NBBC, a video aggregation service launched by NBC last September has joined the TechCrunch Deadpool. The remains of NBBC will be merged into the NBC/ News Corp joint venture first announced in March. The new service, dubbed Clown Co by some has long been discussed but to date is yet to appear. Strangely, News Corp recently launched MySpace TV, a YouTube competitor in its own right that will compete directly with the NBC/ News Corp joint venture. In an interview with MediaPost, George Kliavkoff, NBCU’s chief digital officer justified the closure of NBBC as a step towards strengthening the NBC/ News Corp joint venture : “we saw that “NewSite” could use NBBC’s resources, so last Friday afternoon we agreed to contribute it to the NewSite effort.” The closure of NBBC and the transfer of IP and talent does not extend to existing agreements. Over 150 partners of NBBC, including Hearst, A&E Television Networks, The Horror Channel, Vibe Media Group, CNET Networks and Forbes.com will be required to negotiate new contracts with the new service. → Read More
Determined to not stand on the sidelines while Apple made its anticipated video announcement, NBC chose today to launch their new video aggregation service called the National Broadband Company, or NBBC.com. It’s a marketplace for short form videos that the company’s 230 affiliate stations and other media partners can go to and find video to post on their own sites. Advertising revenue will be split between the people who made the video, the people who publish it on their own sites and NBBC. Publishers could take many forms beyond local TV stations; RSS vendor Newsgator, for example, has announced that it will participate and deliver NBBC videos as well. Other partners include Break.com, About.com and CNet. Distribution partners will be able to select either a full NBBC video player, a particular topical channel to display or individual video files for their sites. Ads will appear pre-roll with companion banner ads at first and as longer videos are included, mid roll and other types of advertising will appear. The players can be customized extensively – a plain version appears at right. NBBC says that while everyone is getting into video, not everyone knows how to get that video into local markets. It’s network of affiliate TV stations and their accompanying websites will help them do just that, they believe. I expect this means the anemic state of video on many local news websites will change, but also that there will be increasing commercial pressure for such sites to offer ad driven syndicated video content instead of locally produced or citizen reporter type video. From iTunes to CNN taking on user generated video content to users of video sharing sites going pro – it feels like the impact on video of ubiquitous broadband and affordable video cameras is just beginning to hit. → Read More
