Viacom's Digital Strategy Leaves Users Lost in the Web
The Machinist tech blog posted an interesting article about Britney Spears' VMA performance (stay with me -- this is relevant, I swear). The blogger noted how it was nearly impossible to locate the clip online -- even on YouTube. Why the hassle finding the pop-tart's phoned-in performance? Viacom's copyright claim. (If you remember, earlier this year Viacom, MTV's Corporate parent, sued YouTube's parent, Google, wanting remunerations for videos shown.)
Because Viacom demanded tight control over its content, finding the clip became in exercise in patience and frustration -- and according to Google Trends, it was one of the top 10 searches on the Web on Sunday. From The Machinist's blog:
Viacom had a hot property on its hands, a video that could have easily garnered a few hundred thousand, if not a million, views on YouTube...According to TechDirt, "This is the sort of thinking that plagues the entertainment industry, that content's value must always be directly financial, and not promotional."Viacom could have profited from the deal, too. Not long ago, Google unveiled a plan to place commercials in videos that big media companies upload to YouTube. Google pays the media firms half of the revenues it generates from the ads.
In other words, Google would have paid Viacom for letting the VMA video go to YouTube. Instead, in order to keep the video on its own site, Viacom ran an ad on Google pointing to MTV.
When Viacom first pulled its content from YouTube earlier this year, MarketWatch noted,
Viacom Inc. probably had little choice but to go ahead with its lawsuit against Google Inc. and YouTube for copyright infringement, because pressure from the financial community demands that they wring as many dollars from their investments as possible -- and that task is getting harder by the minute.It makes sense that Viacom wants to ensure its best digital positioning, especially when shareholders prefer to hear the word "profit" over "promotion." But is this really a smart strategy in the long-run? CBS doesn't think so. The network is licensing its content anywhere it possibly can. CBS Interactive executive Quincy Smith told the Wall Street Journal:
"We can't expect consumers to come to us. It's arrogant for any media company to assume that."BNET readers get in the discussion. Will Viacom's arrogance pay off?
(Viacom Image by LoopZilla)