12 months ago they’d have sued, now they work together
As an illustration of the change in attitudes of some traditional media towards the unstoppable tide of UGC and SN. WHereas a year ago they’d have sued, now they realise they need to work together…
On December 17th 2005, the SNL skit “Lazy Sunday” aired on NBC. The clip became a hit on YouTube, giving a massive boost to NBC’s Saturday Night Live and cast members Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg. NBC, you might remember, didn’t get the joke: they set the lawyers on YouTube and demanded that they take down every instance of the video. It was an unwise move that was widely criticized in the blogosphere - NBC were essentially killing off some of the best free promotion they’d enjoyed in years.
A year later, things are different: NBC and YouTube announced an agreement back in June, and a few days ago NBC posted another SNL short to YouTube. “D*ck in Box” (embedded below) stars Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake - it’s been a massive hit with YouTube users and bloggers. Not only have the SNL clips dominated YouTube’s Most Viewed and Top Rated clips this week, but they’ve also been the most linked-to videos on Technorati. It helps, of course, that the clip is extremely funny. Even more surprising: NBC posted the uncensored version to YouTube, while airing a bleeped-out version on TV. So far, the official version has received more than 1.2 million views.
This is a trick that some commentators didn’t expect YouTube to pull off: convincing media companies to partner with them, rather than sue. It’s amazing, in fact, how far the video sharing startup has come over the past year.
OA is here