WebProNews

Tag: channels

  • Roku Gets a YouTube Channel, Complete with HD Streaming and ‘Send to TV’ Feature

    Roku Gets a YouTube Channel, Complete with HD Streaming and ‘Send to TV’ Feature

    Roku is the latest set-top device to get a YouTube app. Starting today, Roku 3 owners in the US, UK, Canada, and the Republic of Ireland can now stream YouTube videos on the big screen with their device – in HD when applicable.

    You can also shoot videos from your phone to your TV via Roku.

    “Control YouTube on Roku from that sick new phone you just got, turning your TV into your personal JumboTron. Just connect your device to the same Wi-Fi as your Roku,” says YouTube’s Sarah Ali.

    Roku began to let users stream video to their TVs from their mobile devices back in August.

    “The YouTube channel rounds out our industry-leading selection of streaming entertainment just in time for the holidays and the annual year-end best-of video lists like YouTube’s own list of top trending videos released last week. Whether it’s finding a helpful tutorial, listening to the latest music, or watching your favorite videos for hours on end, YouTube has something for everyone and today we couldn’t be more pleased to announce the launch of this much-anticipated channel on our platform,” says Roku’s Ed Lee.

    This isn’t the only new content app to hit Roku in recent memory – just last month Roku added the popular WatchESPN and WATCH Disney apps to their lineup.

    Image via Roku Blog

  • YouTube Opens Up Live Streaming to All Channels in Good Standing

    YouTube Opens Up Live Streaming to All Channels in Good Standing

    As long as you verify your YouTube account and it’s in good standing, you will soon be able to live stream video all across the globe.

    YouTube has just announced that they are opening up live streaming to all channels. Back in May, the company opened up live streaming to all channels with 1000+ subscribers, but now even the little guys can livestream as well. The rollout will happen over the course of the next few weeks.

    Here’s what you’ll get with YouTube Live:

    YouTube Live allows you to offer your audience a great viewing experience, with great streaming quality and instant scalability and reliability. You get real-time transcoding in the cloud, so you only need to send us your highest quality stream and we make it instantly available in all resolutions and device formats. You can show multiple camera angles, add closed captions, and insert ads and slates. Viewers can watch the live stream from any device, get the best quality constantly adjusting to their Internet connection, and can skip back and forth in the live stream.

    As far as that “good standing” requirement goes, all it means is that you’ve played nice over the years – no Community Guidelines strikes, no copyright strikes, and no videos that have been blocked worldwide by Content ID.

    YouTube also announced some additional Google+ integration:

    “To give you even more ways to connect with fans, you can now launch a Google+ Hangout on Air directly from the YouTube Live events manager. This gives you a simple way to reach your fans live and is the ideal way to to invite participants to join your show,” says YouTube’s Satyajeet Salgar.

    Back in October, YouTube opened up their paid channels initiative in a big way. If your channel boasts 10,000 subscribers or more, you can now charge users to view your videos.

    Image via jm3, Flickr Creative Commons

  • YouTube Users Have Longer Attention Spans Than You Think

    If you think that it’s impossible to hold a YouTuber’s attention with a longer video, think again.

    According to YouTube reps speaking at a closed partners event this week, more then one-third of all of the video viewing time on the site comes from videos that are longer than 20 minutes (via GigaOm). It appears that many users’ attention spans are a bit longer than the cats we believed were dominating YouTube’s most popular content.

    Also, YouTube revealed that over one-third of all searches on the site are news-related queries.

    While this is good news for humanity (we’re actually interested in long-form videos…and news!), it’s even better news for YouTube and the various channels on the site that are looking to focus on serious, in-depth original content. Remember, YouTube has been putting a lot of effort into building up channels on the site, hoping that users will want to follow creators that produce fresh, original videos. Back in May, YouTube unveiled the paid channels pilot, allowing a select few partners charge a small fee of users to view certain videos. Recent reports indicated that the paid channels may be off to a slow start, however.

    Just a couple of weeks ago, YouTube expanded the paid channels initiative in a big way by allowing any account in good standing with over 10,000 subscribers to put a price on their content.

    YouTube began expanding the length limit for all videos posted a few years ago (remember, it used to be 10 minutes). It currently sits at fifteen minutes for all users, and the length limit isn’t capped at all if you request an increase and verify your account.

