NBC to run fall TV promos on YouTube

Filed in archive on June 27, 2006

Even with the deal, announced Tuesday, YouTube visitors are not likely to find legal clips of "Lazy Sunday," the "Saturday Night Live" parody rap that circulated widely on YouTube and other video-sharing sites before NBC Universal lawyers requested their removal.

Rather, the deal will highlight promos made by or for NBC. They may include clips from new shows or old ones such as "The Tonight Show with jay leno," behind-the-scenes interviews and other features largely exclusive to the Internet. NBC also is sponsoring a contest for fans of "The Office" to create their own promotional videos.

"The distinction between television and video is becoming murkier and murkier," said John Miller, chief marketing officer for the NBC Universal Television Group. "Rather than putting our heads in the sand and saying this doesn't exist, we're trying to jump in and embrace it."

Miller added that the deal helps expose upcoming NBC shows to viewers who may tune out television over the summer but continue to surf the Internet.

YouTube is, by some measures, the leading video-sharing site on the Internet with its 13 million U.S. visitors viewing 550 million pages in May, according to comScore Media Metrix. YouTube says 60,000 new videos are posted daily.

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