New York - NBC Universal and News Corp. announced on Thursday the formation of a joint venture that will launch a video-sharing site this summer to compete with YouTube, with thousands of hours of programming to be distributed through partners AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo.

Each distribution partner -- which the companies said collectively represent 96% of the U.S. Internet audience -- will feature a customized, embeddable player offering free, ad-supported video.

"This is a game changer for Internet video," said News Corp. president and COO Peter Chernin.

"We'll have access to just about the entire U.S. Internet audience at launch. And for the first time, consumers will get what they want -- professionally produced video delivered on the sites where they live."

Initially, content will be provided by at least a dozen networks, and two major film studios, and will include full episodes and clips of shows like "Heroes," "24," "Saturday Night Live," "The Simpsons" and "The Tonight Show."

The service will also offer movie trailers and movie bonus materials, and plans to consider acquiring additional content as well as producing and licensing original programming.

The companies said charter advertisers on the service will include Cadbury Schweppes, Cisco, Esurance, Intel and General Motors.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/38mfqq

http://tinyurl.com/23bgjh (AP)

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-youtube23mar23,1,3637859.story
Mark Cuban: Why the NBC/Newscorp Video Venture is a Great Idea