Info/Law

I wrote recently about the business-based decision of the New York Times to reverse course and tear down the paywall that had surrounded its archived content; old Times articles have gone online, searchable and free. Now a similar decision comes from another news source arguably as important to a certain audience: The Daily Show. Viacom, the parent company of MTV Networks channel Comedy Central, which broadcasts Jon Stewart’s “fake news” program, said in its press release:

“There continues to be a rabid appetite for COMEDY CENTRAL programming online,” said Erik Flannigan, executive vice president, digital media, COMEDY CENTRAL. “With thedailyshow.com, we have created an online destination that raises the bar by providing an exhaustive video library for everything ‘Daily Show.’ This site exemplifies MTV Networks’ strategy of creating in-depth, engaging vertical sites for our vast library of quality programming.” [snip]

With extensive tagging, themed playlists, specialized search tools and video-sharing capabilities, thedailyshow.com offers fans an enriched, cross- indexed experience that makes it simple to revisit popular past segments …

For a Daily Show fan like me, sounds great. More big media companies are recognizing that their archives are indeed a gold mine, but not in the way they once thought. Instead of charging for this stuff, they can use it to attract audiences for advertisements. And the ability to link and e-mail Daily Show content helps keep the program in the center of the online conversation (another consideration in common with the abandonment of Times Select). I am sure we can expect countless links from, for example, the political blogs, especially the liberal ones.

Just one slight problem. Based on my extensive experimentation, the search engine doesn’t work, at least at the moment…

Filed under: Copyright, Digital Media, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Media, Open Access