Media Companies Unite, Hold Hands, and Dive into Online Video
Dec 23rd, 2006 by Dan Blank
Variety looks at attempts by large media companies to unite online to take control of their content and create a competitor to YouTube.
Jeff Jarvis calls this the creation of TheirTube. In other words - creating something on their own terms, instead of the terms of their audiences needs and preferences.
Jeff, as usual, has taken the stance that anything that a large corporate does will somehow discount the needs of their audience, and is bound to fail. I can see both sides here. Did these media companies create hit TV shows by asking people what they wanted, and those people said “I want a show about people crash landing on an island, only to encounter mysterious people and polar bears?” No - they created a show on their own terms, and people liked it.
The reality is more likely that by the time these companies came to terms they could all agree on, they would be dramatically behind the curve, and not nimble enough to make quick changes that meet the growing needs of their audience.