This weekend I noticed that Viacom announced it was going to remove its content from YouTube. Here’s Jeff Jarvis’ view on that decision. I also remembered a quote from Rupert Murdoch about everyone over the age of 25 being ‘digital refugees’, in other words living in a land we didn’t fully understand that was the natural home of the young. My personal experience is that YouTube is already a feature of family life. At the moment it’s the pets and animals section of YouTube that gets the laughs, but in the future TV shows and bands turning their back on platforms like it may miss out on impressing my kids. I can imagine the type of discussions going on in Viacom HQ between the here-and-now arguments of those citing the court of law and copyright infringement versus those citing the court of public opinion and marketing potential. Looks like the lawyers won and it’s difficult to say from afar who is right. All I do know is that there is a generation growing up with very different experiences and expectations and if you aren’t where they want you, when they want you in the form they want you, you’ll be toast.
http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/player.js?mediaId:162051;affiliateId:0;height:392;width:480;
Just saw this story about YouTube users watching less TV (thanks Steve Rubel), which may explain the angst at Viacom.
[tags]YouTube, Viacom[/tags]
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