Last week, Google and YouTube capped a successful media fishing expedition with 200 small catches and one biggie: the British Broadcasting Corporation. However, the BBC deal isn't all it was cracked
up to be; it falls short of similar deals the video provider arranged with other media giants.
Short clips are the strategy, beginning with excerpts from shows like "Spooks," "Top Gear"
and "The Catherine Tate Show" (they're British -- it's OK if you've never heard of them) as well as plans to post 30 new new clips daily on YouTube in a few months. Advertising, something the publicly
funded BBC hasn't traditionally relied upon (much) will be displayed alongside some clips, but only for viewers outside the UK. The parties didn't offer financial details.
YouTube
touted the deal as its "first global content partnership with a major broadcaster." Indeed, having the BBC on board is a major boon to YouTube's considerable foreign audience. BBC News, for example,
is a major player in many parts of the world where it's preferred to the more amplified, big-media news productions of its American cousins. David Moody, BBC managing director for digital strategy,
believes the move will be good both for ad revenue, as well as driving significant Web traffic to its site. He said partnerships would not be limited to YouTube, as BBC already has an agreement
distribute clips through Google rival Yahoo.
Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »