Broadband Video Roundup: AOL, NBC, Beet.TV, ScanScout

Investors may still hate the company, but AOL is steadily becoming Web’s top source of many things near and dear to advertisers’ hearts — search not included. Three days after forming its monster Platform A ad network unit, the company has signed a deal to carry ABC television content. Considering that AOL is a founding network partner to NBCU/News Corp’s Hulu online video network, the news means AOL will in short order have among the largest collections of premier video on the Web. Of course, syndication rights are cheaper by the minute. Audience is what counts.

NBC meanwhile will let consumers download its prime time and late night shows for a week after their initial broadcast. Included programs include “Heroes,” “The Office,” “Bionic Woman,” and “30 Rock,” as well as Conan’s and Leno’s late night shows. The company pointedly said its downloadable player will contain filtering technology capable of blocking copyrighted material, a jab at YouTube, which has struggled to produce such technology at the request of networks and music labels. And the news comes shortly after the company nixed its relationship with iTunes, so the announcement is chock full of swipes at NBC’s Internet frienemies.

In video overlay news, B2B video blog Beet.TV secured a sponsorship with VeriSign, which will bring overlay ads to the show, and will also begin carrying such ads on its YouTube channel. Additionally, contextual video targeting firm Scanscout went public with its first notable publisher relationship, with Handheld Entertainment. The deal potentially involves a lot of inventory, as Handheld expects to close its recently announced acquisition of eBaum’s World next month.