Sometimes people say really revealing things when they’re talking in a language that they figure nobody outside their own country understands. This is from leading Dutch paper NRC Handelsblad (clunky translation mine):
According to Dan Ligtvoet, head of MTV Networks Benelux, the lawsuit filed by “big boss” Viacom is mainly a means of forcing new negotiations with YouTube. “I think that MTV and YouTube will be dependent upon each other in the future. They have to work together. MTV would be able to provide YouTube and other online channels, like MySpace and Hyves, with clips and other content. Just like we now deliver to the Xbox, the PlayStation or your mobile telephone.”
I don’t think YouTube really needs MTV’s help to get music videos (it’s YouTube’s growing dominance in the music video space that the NRC article is mostly about), but I guess it would be interested in some of MTV’s original programming. In any case, it’s very interesting to hear someone inside the Viacom empire admit that the company “will be dependent upon” YouTube in the future.