The news that Google (GOOG) has been in negotiations with Simon Fuller, a British entrepreneur concerning some type of joint venture for a year, underscores the importance and significance that online video is becoming, and is of course a precursor to the future.
Fuller is the one who created the Pop Idol format which spun-off the US hit "American Idol." He also has partial rights to the popular The X Factor in Britain with Simon Cowell. Fuller manages soccer great David Beckham and the Spice Girls.
What this tells me is Google understands the strong shift taking place online for professional video content, and the real danger that continuing professional video has competitively for the online video space i.e. YouTube especially.
An article in the Guardian talks about the ensuing speculation concerning about the plans Google will have for original content. That's interesting in that Google has claimed for a long time that they're not going to enter the original content game.
If they do end up with some type of joint venture with Fuller, it would be almost impossible to think they aren't doing it for the purpose of generating original content.
Sources close to Fuller cited him saying, "It's a big idea on a global scale. It will change television in much the way iTunes changed the way music is disseminated."
Assuming that's an accurate statement, it looks like distribution will be a big part of this picture.
With the launch of Hulu by News Corp. (NWS-A) and NBC (GE) recently, it could be a statement to keep their name in the minds of people for professional content, something that has eluded them so far.
That's important because user-generated video, while drawing a huge number of visitors, isn't much of a moneymaker.
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