Multi-network Video Sharing Site Deal Probably Dead

Broadcasting & Cable this morning cited a source close to negotiations between NBC Universal, MySpace parent Fox Interactive, and former siblings CBS Corp. and Viacom to produce a rival video sharing service to Google's YouTube, as having broken down after MTV parent Viacom walked away from the table.

At first, the concept of producing a television-centric mega-site where users would apparently happily upload clips of the network owners' own content on their behalf, for free, without fear of copyright reprisal, may have seemed tempting to negotiators even from a cost-savings standpoint.

But observers today believe the deal may have been doomed from the start, especially with the notable absence of ABC's parent company Disney, and the CW's co-owner Time Warner, whose own AOL trademark is busy trying to remake itself into some sort of YouTube/MySpace/IM amalgam.

Other analysts today said negotiators may have come to a startling realization: They're each other's direct competitors.

Today, media analyst Gary Bourgeault commented for The Alpha Marketer blog that the only two parties whose standing could gain from such a deal would have been CBS and NBCU, with the other players already maintaining strong presences in this market. The interesting question becomes, why did they even meet in the first place.

"It would have been better for the companies not to have even started this," Bourgeault wrote, "than to have started it and look like they're cutting and running. It does expose the weaknesses that reside within the industry as a whole."