• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 16, 2007

Call YouTube YouGuess for major cable and broadcast networks.

What does a TV executive do these days with the biggest site for video on the Internet?

"I admit I truly have no clue," said Ted Harbert, president and CEO of the Comcast Entertainment Group, speaking at a luncheon put on by the Hollywood Radio and Television Society in Los Angeles. "I want to get paid, but getting the content out there is fabulous. What would you rather have? [The big audience] or the legal department sending out eight billion cease-and-desist letters? I don't know."

It's a big gamble for a big audience. You can take the promotion value that YouTube gives and leave the licensee fee money for your content on the table. Or, you can sue in the hopes of getting some money -- but no big audience.

Many networks have tried to monetize -- in theory -- this new level of user-generated marketing. NBC has even tried the if-you-can't-beat-'em join-'em line of thought by spoofing its own shows with user-generated-like promos.

The NBC Agency, for example, came up with one called "Zeroes," riffing off its popular rookie show, "Heroes." NBC also has a deal for YouTube users to come up with their own promos for "The Office."

Viacom doesn't believe the YouTube marketing and spin is worth it. Not when those 100,000 clips are seen "1.5 billion times," according to Viacom in its lawsuit. So if you are Viacom, you hope that Joost or Veoh or some other Internet vehicle will rise up -- with proper copyright protection -- and give it everything it wants, including a proper license fee -- a la the cable networks.

Perhaps Viacom is stuck in old-line thinking when it comes to its programming. Perhaps YouTube is stuck in believing that old media libraries aren't worth that much -- that having users pass around programs and clips is the real "engagement" those networks are looking for.

The bottom line for Viacom and NBC and anyone else looking to deal with YouTube: Don't be greedy.

License-fee deals made now with YouTube are targeted more narrowly -- whether it's special CBS areas for March Madness, or NBC for "Saturday Night Live" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." No one yet has come up with a plan that will monetize those 100,000 user-generated clips where the copyright holder will get residual payments -- after the fact.

Has YouTube become a recreational drug for networks? They want the quick party rush. But the fun is too tempting. Some want to stop cold turkey.

Either way, there's pain to come.