MTV2 partners with YouTube
Via Lost Remote, we hear that MTV2 is partnering with YouTube to promote two of their TV shows, "The Andy Milonakis Show" and "Wonder Showzen", which have new seasons and DVD sets coming out this month.
This is absolutely a move in the right direction on the part of MTV, and a perfect example of the kind of steps that media companies will need to take to prosper in the age of viral media and social networking software. The key point to keep in mind is that when a network produces a clip with viral value (like NBC's "Lazy Sunday"), that's more than just content - it's a marketing asset which should be used to maximum advantage. Right now the networks take large audience sizes for granted, which is why they can afford to send sites like YouTube takedown notices, but with the proliferation of content across hundreds of cable channels and the internet, this kind of high-handed behavior makes them run the risk of becoming culturally irrelevant in the long term.