NBC on YouTube: great for promos, but no money in sight
NBC is very proud of its “deal” with YouTube.
Beth Comstock, President , Digital Media and Market Development, NBC Universal, spent a considerable amount of time during her keynote this afternoon at OMMA in New York City showcasing what NBC does with YouTube.
Comstock regaled the OMMA audience with a multimedia show of a recent promotional contest NBC ran in conjunction with YouTube. Fittingly, the contest involved users creating their own clips for YouTube that serve as promos for NBC shows!
In announcing the contest winners last month, NBC characterized the NBC-YouTube promotional contest as an:
innovative strategic partnership that allowed viewers to submit their own creative 20-second promotional video for NBC's "The Office" (Thursdays, 9:30-10 p.m. ET) to NBC's YouTube Group
NBC also outlined the NBC-YouTube “deal” in its announcement:
NBC and YouTube recently announced a partnership that will combine NBC's quality programming with YouTube's vast audience to enhance the entertainment experience on YouTube while engaging viewers in innovative new ways to promote NBC's Fall program lineup and other preferred shows over the next year. The agreement also includes an integrated, cross-promotional advertising relationship on the YouTube service and significant on-air promotion provided by NBC.
As a result, NBC created an official NBC Channel on YouTube to house its Fall Preview area with exclusive clips to promote NBC's "The Office." In addition, over the next year, NBC will upload several video presentations and longform promos per week to the NBC Channel on YouTube from primetime and late-night programs like "Saturday Night Live," "The Office," and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." YouTube will also promote NBC's videos throughout the site.
Missing from the description? Financial terms of the “deal.”
I therefore asked Comstock this afternoon during the Q & A following her presentation if any money is changing hands between NBC and YouTube:
Does NBC get paid from YouTube for the right to use its copyright content?
Does YouTube get paid for the promotions it does for NBC?
Comstock replied that the NBC-YouTube arrangement is purely a “promotional” one, no money changes hands between the two companies.
I indicated that besides NBC, YouTube has a "deal" with Warner Music; I posited that perhaps the reason Universal Music has not been able to arrange a “deal” with YouTube is that it seeks tangible money for its content rather than intangible exposure.
Comstock, of course, was unable to comment.