Fans post more program clips on Youtube than broadcasters

Canadian broadcasters warming to the idea of releasing content on alternative websites like YouTube are finding their online distribution strategies pale in comparison to the posting habits of fans. "It's like trying to put out a forest fire with your foot," says Bob Kerr, the CBC's director of digital programming and business development, of trying to remove fan-posted content from YouTube. "I guarantee if we remove a dozen clips and do a search in a couple of days we'll find more, so it really depends what it is. I'm not so much going after the small stuff."CBC has been posting its own content on YouTube since the spring. Kerr says the website has cooperated in removing unauthorized content, but a quick search shows why he also likens the endeavour to the whack-a-mole game. Of the first 20 clips that appear on YouTube when you search Rick Mercer - The Rick Mercer Report being one of the shows CBC posts itself - only two are attributed to the user CBCtv, one of the broadcaster's usernames. However, the combined views of those 20 clips is 396,984, and that's only a small portion of the 302 results returned for a "Rick Mercer" search. So, it's also easy to see why Kerr says, "I look at in some way as somewhat promotional." The popularity of user-generated video sites also made CBC's decision to post content on YouTube a no-brainer."I think there's a slight bit of arrogance in thinking that everybody in a perfect world is going to come to your site and not go anywhere else," says Kerr. "So it's sort of like if you can't beat them, join them."Distribution rights the big issueBut before the broadcaster can "join them" it has to consider the distribution rights of everyone from the producer and the format holder to who recorded the music in a particular episode of a particular show. And although CBC does its due diligence before posting, it still fields the brunt of complaints from rights holders when fans post unauthorized content. One producer with every right to complain is Epitome Pictures Inc.; the proper simile for attempting to remove all of the fan-posted Degrassi: The Next Generation clips from YouTube would be like trying to plug a volcano with your bare hand - a "Degrassi" search on the site returns 4,050 clips. Epitome president Stephen Stohn says fans have even managed to post an episode of Degrassi on YouTube before the show aired on its broadcast partner CTV. Like CBC, Epitome works to remove full episodes from the site, but removing it all would be nearly impossible. What's left are short clips from the show as well as highlight packages and mash-ups of fans' favourite clips of the show set to their favourite songs. Stohn says not only does he find the efforts of the show's fans flattering, but some of the clips are quite good. "I feel really good that people are so interested in the show that they want to do that," he says. "I wish there was a way to somehow make these mash-ups more authorized, but it just doesn't fit within our system because you've got so many copyright laws. I think in another 10 or 20 years copyright will evolve and we'll be able to do these things." The launch of YouTube Canada earlier this month and content agreements with CBC, the CFL, Dose.ca, NewsCanada and Sony BMG Canada should make it easy for Canadians to find home-grown shows. But the original YouTube offers something that broadcasters don't have as much with their own websites: exposure to an international audience. Kerr says reaching viewers, including Canadian ex-pats, outside of the country was another motivating factor in CBC's online strategy. "As a national public broadcaster it's good for us to have something that is reflective of Canada up on an international website." What's on? Below is a list of Canadian programs, new and old, and the number of results returned when searched on YouTube: Show# of ClipsCorner Gas143Little Mosque on the Prairie100ReGenesis189Slings and Arrows129The Beachcombers10The Red Green Show26SCTV833King of Kensington22Front Page Challenge6Road to Avonlea94

Fans post more program clips on Youtube than broadcasters

Broadcast | November 29, 2007

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