    Image via jm3, Flickr Creative Commons

  • YouTube Opens Up Paid Channels in a Big Way

    If your YouTube channel is in good standing and you have 10,000 existing subscribers, there’s a good chance that you can now charge users to view your content if that’s something you wish to try.

    YouTube has just announced an expansion to the paid channels pilot that will allow more partners to participate. Eligible partners in good standing with over 10,000 subscribers can now enable the feature on their accounts pages.

    What does this mean, exactly?

    Good standing simply means that you’ve played nice over the years. This means you have no Community Guidelines strikes, copyright strikes, and no videos that have been blocked worldwide by Content ID. Being eligible for a paid channels means that you’ve completed the following steps:

    • Your account is in good standing.
    • You meet the general criteria for YouTube partnership.
    • You have verified your account by phone.
    • You have an approved AdSense account linked to your YouTube account.
    • You own a free channel with at least 10,000 active subscribers.

    Before today, paid channels were only open to a few dozen partners.

    YouTube has also announced that they’ve added Mexico to the eligible countries list, and more countries are on the way. Currently, paid channels are only offered in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, the UK, and the US.

    If you want to try out a paid channel, YouTube will give you a 14-day free trial.

    “Just as the Partner Program empowered creators to build great channels over the last six years, we look forward to seeing how you use this additional business model to build your audience on YouTube,” says YouTube.

    YouTube first launched paid channels back in May. Recent reports indicate that they may be off to a slow start, with various partners expressing disappointment in the early returns.

    Image via YouTube

  • YouTube Celebrates All Things Geek with a Week of Exclusive Content

    According to YouTube, over half of its top 20 non-music channels are dedicated to geek culture. And with that in mind, the video site decided that it was high time they hosted an international geek week.

    “There’s never been a better time to be a geek. From ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ to ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘The Avengers,’ geek culture is everywhere, attracting and connecting ever-expanding audiences. Today’s obsession with all-things-geek has sparked a global community on YouTube, enabling fans around the world to express their love of superheroes, comics, gaming, science and sci-fi,” says the YouTube Geek Week team.

    YouTube’s Geek Week is a week-long (duh) celebration of all things geek, kicking off August 4th and running through the 10th. It’s being produced in partnership with the Nerdist channel and Channel Flip in the U.K. The celebration will feature more than 100 channels, who will be producing exclusive content for Geek Week.

    Each day will have a different theme, and will feature different “hosting” channels. For instance, there’s “Global Geekery Monday” and “Gaming Thursday.”

    Oh, and if you’re wondering why YouTube is celebrating “geek” week and not “nerd” week (the long-debated topic), well, you know what they say – the only people who argue about the difference between geeks and nerds are people who are both geeks and nerds.

  • YouTube Now Lets You Add a Subscribe Button Anywhere on the Web

    In order to promote channel subscriptions (and to make it easier for channel owners to gain more subscribers), YouTube has just launched a subscribe button that’s embeddable on any site on the web.

    “The YouTube Subscribe Button lets you add a one-click Subscribe button to any page. The button lets people subscribe to your YouTube channel without having to leave your site to either log in to YouTube or confirm their subscriptions,” says YouTube on their developers page.

    YouTube nows offers 6 different button formats – three for free channels and three for their new paid channels (which may be off to a slow start). When people click on the subscribe button on your site, it’ll automatically subscribe them to the specific channel. This is a bit different for paid channels, where clicking on the subscribe button will take the user to the channel on YouTube, where they can choose whether or not they want to pay to subscribe there.

    Here are the 6 button options:

    The new subscribe button is easily embeddable on any site, and YouTube only has a few rules concerning what channel owners can’t do with the button. First, they can’t offer rewards in exchange for subscribing to a YouTube channel. Second, the buttons must be “fully and clearly visible.” And lastly:

    You may not use a Subscribe Button to track any data about a user related to the user’s actions or browsing activity, including without limitation whether or not a user clicks on a YouTube Subscribe button. This prohibition includes but is not limited to using pixels, cookies, or other methods of recognizing when a user clicks on a YouTube button.

    For more info on how to add a YouTube subscribe button to your site, check here.

