When Google Met Gumby

• Email
• Share
• Print

Hoping to score with some blasts from the past, Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) YouTube is going old-school. The company is teaming up with online distributor Digital Music Group (Nasdaq: DMGI) to offer shows like My Favorite Martian, I Spy, and Gumby for free on the popular video-sharing site.

Digital Music will receive a piece of the action from related ad revenue, according to this morning's Wall Street Journal. And YouTube will be able to detect when third-party videos are using Digital's catalog recordings as background music, thus helping to protect its larger music library. Similar to a deal it struck with Warner Music (NYSE: WMG) back in September, the copyright-infringing uploads won't necessarily be taken down. Instead, Digital will get a slice of the ad revenue from those videos as well.

Despite its melodic name, Digital entered the video distribution business back in November. It now represents more than 4,000 hours of content, including things like Sam Kinison's HBO specials and the Peter Gunn series. If successful, it would be a welcome boost for Digital shareholders; the company went public a year ago at $9.75 a share, and it's trading for less than half of that today.

If you don't feel like throwback shows will be a major draw, welcome to the club. Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL has been streaming shows like Wonder Woman and Welcome Back, Kotter through its In2TV service. Watched any over the past year? I didn't think so.

However, YouTube is all about exploring niche audiences. Besides, many of the claymation shorts -- like Gumby Adventures and SNL's The Mr. Bill Show -- in Digital's arsenal are perfect fodder for YouTube's short-attention-span audience.

If Digital can gradually make its catalog available (and stir up anticipation along the way), it just may become a top draw on the site. Move over, Lonelygirl15. There's a new Pokey in town.

Time Warner is a recommendation in the Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter service.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story, though he does own a pair of Gumby slippers. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.