Can someone explain this to me? Isn’t the whole point of YouTube to get more eyeballs on a video? I really thought that the NHL was doing a smart thing by pushing the envelope and embracing Web 2.0 to get more hockey in front of more people, (other than the once a month NBC game and All-Star game on Versus, of course), but it turns out they just don’t get it.
They’re putting their videos on YouTube, but they don’t understand why they’re putting their videos on YouTube.
Indeed. The whole point of YouTube isn't just putting video online, it's putting online in such a format that allows it to be shared as widely as possible, gaining the league exposure it otherwise wouldn't have and perhaps driving folks to arena or to their televisions to get some more.
But there's one community that's going to get hurt worse than anybody else, and that's the fans -- like bloggers -- who have been embedding the content in their sites for the past couple of months. I'm beginning to wonder just how long it will be before the league starts exercising its rights in such a way that it will begin to get embedding disabled for content that they had nothing to do with preparing, such as the Ovechkin video we've been raving about for more than a year.
After all, that footage is all owned by the league, isn't it?
So much for pushing the line of bull on us that the league was getting Web 2.0 savvy (hat tip, Chuqui). Once again, when it comes down to it, the folks in New York and Toronto are the gang who couldn't shoot straight.
YouTube is a place to share and be shared, not a TV network for the Internet. When will people get the message?
Not soon enough, apparently.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Here's what's really ridiculous about all of this: If you wanted to drive folks to a place to watch highlights, why in the world would you want to drive them to YouTube or Google Video?
The quality of the clips is generally poor. The real value in them comes with being able to embed and share those clips freely. But without that ability, you might as well just go to TSN.ca, click Broadband, and watch your highlights there.
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Be sure to check the latest, as the NHL has issued a number of statements to correct the record. According to them, embed all you like.
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10:57 PM