  • YouTube’s Paid Channels May Be Off to a Slow Start

    Back in May, after much speculation, YouTube finally unveiled their first-ever paid channels. Most costing a few dollars a month, the paid channels put exclusive content behind a paywall, ultimately changing an aspect of YouTube that users are quite comfortable with.

    Mainly, getting stuff for free as long as they can put up with some ads every now and then.

    And according to some of YouTube’s early partners in the venture, things haven’t really taken off as fast as they previously hoped.

    Variety quotes two high profile paid channel owners who both say that they’re a bit disappointed with the returns they’re seeing from their paid channels.

    “We had hoped to set the world on fire. We are not setting the world on fire right now,” said the National Geographic Society, who launched a paid kids channel back in May.

    “[It’s] working OK. Not amazing,” said Mark Cuban, who opened up AXS TV when the pilot program launched.

    It’s not all bad for YouTube’s paid channel initiative, however. Sesame Workshop claims to be “very happy” with the performance of their paid channels.

    “We’re in the early days of piloting paid channels. Just as the Partner Program empowered creators to take their channels to the next level, we look forward to seeing how creators bring new content to their fan communities on YouTube,” said YouTube in response.

    And YouTube is right about being in the early days. As of today, there are only 51 paid channels in the pilot program. They range from $0.99 a month to as expensive as $7.99 per month. Some channels even offer yearly subscriptions for as low as $24.99 a year or as high as $67.99 a year.

    YouTube will expand the initiative – when they’re ready. And opening up the program will vastly expand the type of content that is offered, meaning your average, everyday YouTube channel will eventually be able to but their content behind a paywall.

    “This is just the beginning. We’ll be rolling paid channels out more broadly in the coming weeks as a self-service feature for qualifying partners. And as new channels appear, we’ll be making sure you can discover them, just as we’ve been helping you find and subscribe to all the channels you love across YouTube. Just as the partner program empowered creators to take their channels to the next level, we look forward to seeing how this great community of creators moves ahead with a new way to reach the fan communities that made their channels a hit,” said YouTube when they first launch the paid channels pilot program.

    Will a better selection tempt users to buy into the paid model? That remains to be seen. Like any subscription-based service, people are only going to pay if they deem the content worth paying for.

    Plus, when most people think YouTube, they think free videos. Sure, you have to put up with ads – but the core appeal of YouTube has always been that it was free. Free hosting, free viewing. Other subscription videos services like Hulu and Netflix, as well as traditional cable options and HBO, never had to cross over the “free” barrier – those services always cost money from the get go.

    In order for YouTubers to pony up $7.99 a month for a channel subscription – those channels are going to have to offer some high quality content. Have you subscribed to a YouTube channel yet? Are you waiting for more options? Or are you the type of person who would never, under any circumstances, pay you watch a YouTube video?

  • YouTube’s New Channel Design Launches for Everyone

    After some time spent beta testing, in which YouTube gave channel owners a choice to opt-in to the new YouTube One Channel design, the company announced last month that the clock was ticking – everyone would be switched over to the new design on June 5th.

    Well, today’s that day. If you hadn’t already switched to the new design, YouTube’s going to switch it for you.

    Before today’s mandatory switch, over 100 million channels had chosen to opt-in to the new look. YouTube says that channels using the new design have already seen an increase in subscribers and in total visits. Plus, “20% more page views on their channels because clicks from the YouTube guide go directly to their channel pages instead of to their activity feeds.”

    YouTube has these tips for channel owners just getting started with the new design, which features a large header photo, links to other social accounts, and new video categories that reorganize videos in a bunch of different ways:

    To get your channel looking it’s best:

    • Select your channel art. Choose an image that represents your channel. The image should be 2560 px by 1440 px for the best results on all devices. If you plan on designing something special, check out the specs here.
    • Upload a trailer. Introduce new viewers to all the awesomeness they’ll see from your videos, and encourage them to subscribe to your channel.
    • Create sections. Select which videos and playlists you want to showcase in the sections on your channel’s browse tab.
    • Link your channel with a Google+ page or profile. Keeping your branding up-to-date will be even easier because your channel art will represent you across YouTube, Google+, and all Google properties.

    One huge benefit to the new design is that your channels will look the same across multiple platforms – iOS, Android, web, and more.

    No use in fighting it, it’s here to stay and mandatory for all channels now.

