YouTube, which fought some extremely hefty lawsuits from broadcast networks early on, has signed a deal with Time Warner, signaling the legitimacy of YouTube itself. The deal includes Time Warner having an official and dedicated set of channels on YouTube, displaying television shows and movie clips.

After years of fighting YouTube and the online distribution model, many broadcast networks have turned to the web for marketing. But the power of YouTube can seemingly not be stopped. Since being acquired by Google, YouTube has turned into a commercial grade advertising platform.

Now that YouTube and Time Warner have become mutually beneficial to each other, what’s the harm in a little partnership? Combining the ability to market and distribute at once, within a series of given social spheres, Time Warner and YouTube are suddenly able to get along.

It represents the combining of traditional and new media, as the two aspects of media don’t necessarily take over each other, but mesh into a symbiotic relationship of sorts. It’s an aspect of media evolution I’ve conjectured for years. Driven by anything’s ability to market to the masses, certain traditional media characteristics are taken on and implemented by new media. This gives old and new media a level playing field for future cooperation.