NewsCorp and NBCU - What Does It Mean?
In case you missed it (on vacation, in hiding, haven't started using the Internet, etc.), last week News Corp and NBC Universal announced a joint venture to make television shows, movies and other content from the two companies available for distribution online. Initial distribution partners announced include Yahoo, Microsoft and Myspace. So...What does it all mean?
From my perspective, a few key thoughts:
1) Expect to see more of this kind of thing. As the big players continue to move their media from an "analog" world to a "digital" world, there will be much moving and shaking. None of us really thought the world would let YouTube become the primary point of professionally produced content, did we?
2) Expect consumers to have more choices, a better user experience, and to increasingly move more of their rental and buying habits online. These kinds of networks (this one doesn't yet have a name) will leverage the latest and greatest technology available on the market (yes, including P2P). Once consumers start to experience high quality video online, it'll be tough to go back to a competing site and watch a grainy, streaming video. Competitor then upgrades to new technology, increasing the user experience further. A very positive virtuous cycle ensues.
3) Expect to see the major content players play a front and center role in the growing market for online and mobile content. There are major licensing and rights hurdles involved with digital distribution - making it a very costly proposition for a third party distributor or retailer. Obviously, a content owner already owns the rights to content. This has yet to play out in a public way, but expect the economics of the environment to play a big role.
In addition, a few blog posts and media articles I read following the announcement - included here for your reference:
Roberty Young on NewTeeVee - "Did Murdoch Just KO Google?"
Brian Morrissey in AdWeek - "NBC, NewsCorp Forget the 'You' in YouTube"
Mark Cuban - "Why the NBC/Newscorp Video Venture is a Great Idea"
