For now, the biggest news in the exploding realm of online video is not much more than a news release. Still, the recent announcement from News Corporation and NBC Universal, of a new online video venture shows a big change in how traditional media companies are trying to confront their digital futures without looking like dinosaurs dodging comets.

At the same time, the companies’ tactics are a striking attempt to shift the old-fashioned way that most audiences have obtained their media into the wide-open digital maw.

Last year, Google’s acquisition of YouTube, the Internet’s most-visited video web site, was a clear signal for media companies. Ever since, they have been scrambling to find ways to make money and to keep as much control as possible over their output.

YouTube has very little revenue right now, but its huge popularity and implied money-making potential was reflected in the $1.65 billion that Google paid for it. (And as far as proven Internet concepts go, media companies are not smitten by the economics of Apple’s iTunes, either, even though many networks including NBC and Fox, owned by the News Corporation, are selling shows on it.)

Inevitably, the media giants have asked themselves these questions: Why should we let savvy intermediaries like Google or Apple hog the relationships with consumers or advertisers? And why should we let them create valuable new businesses? NBC Universal and the News Corporation spent months trying to recruit players like Viacom and Walt Disney to fight back, but they have set out alone, leaving an open invitation for others to join their merry band. They’ve agreed to pool all their video content on the Web to create what is effectively a syndication service that will distribute it to other established Web sites and through a new online site they plan to unveil this summer.

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