NBC Joins Affiliates for Online Video

Acknowledging the growing market for video content on the Internet, NBC and its 213 affiliates announced the creation of a new company that would be tasked with distributing the station's local content online. Tentatively called National Broadband Co., the venture would sell local news, sports, weather, and other video.

Additionally, it would offer behind-the-scenes video and other material from the NBC Universal library. The media conglomerate would own a majority stake in the new company, it said Thursday.

The new deal would also give NBC affiliates a portion of advertising revenue generated through making the video available online. This agreement would not include prime time programming, and discussions on how to split that revenue are still ongoing.

While it is not clear exactly how the video would be rebroadcast over the Internet, suggestions have ranged from reselling NBC content on Web sites to setting up a central site where visitors could see local content from across the country.

Executives at NBC say they believe far more money can be made off local content rather than the programming the company sells through online stores such as the iTunes Music Store. However, affiliates still feel they are entitled to some of the revenue generated through those ventures.