"This next comic has been seen on YouTube…"

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on October 12th, 2006

It’s the future. The not-too-distant future. And the internet looks radically different than it did just 12 months earlier. How did that happen? The better question: Why would you expect it to stay the same?

According to Forbes.com, Google made money when they shelled out $1.65 billion for YouTube.

While $1.6 billion may seem like a lot to spend, it really isn’t–not when the deal is all stock. Shares of Google gained $8.50 on news of the deal today, driving the company’s market capitalization up by more than $2 billion. So at least for the day, Google made more than $400 million on this deal.

Sweet!

Our ears stood up when we heard that part of YouTube (GooTube? YouToogle?)’s strategy might now entail micropayments to the content providers. That’s right: You sling your five minutes of comedy up there, promote the hell out of it via one or more of the social networking sites, drive eyeballs to it, and, somewhere down the line, you get a check for $12.27 signed by Sergei Brin and Larry Page. It’s only right. In the future, we’re all television producers.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said earlier this month that anyone who would consider buying YouTube is “a moron.” The usually forward-thinking Cuban justified his harsh assessment by saying that any such purchaser would be trapped in a thicket of legal troubles, as so much of what is now up on the popular video sharing site is neither copyrighted nor posted by the legal owner. We’re fairly certain, however, that Brin and Page have thought this all through.

For a mind-boggling exercise, check out that Forbes.com article– it is a snapshot of the current WWW landscape. It is a lot like the starting gate at a high-stakes horse race. A handful of mind-bending technologies and business models are all poised, waiting for the bell– a short and furious sprint, over almost before it begins, will sort out the winners and losers. And in 18 months or so, the Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Tonight and Wired will break it down and we’ll witness yet another re-arrangement of the entertainment industry that no one could have imagined. Nobody will get excited about “paradigm shifts” any more, as they will be coming on a quarterly basis.

Mash all those websites and techno doo-dads together, add several billion dollars in capital, shake well using a broadband connection and what comes out is dozens (hundreds?) of miniature television networks. They look the same as the old ones, but the content is provided by the viewers. If you’re still not getting it, check out this article from the August 2005 Wired.

In the meantime, YouTube is a smashing way for comedians to display their wares, to “send out a videotape,” five or six minutes at a time. Pretty soon, we won’t need to assemble a press kit or visit the post office. Not soon enough, we say.

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