The long time rumor that several major media organizations were going to start a YouTube rival are apparently coming true. Word from NBC Universal and News Corporation that they are about to start such a service.

From the news release:

AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo! will be the new site’s initial distribution partners. Their users, who represent 96 percent of the monthly U.S. unique users on the Internet, will have unlimited access to the site’s vast library of content. This media alliance will offer consumers free long- and short-form video and create a compelling platform for advertisers, targeting the rapidly growing audience of online video consumers. Charter advertisers include Cadbury Schweppes, Cisco, Esurance, Intel and General Motors.

Interesting to note that some AOL Video is featured on Google Video. In fact, video was mentioned in the AOL/Google deal of December 2005. Of course, AOL also has access to content from its parent, Time Warner.

At launch, full episodes and clips from current hit shows, including Heroes, 24, House, My Name Is Earl, Saturday Night Live, Friday Night Lights, The Riches, 30 Rock, The Simpsons, The Tonight Show, Prison Break, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader and Top Chef, plus hits from the studios’ vast television libraries, will be available free, on an ad-supported basis, within a rich consumer experience featuring personalized video playlists, mashups, online communities and video search. Plus, the extensive programming lineup will include fan favorite films like Borat, Little Miss Sunshine, Devil Wears Prada, The Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy with bonus materials and movie trailers. Post-launch, plans will be considered for acquiring additional content as well as producing and licensing original programming for the new site’s audience.

No mention if the new service will also allow users to upload content but that’s really not an issue since Yahoo, MySpace, MSN, and AOL already offer upload/sharing services.

Btw, don’t forget that many video sharing services exist beyond YouTube. This page lists over 80 such services. Have fun!!!

See Also: NBC, News Corp. Create New Video Source (via Broadcasting and Cable)

News Corporation and NBC U are open to talking with anyone who respects the copyright protection and economic terms of the new site and had spoken with Google’s Eric Schmidt this morning, [News Corp. President/COO Peter] Chernin said.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 at 12:55 am and is filed under Multimedia Search, Search Tools, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.