TVNZ is in the final stages of negotiation with Google on what would seem to be an alliance involving YouTube. A Star Times story (no longer available, or at least searchable) hinted that TVNZ was looking to support a regional version of YouTube, but I guess we'll have to wait and see about that.
TVNZ has also, of course, spoken to Apple about the iTunes Video Store, but New Zealand isn't going to be a high rollout priority for Apple - look how long it took it took us to get music downloads. A deal with Joost will likely happen first.
In the meantime, TVNZ has bumped out TV3 as the news video provider for Fairfax's Stuff websites. Or not. Actually, it seems that TV3's supply to Stuff was only ever a trial and it hasn't supplied clips for seven months.
But TVNZ is definitely supplying news and other video, from July 1. So how will that work on the revenue side? Flash files with embedded ads?
The broadcaster also talked to APN about the same sort of deal for the Herald site - assuming that's no longer operative, it would be interesting to know how the decision was made.
Assuming APN still wants to deliver video, it's far from clear that it would come from TV3. At the moment, TV3, is enjoying its presence on the gloriously content-free msn.co.nz, which is driving plenty of traffic to its own site. But as John Drinnan noted recently in the Herald, TV3's new owner, the private equity company Ironbridge Capital, is exploring a deal with MSN for a joint venture in an MSN-branded site that would carry TV3 content.
I'm rather enjoying The Wee Man. Undecipherable Scots grime rapping is presumably the next big thing. Actually, an interview suggests a comedy dimension.
And, by the way, I'm going to Vietnam next Tuesday, with the assistance of the Asia New Zealand Foundation. I'll be accompanying Mitchell Pham, who came here as a child refugee and has since built up Augen, the IT company he founded with his university mates, to the point where it is now back in Vietnam doing business.
From there, we'll move onto Singapore for CommunicAsia 2007, which this year has some really interesting broadcast technology components, which will tie in nicely with a paper I'm writing. I'll also catch up with Greg Wood, formerly of the Friday Night Allen.
I'll be writing a number of print stories around the trip, but the foundation is keen that I should also blog progress. And y'all know that I need no urging to blog …
And yes, I shall seek out the weasel coffee.
PS: Note tasty new (ie: old) clips of Split Enz and the Suburban Reptiles in OurTube.