SNL made YouTube, so SNL site makes sense
Saturday Night Live helped make YouTube famous, and Tina Fey's recent appearances have led to big traffic spikes at NBC.com and Hulu.
So why shouldn't the long-running TV show have its own Web site?
Seth Meyers spilled the beans last week on an ESPN podcast that SNL was in talks to build a site that would feature clips of show sketches, including material never before aired.
A move like this makes sense. Viacom has built branded sites around its most popular shows, such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. The idea is to build Web sites under the names that people already know. Why make them scour a site like Hulu, Yahoo or AOL to find the material they want?
Not only does a branded Web site make it easier to find material but it also does a better job promoting shows online than a portal, which must promote lots of different shows. An SNL site would have fared well as a result of Fey's impersonations Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate.
In the week after Fey's first performance as Palin, NBC saw more than 5.7 million views.
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET. 
- by TomMoon October 13, 2008 6:12 PM PDT
- As Sarah Palin said, "Let me get back TO ya!"
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