The network will create an official NBC Channel on YouTube to show clips from shows like "The Office" that are in its lineup for the season starting in September, NBC said in a statement yesterday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The NBC channel on YouTube will also offer videos of programs such as "Saturday Night Live" and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" over the next year.

YouTube attracted attention this year for spreading a popular online video that was illegally snatched from NBC's "Saturday Night Live" program. The clip depicted comedians rapping in a skit called "Lazy Sunday" and as it spread, it helped thousands of Internet users learn that they could share video as easily as forwarding an e-mail.

At the time, NBC executives demanded that YouTube remove the video from its site. But then, seeing its popularity, NBC posted the same video on its own Web site.

YouTube started in February 2005 says more than 70 million videos are viewed on its Web site daily.

In May, ABC was the first major network to offer shows, including "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," on its Web site. The shows also are available on the iTunes online shop of Apple Computer. In April Fox extended a revenue-sharing agreement with its affiliates that lets it show reruns on the Internet.

The deal follows an announcement by Warner Bros. on Monday that it will sell downloads of 200 films and TV episodes through Guba, another online video site. The partnerships seek to solve two problems for the entertainment industry: Old-media companies need popular Internet channels to fight declining TV and movie-theater viewership, and Internet video start-ups need a revenue stream to capitalize on their exploding popularity reports Washington Post.

Guba LLC said its deal with Warner Bros. essentially reconfigured its revenue model, so it is no longer all ad-supported, and Guba sees less of its future tied to video content generated from the public.