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Viacom to YouTube: You've lost that loving feeling

According to Viacom, all the promotional and marketing benefits of viral video on YouTube are "illusory." The company demanded today that YouTube, a division of Google, remove more than 100,000 clips that include Viacom content.
Written by Mitch Ratcliffe, Contributor

According to Viacom, all the promotional and marketing benefits of viral video on YouTube are "illusory." The company demanded today that YouTube, a division of Google, remove more than 100,000 clips that include Viacom content.

"People are waking up to the fact that there is no marketing advantage," a Viacom executive told The Wall Street Journal. "There's no novelty anymore." Which In other words, "I've had it with this punk."is just a way of saying that there is value in the programming that Viacom isn't being paid for today. There is, however, some truth in the statement. With more video channels appearing all the time, the content is increasingly the only differentiator for any of the sites that compete with YouTube. It would not be surprising to see Viacom work out an exclusive deal for online distribution of a particular show or network it owns at Yahoo or Apple, so that it positions itself to better justify the price it demands from YouTube in the future.

Viacom's clearly angling for a share of revenue from content YouTube. It has been negotiating with YouTube for months and, if I read this correctly, we have to assume Chad Hurley's announcement last week that YouTube would pay members a share of ad revenue was a preemptive strike against media sources clamoring for a share of the YouTube pie. By saying it will pay people who post content, YouTube is saying that all content will be treated the same, setting a flat rate in effect.

There's no other explanation for what Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom, told the Journal:  "We have been quite indulgent to this point. We cannot continue to allow YouTube or Google to continue to profit from our content without a reasonable commercial agreement."

In other words, "I've had it with this punk."  YouTube's headed into waters where its team are novices and sharks are waiting.

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