Neither the company’s name nor its management team is in place and clearly this gambit faces big hurdles when you consider both the track record of media JVs and big media companies’ ability to create breakout Internet plays. Most of the joint venture’s offerings will be TV shows supported by advertising, though some content will be user-created clips and movies for paid download. It’s notable that the planned service intends to offer only TV shows that are already available via Web sites like NBC.com and Fox.com, and movies that can be downloaded elsewhere. Indeed, the Web is full of places to find TV shows and they can be viewed with no ads or distracting promotions.

And while video is clearly the next big thing online, it is uncertain how much appetite there is for TV shows and movies on the computer screen.

Media companies are also talking to YouTube about displaying their content. When the talk turns to revenue, the proposed split by YouTube, according to one media executive involved in such negotiations, is roughly 70 per cent to the content owner and 30 per cent to YouTube. (The executive requested anonymity because the talks are confidential.) The only problem is that, for now, the two-year-old YouTube is far and away the most popular site for video online. And rival start-ups like Joost, from the guys who created Skype, are coming up fast. Clearly, the last breathless press release on the subject has yet to be written.

-RICHARD SIKLOS