NBBC: parts and pieces to Clown Co.

From beta launch to dead pool in 10 months.

From TechCrunch:

"The remains of NBBC will be merged into the NBC/ News Corp joint venture first announced in March.

The new service, dubbed Clown Co by some has long been discussed but to date is yet to appear. Strangely, News Corp recently launched MySpace TV, a YouTube competitor in its own right that will compete directly with the NBC/ News Corp joint venture.

In an interview with MediaPost, George Kliavkoff, NBCU’s chief digital officer justified the closure of NBBC as a step towards strengthening the NBC/ News Corp joint venture : “we saw that “NewSite” could use NBBC’s resources, so last Friday afternoon we agreed to contribute it to the NewSite effort.”

The closure of NBBC and the transfer of IP and talent does not extend to existing agreements. Over 150 partners of NBBC, including Hearst, A&E Television Networks, The Horror Channel, Vibe Media Group, CNET Networks and Forbes.com will be required to negotiate new contracts with the new service."

Internal memo to content "partners" via Lost Remote:

"As part of our contribution, nbbc must sever all on-going business relationships in preparation for the merger. Therefore, this note serves as your 30-day notice of service termination with nbbc. NewSite is an independent operating entity and may reach out to you to explore potential business partnerships."

From TechCrunch comments:

"I’ve been consulting with NBBC. It’s kind of a nightmare being in the meetings. None of the senior executive team have any clue as to how to build a video portal, or how to build a cohesive development team. None of them have a clear vision - its ridiculous. They expect to compete with the likes of Youtube and Google, and there is much talk of building the killer experience, yet they can’t even put out a ’standard’ product that just works."