Back in June 2006, after resolving disputes regarding its content appearing on YouTube, NBC announced a strategic partnership with the popular video-sharing website. Under the deal, an official NBC channel was set up on YouTube, showcasing promotional clips for The Office and other series. That deal, however, has come to an end.
Yesterday, an NBC representative confirmed that the network will no longer be posting video clips on YouTube to promote their television shows. The decision comes as part of News Corp. and NBC's joint effort to create their own video-sharing site, Hulu.com - which is reportedly set to launch within a couple of weeks. The service is expected to offer full-length episodes of NBC and FOX television programs while also accepting user-submitted videos in direct competition with YouTube.
NBC certainly seems confident that viewers will leave their usual video websites and follow their content wherever it may go, as the network recently decided to end its video distribution deal with iTunes too, in favor of a new partnership with Amazon to sell the network's digital TV content.