More and more companies, networks and the like are starting to realize that the digital era is here to stay. Fighting uploading, downloading and sharing is a lost battle, no matter how you look at it. Hosting videos on your website and your website alone will not draw in any new customers, nor will it keep the old ones coming back when there are so many options in the virtual space.

It’s ten times easier to find a video on YouTube than on a music station’s website, not to mention that will you search for that particular video you can also look for a make-up tutorial, a step-by-step beginner’s guide to replacing old hinges and a video presentation of how to make choux a la crème – all in one place.

So far, Viacom (owner of both Paramount and MTV Networks) filed a lawsuit against Google’s YouTube, accusing them of copyright infringement. The lawsuit was filed for $1 billion.

However, Viacom realized that it was estranging audiences and decided to firstly add advertisements to clips of “The Daily Show”, for example, as the clips are being uploaded on MySpace by the website’s users irrespective of granted permission. MTV Networks has struck a deal with MySpace and Auditude, the latter being a company that will offer MTV Networks the necessary technology to incorporate advertising in the videos.

YouTube already has a similar concept functioning – the copyright holders of some videos (as most are user-generated content) have the option of removing their material or allowing YouTube to place advertising. The copyright holders would then get a part of the generated revenues.
Analysts believe that the old media is merging with the new media, and it seems like more networks will follow Viacom’s lead.