In Convergence Culture, Henry Jenkins continually returns to the question of whether or not sites like YouTube will be able to remain driven by users or will get cannibalized by big corporations who want to appropriate the site for their own uses. Evidence of the delicate dance going on between YouTube and these corporations can be found in today's New York Times article, in the sports section, about the creation of an NBA channel on YouTube. The article reports that
"The deal creates an N.B.A. channel on YouTube (a tunnel through which the league will send authorized video); sanctions fans’ uploads (while still allowing the league to reject those it wants removed); and lets users post videos that show their best moves, which will be compiled into a weekly top 10 and shown on the channel."
Note how this deal ivolves a trade-off on all sides: YouTube gets the prestige of an "NBA channel," fans get to post their own videos, but the league can regulate the content. Lose, lose, or win, win?
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Lose! The program is merely an advertisement for their "League Pass" program, which will run you $99 for the duration of the season.
Most likely, the material disseminated through youtube will be the same stuff available via the NBA's website, which is merely a tease for the content you get with the subscription based service.
The tag line for the service reads: "we can't show you what you want until you get it on... NBA League Pass."
MLB has a similar thing. This past year, the NFL was so concerned about the dissemination of their conent that they began enforcing a rule that prohibited groups of a certain size to gather and watch games on screens larger than 55 inches, which puts a damper on the plans of Baptist Church in Indianapolis during the Super Bowl.
The greater number of outlets these organizations have to leak small amounts of their product the better. The key is to leave the carrot dangling in front of the consumer until he/she forks over the money so these organizations can "show you what you want." That being said, outlets such as youtube make the carrot ever-present.
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