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Lots in the news recently about how rocky is the road travelled by Google in trying to make YouTube an online video money-making powerhouse. The always-excellent Internet Marketing Monitor has catalogued a series of "setbacks" suffered by Google recently:

• Viacom Wants Its MTV… Pulled From YouTube
  
• NBC's Zucker Lashes Out at YouTube
• Is Google Killing YouTube With Pre-roll Advertising?
  

I know how they feel. I believed that Google couldn't help but succeed, given the enormous amount of money that Google's audience represents in advertising revenues. Reading these stories was a disappoitment because I felt that Google might let this opportunity slip through its fingers.

But then I thought about it some more and here is what I found…There is plenty of blame to spread around.

In fact, although you could blame Google, I think the lion’s share of the blame should rest with the studios — based on their ignorance, greed and a desire to control forces that are grossly beyond their control.

Hear me out and consider this:

Of all the studio honchos that I’ve read about, only Anne Sweeney, president of Disney-ABC Television, got it right when she said “We want to go wherever our viewers are. Viewers have control and show no sign of giving it back.”

Is she really the only honcho who understands that the viewers are walking away (in droves!) from “traditional” movie, music, and broadcast TV prodcuts? Maybe not. But she does show a refreshingly pragmatic approach to the market.

Seems obvious — there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle. That said, Disney is still taking the ultra-cautious approach, having cut a deal with board director Steve Jobs’ iTunes and not Google. And make no mistake: iTunes represents only 1/40th of the volume of downloaded music — and they’re the Big Dog in the pay-for-play music industry. Hunh.

Makes you wonder what would happen if someone offered non-DRM mp3s for, say, 3 cents each. I think there’s money to be made on that, boys and girls. But the traditional studios won’t do it because they want the Big Score.

In other words, all the other studio heads are still thinking about old patterns and protocols. For example, television networks are used to getting $0.30 and more in commercial advertising revenues per viewer for a hit show.

But the revenues from Google advertising are considerably lower than that: A page eCPM of $1 generates only a tenth of a cent per view in revenue. Multiply that by ten and you still have only a cent. But those fractions-of-a-penny have added up to billions-with-a-B for little old Google.

Yes, yes, I know: the content on YouTube is infringing on copyrighted material. But, paraphrasing Sweeney again, piracy is, in fact, a business model.

But that apparaently is too daring a concept for the studio heads. Not only that — they cannot even acknowledge that a YouTube video ain’t broadcast TV and never will be.

So, I ask you: who really has their head you-know-where?

Bottom line: movie, music and TV entertainment content isn’t worth what the studios think it’s worth — not anymore, not in a Bit Torrent/YouTube world.

In THAT world, I think Google has a better idea of what (and where) the viewers are — and where the money is coming from and how much of it there really is and how to get it.

Anyway, that’s all just my opinion. I might be wrong.

But I doubt it.

• Hoyer beats Murtha. Honestly I'm thrilled that there is a Democratic Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. The rest is detail. As for the traditional media calling it "a setback for Pelosi," get a life -- she's the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives. So far, so good. [P.S. Apparently, the Blue Dogs are not happy with Pelosi's pick, Alcee Hastings, for the Intelligence Committee.]

• Rahm and Dean shake hands and call it a day. And Carville? Not so much.

• I saw the headline about the University of California police shooting a student with a taser and ignored it. Why borrow trouble, you know? Then, after seeing it several more times, I finally watched the cellphone video. Honestly, there isn't much to see but, my God, the audio alone is profoundly disturbing. What I don't get is why they tased him, again and again, once he was on the ground. If all they wanted was to take him away, they should have simply cuffed him and dragged him off after the first taser brought him down.

• The Times wrings its hands in despair over Iraq:

  ...[W]e are sure that even a few weeks more of drift and confusion will guarantee more chaos and suffering once American troops leave. Voters gave the Democrats the floor — and are now waiting to hear what they have to say.

  That's rich -- the Times went along for years while Bush's disastrous Iraq policy unfolded; now that the voters have thrown those bums out of Congress, the editors demand that the Democrats do something about it NOW, or else.

