When Google purchased YouTube many people said it was one of the dumber business acquisitions in recent history. Mark Cuban laughingly wrote they would be sued out of business. Google prepared a 500 million dollar fund for legal battles.

And there lawsuits. But not as many as expected. Then CBS did an about turn and uploaded 300 clips of their programming. The results have been impressive. The shows CBS pushed on YouTube became bigger hits on Television. It is kind of like windows shopping for new Television shows to watch. David Lettermen and Craig Ferguson of the Late Late Show have received big benefits. Letterman has gained an extra 200,000 viewers and Ferguson’s show is up seven percent. Ferguson’s stand up bits have become classics on YouTube.

The biggest benefit of YouTube for Television Networks may be focus groups. No longer will the studio have to do focus groups the old fashion way. Now they can instantly reach millions of people all across the country and see if the latest sitcom idea will fly.

YouTube may also be the next discovery vehicle for new stars. No more trolling through malls to find the next new face. The next Lana Turner may be discovered not in a soda shop but on YouTube. Lisa Nova hopes it will be her.

Technology pundits have long talked about the convergence of Television and the Internet. All that was needed was an application. YouTube is the killer app for convergence.

Posted in uncategorized on December 12th, 2006 by #9 | RSS 2.0 |