CBS Climbs Into Bed with YouTube

Zap2It.com | October 9, 2006

Les Moonves

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Company will provide and monitor content

CBS Corporation and ubiquitous web entity YouTube have reached a partnership that will allow for both programming opportunities and copyright protection. Good times.

The new pact will provide YouTube with a wide variety of short-form video programming from its news, sports and entertainment divisions on a daily basis beginning this month. That will include content from fellow Viacom entities like Showtime and CSTV.

That's all fine and well, but equally important (if not moreso) is CBS' decision to become the first TV network to attempt to utilize YouTube's new content identification architecture and reporting system which would allow CBS to know when its copyrighted material is being shared on the streaming video site.

In a press release put out by the network, it's made clear that CBS won't necessarily pull such stolen content. If CBS allows the content to remain on the site, CBS will share in any revenue from advertising placed adjacent to the content.

"We're pleased to be the first network to strike a major content deal with what is clearly one of the fastest growing new media platforms out there," says CBS Corporation Head Honcho Les Moonves. "This strategic partnership is a unique development in CBS's continuing initiative to monetize our industry-leading content across new distribution platforms. We're now able to offer select entertainment, news and sports programming to a new significant audience, get paid for it and learn a few things along the way."

YouTube co-founder and CEO Chad Hurley ads, "Today's agreement demonstrates that YouTube has become a revenue-generating distribution channel for major networks and other media companies. By partnering with YouTube, media companies can now have a two-way dialogue with viewers who can provide feedback about what they find entertaining."

The news of the CBS/YouTube agreement comes on the same day that a variety of media reports have Google interested in purchasing YouTube for somewhere in the vicinity of $1.6 billion.