• The Wall Street Journal, Monday, March 26, 2007 10:34 AM

NBC Universal and News Corp. have joined forces to crush YouTube, and how does Google respond? By suggesting that it wants to sign on as a distribution partner for the venture. It seems the world weird Web is always made a little weirder by Google. Indeed, News Corp. President Peter Chernin confirmed Google's request.

The "frienemy" strikes again? It certainly sounds as though this would result in a more favorable deal for News Corp. and NBC than either could have negotiated on its own. But any Google deal would be conducted on News Corp. and NBC's terms.

The group would have had even more leverage had it been able to sign on Viacom and CBS Corp., which walked out of the venture after talks broke down last year. Both Viacom and CBS were reluctant to give up control of their content, although Viacom made it sound like it might reconsider: "A new online video-distribution platform that respects copyrights is a welcome addition to the industry."

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