SEO Speedwagon

Search Engine Land has the story about NBC and News Corp. (aka Fox) and their joint plans to create "the largest Internet video distribution network ever assembled with the most sought-after content from television and film" (their words, not mine).

In addition,

AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo! will be the new site’s initial distribution partners. Their users, who represent 96 percent of the monthly U.S. unique users on the Internet, will have unlimited access to the site’s vast library of content.

Notice anyone missing from the list of initial distribution partners?

At launch, full episodes and clips from current hit shows, including Heroes, 24, House, My Name Is Earl, Saturday Night Live, Friday Night Lights, The Riches, 30 Rock, The Simpsons, The Tonight Show, Prison Break, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader and Top Chef, plus hits from the studios' vast television libraries, will be available free, on an ad-supported basis.

You might think that NBC and Fox are crazy to go after YouTube, but then you realize that Jeff Foxworthy is the secret weapon. I'm no online video expert, but is the popularity of YouTube due to its ability to show things like copyrighted clips of the Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Isn't it more due to showing things like the guy who takes a picture of himself each day for 6 years, or would-be Norwegian beatboxers with too much time (and electronic equipment) on their hands?

At any rate, I'm glad NBC is giving it another shot. You might recall NBC's "other" venture into online dominance. In late 1999, the media giant launched NBCi, the, ahem, "Yahoo killer" of the day -- a portal/search engine that quickly shot out of the gate and in less than a year accrued exactly 0.0% of search engine market share.

One wonders whether the new NBC/Fox video site will offer all episodes of Emeril's short-lived NBC sitcom for free, or whether those will reside in the premium section. Regardless, those with a diet heavy in schadenfreude will be watching the launch closely.