NBC Makes Peace With YouTube

NBC who once told YouTube to take "Saturday Night Live" clips off its site has cut a deal with the free video site to preview and promote it’s Fall broadcast line-up.

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

How different an industry  if only the record labels had found a way to work with the original Napster.  "The failure to license Napster was single-handedly the worst decision ever made in the history of the music business," wrote music industry commentator Bob Lefsetz.  "…Now, a couple of years and a couple of changes behind the music industry, the TV business has been hit. With YouTube."

Sources: AP, The LefsetzLetter.