14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has not hesitated to jump on the wagon of a joint venture between Fox/Newscorp and NBC/Universal in a move designed to directly impact YouTube. The viral video mammoth acquired by Google for $1.5 billion will face tough competition from the Newscorp, NBC Universal coalition that also has on board Yahoo, AOL and MySpace. Microsoft has announced that it too will gun down YouTube and take part in building the top online video platform.
"Joining forces with Fox/Newscorp and NBC/Universal is completely in line with our strategy to offer our users easy access to the best video on the web in a way that is good for content owners, great for consumers, and provides compelling opportunities to advertisers. Building on the work we have done with MSN Video and SoapBox, we are taking another step toward realizing that vision," revealed Kevin Johnson, President, Platform and Services Division, Microsoft.
Microsoft underlined the fact that the venture will focus on delivering an unprecedented library of high-quality viral video content absolutely free of charge. Microsoft brings to the venture a potential audience of in excess of 460 million consumers via MSN. Soapbox may yet prove to be the YouTube killer it has been advertised.
"Our investments in MSN Video and SoapBox over the past couple of years have shown us that video is an amazing driver of user engagement and excitement, both for consumers and for advertisers. We were thrilled to be a part of these discussions from the start, and share with our colleagues in the content industry our vision for delivering easy access to great content for consumers while accommodating critical copyright and intellectual property protections. This partnership proves we can do both and serves as a great foundation for future collaboration," Johnson added.