But as we saw with the lonelygirl15 phenomenon, TV contracts aren't the only way to monetize popular clips - shows can go it alone by joining revenue sharing sites like Revver (Metacafe is also working on a rev share scheme). And if YouTube were to offer a similar system of ad revenue sharing, there'd be even less motivation for the talent to sign contracts with TV companies.
In related news, TV stations continue to screw up when it comes to rights issues and YouTube: on Monday, some YouTube users received cease and desist letters regarding the Clinton interview taken from "Fox News Sunday". All the clips were removed from the site, despite exposing the channel's content to millions of new viewers. But it seems the lawyers were too quick on the trigger - yesterday the videos were all restored without any explanation. This is the same mistake that NBC made by suppressing the Lazy Sunday clips, and it's good to see Fox coming to their senses.
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