"Lazy Sunday" Responsible For YouTube's $1.5 Billion Sale?

Via Ars Technica:

How did YouTube turn itself into such an essential worldwide service that Google plunked down $1.5 billion in cash and prizes to acquire the video sharing site? It depends who you ask, of course, but NBC Universal's general counsel, Rick Cotton, has his own answer: the cupcake-munching white rappers of Lazy Sunday fame. In other words, NBC made it possible, but YouTube made all the money.

In this view, YouTube was a nice place for emo kids to post rants about Britney Spears, but this sort of stuff hardly made YouTube an essential visit. No, what built YouTube's brand was the flood of unauthorized commercial content sloshing around on the site a few years back--a heady time before Hulu et al. when one could reliably dig up episodes of The Simpsons, The Daily Show, or Saturday Night Live.

At a conference on the Future of Television this last week in New York, Cotton made it clear that he hasn't forgotten those early days. According to him, YouTube was vaulted into national popularity by SNL's hit "Lazy Sunday" rap about a pair of lame white guys from the Village who wanted nothing more than to spend a Sunday afternoon in the theater, watching The Chronicles of Narnia.

The infamous video, with is still somehow worth a 50,001st viewing:

Comments

[Eric8869]

I think it was the Flea Market Montgomery that made it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk

or at least Chocolate Rain

[NHGranite]

Samburg. He made youtube.

[flymic]

dropping Hamiltons like Burr...

.... nicely done!

[BowlingForRevenge]

Parnell and Samberg need to be compensated! LOL!!!

[dkan71]

That must be more of that Stuff White People Like...cuz I was not feelin' that at all!

[Seven7s]

SNACK ATTACK MUTHAFU**A!

[ron ray]

good video, but actually it was d*** in a box that made YouTube.

[jaymcb]

ron-ray, not the case since google offed to buy youtube two months before d*ck in the box

[GravitonX]

That was good!