It is a noble goal that brings these great American corporate giants (News. Corp., NBC, AOL, MSN, and Yahoo!) together: “for the first time, consumers will get what they want – professional produced video delivered on the sites where they live.”

Deconstructing the hyperbole and lack of consumer insight displayed here could take pages. The real question is, can they make it happen? Five corporations that have been rivals for years, fighting hand to hand for the same ad dollars, the same consumer eyeballs are now working together. None have shown the slightest aptitude for partnership in the past (they are all legendary for their internal in-fighting); nor is there any good reason to believe they will be successful now.

Not even for their real, whispered mission: Google must die.

Not exactly a mission to build a business case on is it?

Nor can it sustain them through the negotiation-filled months ahead. The fear of Google can’t keep the various corporate self-interests at bay as they struggle to turn these press releases into real online consumer experiences and ad dollars.

A question as seemingly simple as “who gets what video first?” will determine which partner is most or least successful. Nor is the answer “everyone gets everything at once” satisfactory. In that route lies a complete dilution of value of these assets for every partner and a valueless partnership.

Then there is the advertising model with all that money to muddle through. It comes down to who sells what, how and what happens when the inventory runs out or goes soft.

It looks like some pretty tough talk ahead. All the time drawing high priced resources away from each partner’s more singular concerns: falling stock prices, re-building brand image, and other competitors.

Critically, there is no Lincoln in this story. No individual with the vision and determination to use each partner’s talents and toss the rest away. Here we see hyperbole and a great deal of misplaced energy; a true team of rivals. The folks at Google couldn’t be happier.

Kathy Sharpe, CEO

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