Can the networks beat YouTube?

Fox, Viacom, CBS and NBC Universal are reportedly discussing plans to build a rival to YouTube, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

The networks had already tried going after the popular video sharing site in the legal arena. Now it appears they'll try to best the site in the marketplace.

But will they be able to succeed? Bloggers didn't seem to think so, saying that what drove YouTube's success wasn't marketing or corporate sponsorship but letting the public do what they want with content; something it's doubtful the media companies will allow.

Blog community response:

"The chances that any one of the TV networks could get it right is slim. The chance that they could get it right in a partnership is nil."
--A VC

"When they show interest to do so, it has nothing to do with a sincere desire to give users what they want. They do so because they are envious with MySpace's massive rise in power to shape musical tastes, YouTube's rise to the TV platform by default with its 100 video streams, and for the $1.65B that Google could pay without blinking. In other words, their intentions going in are anything but virtuous. When you go into something driven by one of the seven sins, you come out a loser. What's that saying? Bulls make money, bears make money, but hogs get slaughtered."
--Hipmojo.com

"It seems far better to focus on what they're good at, which is content creation, and then to take advantage of the existing popularity of YouTube (and whatever the "next" YouTube turns out to be), perhaps by signing deals with them, to drive the popularity and attendant ad revenue of their shows."
--Techdirt