A few minutes ago I got an email from Anne Bentley, SVP, AOL corp. communications, which confirms the News Corp.-NBC video portal speculation from earlier today. The press release is apparently now on Business Wire (haven’t yet seen it).
The AOL comments I received focus on NBC/FOX content reciprocally distributed via AOL video:
The addition of high-quality video content from two of the biggest entertainment companies will further enhance the depth of our AOL Video portal. Plus, we will be able to integrate this content throughout the AOL Network.
This new, non-exclusive relationship extends AOL’s position as a one-stop, online resource to find, watch and share millions of the best videos from across the Web, broadcast and cable television, and entertainment including movies, music videos, news, user-generated content and full-length TV shows.
This site’s videos will be directly integrated into the AOL experience. Users will be able to easily play videos from this site without having to open an additional window or leave AOL’s site. For example, you might be able to read a story about Keifer Sutherland in AOL’s celebrity news area and, with one click, watch the latest episode of “24″.
And, as a distribution partner, AOL will receive a portion of the advertising revenues generated by the viewing of this new site’s video content on AOL’s sites.
Some of the early news reports today are speculating that this venture is aimed squarely at Google and YouTube. As you’re aware, Google has a 5% stake in AOL. Our goal is to provide the largest number of video assets to our audience of more than 100 million unique visitors a month. Just as we continue to work closely with Google in search and other areas, we also work closely with other partners.
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