme clips from its website and threatened legal action over copyright infringement. As part of the deal, NBC is also running a competition via YouTube allowing fans of the US version of The Office to create their own promotional videos [yawn]. YouTube will create a separate online channel for NBC video clips.Today’s deal also formalises the arrangement whereby YouTube will take down content belonging to NBC that is uploaded by users, if requested. Good luck with that. As we’ve pointed out before, there are a lot more users than lawyers out there ….