Confirming rumors [1] leaked earlier this month, Verizon Wireless officially announced it signed an agreement with YouTube to bring the popular video-sharing website's content to the carrier's V Cast multimedia service. Beginning in December 2006, VZW will enjoy exclusive access to selected YouTube mobile content for an unspecified limited time; the carrier will update its YouTube offerings on a daily basis. Verizon and YouTube declined to discuss specific terms of their deal, including whether the carrier will share V Cast revenues with YouTube. In turn, YouTube also declined comment on whether its licensing agreements with major media companies, among them Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, CBS Corp. and Sony BMG, apply to premium downloads on mobile phones.
While I still endorse [2] YouTube's entrance into the mobile space, I do have questions about Verizon's ability to midwife the service's transition from PCs to handsets. Specifically, I wonder whether VZW will offer the weird, wild clips that have made YouTube such a grass-roots phenomenon, or deliver little more than a dumbed-down, vanilla version without all the breakdancing midgets and other cool stuff. If the carrier plays it safe and censors content in an effort to please everyone, they'll end up pleasing no one--and it's difficult to muster much faith in a company that seems to operate under the mistaken assumption that the "Can you hear me now?" weasel represents cutting-edge creativity.
For more on the VZW/YouTube deal:
- read this release [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/verizon-seeking-content-deal-with-youtube/2006-11-07
[2] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/editor-s-corner/2006-11-10
[3] http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-28-2006/0004480965&EDATE=