The legal arm of television company NBC is on a quest to prevent the distribution of a Saturday Night Live skit which featured Oscar-nominated actress Natalie Portman rapping. NBC wishes to block access to the video by removing it from several video trading sites.
After airing the episode that was hosted by Portman on Saturday, the skit was promptly uploaded to a video community website, YouTube. By Monday the skit had been viewed almost half a million times. The NBC justifies the move by pointing out the video is available to purchase on iTunes, but many believe their action is aggressive, unnecessary and potentially isolates future audiences.
"SNL and NBC are trying to control a viral situation. But they need to be careful because they run the risk of alienating potential new viewers," said Norman Parrish, CEO of marketing company The Parrish Group. "We won't be able to tell if stopping the natural spread of the clip was a bad or good move for them until next week when they can measure how many people went to the NBC.com site to see the clip or how many people tuned in to watch."
After airing the episode that was hosted by Portman on Saturday, the skit was promptly uploaded to a video community website, YouTube. By Monday the skit had been viewed almost half a million times. The NBC justifies the move by pointing out the video is available to purchase on iTunes, but many believe their action is aggressive, unnecessary and potentially isolates future audiences.
"SNL and NBC are trying to control a viral situation. But they need to be careful because they run the risk of alienating potential new viewers," said Norman Parrish, CEO of marketing company The Parrish Group. "We won't be able to tell if stopping the natural spread of the clip was a bad or good move for them until next week when they can measure how many people went to the NBC.com site to see the clip or how many people tuned in to watch."
