• TechCrunch, Monday, December 11, 2006 10:32 AM

Not only are the networks planning to launch a YouTube competitor, but they also plan to sue YouTube and Google for copyright violations in conjunction with the launch, forcing them to pull content off YouTube.

One caveat: discussions have stalled. Google is waving $140 million a piece in front of the noses of News Corp, Viacom, CBS and NBC to license their content for several years. This is definitely more money than would come in from their own online departments--at least for the next several years.

For openers, CBS and others would rather not have to go through YouTube to get their video content in front of viewers. Aside from that, Google's YouTube currently lacks a solid ad system to split revenues.

Viacom and Disney, which will soon relaunch their respective Web platforms, are almost certain to dropout, while Fox, NBC and CBS are still trying to put a deal together. Such a deal looks 50/50, but if it were to happen, an exodus of major media companies could put a serious dent in Google's video ambitions.

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