• Arianna's on a Time Magazine panel to discuss their upcoming Person of the Year issue. Her top pick is Murtha; but her fallback picks are more interesting, among them Stewart & Colbert.

• Sen. Dodd (D-CT) introduced legislation on Thursday to amend the horrific Military Commissions Act, restoring habeas corpus, narrowing the definition of "unlawful enemy combatant," limiting the authority of the President to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions, barring the use of information obtained through coercion, and more. Not a moment too soon.

• I grew up in Michigan during the years that George Romney was the governor (and a one-time presidential aspirant). So I'm familiar with Romney family mojo. That said, I didn't take Mitt Romney's presidential aspirations seriously until I read today that it was Romney's Bain Capital group that was one of the parties that bought Clear Channel Communications for a cool $19 billion. Holy crap! Most candidates just buy ad time. Romney bought an advertising empire.

Now that its deal with McDonald's has expired, Disney is cutting trans fats and empty calories from any food that they license.

If you think the last thing our troops need is more body armor, you better watch this ad right now.

This devastating ad features an AK-47 ("the weapon of choice among terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan") piercing the Vietnam era flak jackets many troops wore in Iraq. Then it shows how the newer, more effective body armor fares against that same AK-47. There's no contest.

Lastly, VoteVets.org (an organization of Iraq veterans), calls for the defeat of Virginia Senator George Allen because he voted against supplying our troops with the modern, better body armor shown in this ad.

And Allen wants to run for President someday? No way, baby, no way.

(HT to kos)

Alka-Seltzer imagines a man in conflict with his own stomach when the announcer steps in to mediate:

He gave up hot tamales. Now he's on a new kick: pepperoni pizzas. And I was just getting used to hot tamales!

I remember writing about this commercial in my HS English journal. So it dates back to around 1968 or so. See if you can recognize who does the voice of The Stomach (answer on the flip).

Tarako is a cod roe-flavoured pasta sauce made by a company called Kewpie, hence the doll-faced Mentaiko (sausage-shaped spiced cod roe). The eery jingle goes like this:

Tarako, tarako,

Tappuri tarako (lots of Tarako)

Tarako, tarako, tappuri tarako ga yatte kuru (lots of Tarako are coming)

As if this jingle isn't ALREADY burned into your brain, here's an extended 4-minute piece starring the two celebrity spokespersons for Tarako:

Click the image to find out more.

• Secretary Jackson Fabricated the Entire Story, Spokesperson Claims, Contradicting Prior Response Very unprofessional (at best) and very likely illegal (at worst). But no worries -- Congress will never investigate.

• Leader of Iran lectures Bush on being a good Christian
  This is what you get when the separation of church and state is torn down and religion trumps government. I wonder if Bush will bother to respond to Ahmadinejad.

• Another poll hits a new low
  68% believe the U.S. is worse off today than it was before Bush became president. Ouch. And with his approval at 31%, how long before he dips into the 20's?

• Israel gives Palestinians a peace deadline
  PA has until year's end or Israel will set its final borders unilaterally. Meanwhile, Fatah and Hamas continue to squabble about not missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

• The difference between New York and New Orleans
  Hillary Clinton talks about how Bush backed New York after 9/11. Wish I could say the same about him backing New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

• Hayden is great (but then so was Goss)
  Watch the video: Bush uses the identical words to nominate Hayden as he used to nominate Goss.

• Should the Democrats campaign for Congressional investigations?
  Some pundits think not; but I think people might want to know (for example) what really happened to those missing billions in Iraq.

• The Evolution of Dance (video)
  How many of these dances did you do in your day?

• The 1-Second Film
  One-second of animation, 90-minutes of credits, all in 70mm, all for a good cause. End-credits are estimated to last 90-minutes and will include a feature-length 'making of' documentary. All profits raised by the finished film will benefit the Global Fund for Women. The best part? You too can be credited as an Associate Producer. All it costs is a $1 donation. No wonder the end-credits last for 90 minutes!

Kinky Friedman's got some new campaign videos.