YouTube Outfoxes TV Foes

But having popular films and TV shows just a mouse click away will reduce the incentive to do so. That's especially the case given the ease of hooking up TVs to computers, and in the wake of wireless devices such as Apple TV.

Finally, in hoping to replicate their own rendition of YouTube, it's possible that NBC and News Corp. will instead miss out on the benefits of a partnership instead. A high-profile move to broadcast their own content could easily make the companies more protective of it. But, oddly, YouTube is an ideal position to promote the content of other networks precisely because it is not owned by any network.

Much of the appeal of even the network-owned content on YouTube stems from the fact that it was another user who uploaded and rated it. This means that users are receptive to watching it because it is likely to be good -- not because if furthers the interest of the content owner. Users would hardly tune in for incomplete snippets of TV shows or movie trailers with such enthusiasm if they knew they were being hawked by the owner of the content instead.

Yhat's what makes YouTube so powerful as a potential partner. A quick search on YouTube reveals highly rated Borat film trailers in English, German, French and Italian. That will result in the creation of new customers around the world for the film.

But the networks today are instead cheering that they have found a way to give the movie for free. And they were even clever enough to find a way to line the pockets of everyone from Microsoft's to Yahoo! in the process.