• Broadcasting & Cable, Thursday, February 8, 2007 12 PM

In the wake of Viacom's decision to pull its content from YouTube, media executives are piling on the criticism for the user-generated online video site. On Tuesday, new NBC chief Jeff Zucker chided both YouTube and parent Google for failing to implement a new automated system for detecting copyrighted material. On Wednesday, IAC/InterActive Corp. CEO Barry Diller sided with the traditional media companies.

"What's happened is that media companies have said, 'We're not gonna let you get so strong in distribution,'" Diller said, likening it to HBO's dominance in acquiring movies for cable decades ago. "It's smart for Viacom, which said, 'Let me be really clear--you're not gonna take stuff that I made, then massage it and control it for other people.'" Diller added that despite YouTube's impressive traffic, its "tools are going to be everywhere. It's not going to be one place to go."

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