  • YouTube’s New Channel Design Rolls Out to Everyone on June 5th

    If you’ve spent some time on YouTube recently, you may have noticed that not every channel you land on looks the same. Some channels sport a new look that features a large header photo, social links, and a new design that reorganizes videos by category.

    This new design is called the YouTube One Channel, and YouTube has had it in beta for some time now. In that time, over 100 million channels have opted-in to the new look. But for all of you holdouts, your days with the old channel format are numbered. YouTube has just announced that all channels with be automatically and permanently moved to the new One Channel design by June 5th.

    “Channels that have already made the switch are experiencing several benefits. Their branding shines through in more places because Channel Art is visible on iOS apps, Android apps and TV. For the channels that have opted in, we’ve seen 20% more page views on their channels because clicks from the YouTube guide go directly to their channel pages instead of to their activity feeds,” says YouTube

    Here’s what the new channels look like:

    Compare that to the old channels, which will no longer exist come June 5th:

    Of course, if you’re a channel owner and you’re just now hearing about this – you can choose to opt-in early here.

    And speaking of YouTube and channels, the company just expanded live streaming to any and all channels with 1000+ subscribers.

  • YouTube Live Streaming Expands to All Channels with 1000+ Subscribers

    YouTube Live Streaming Expands to All Channels with 1000+ Subscribers

    Back in April of 2011, YouTube launched YouTube Live, which offered live streaming capabilities to a select number of partners. Today, they’re announcing a massive expansion of the program which will allow tons of new channels to live stream content as they wish.

    Starting today, all YouTube channels in good standing (you know, following the YouTube Community Guidelines) with over 1,000 subscribers are eligible for live streaming. If you want to know if you are eligible, simply check your account features page. If you’re eligible, you’ll see an “enable” button and there you’ll be able to sign up. YouTube says that live streaming capabilities will officially come to these channels in the following weeks.

    Here’s what YouTube has to say about what content creators will get with the YouTube Live expansion:

    YouTube Live allows you to offer your audience a great viewing experience, with great streaming quality and instant scalability and reliability. Here are some key features:

    • You get real-time transcoding in the cloud, so you only need to send us your highest quality stream and we make it instantly available in all resolutions and device formats
    • You can show multiple camera angles, add closed captions, and insert ads and slates
    • Viewers can watch the live stream from any device, get the best quality constantly adjusting to their Internet connection, and can skip back and forth in the live stream

    Last month, YouTube for iOS finally got live streaming. And last week, YouTube pulled the curtain back on their long-rumored paid channels. Only a few select partners currently have access to those paid channels at launch, but in the future you can see how expanded live streaming and paid channel subscriptions could prove an interesting match.

  • YouTube May Soon Launch Paid Channel Subscriptions [REPORT]

    YouTube May Soon Launch Paid Channel Subscriptions [REPORT]

    Over a year ago, YouTube started a big push toward making the site more channel-centric. Not only did they facilitate the launch of a bunch of new original content channels across all types of categories (sports, automotive, comedy, etc.), but they also changed up the way the site looks to encourage users to subscribe to channels.

    In all, Google invested over $100 million into new original channels. Recent reports have suggested that Google is investing even more into original YouTube content.

    Now, it looks like Google is looking to offer another incentive for content creators to produce for YouTube, as well as another reason for advertisers to flock.

    AdAge is reporting that YouTube is gearing up to launch paid channel subscriptions. They quote multiple sources familiar with the plans who say that the paid subscriptions could debut as early as Q2 of this year.

    It’s unknown exactly which channels would launch as part of this new model, but the sources said that users would be asked to pay between $1 and $5 a month to gain access to the paid channels.

    According to AdAge, “YouTube is also considering charging for content libraries and access to live events, a la pay-per-view, as well as self-help or financial advice shows.”

    This is not the first time we’ve heard talk of new paid channel subscriptions. Back in June of last year, YouTube CEO Salr Kamangar talked paid subscriptions at the Reuters Media and Tech Summit. The main focus was on certain cable channels who could find more success on YouTube with a subscription, but he also discussed other content creators on YouTube being able to charge for their content.

    The report indicates that any paid subscription model would most likely be small (25 or less channels) at first.

    The big question is whether or not YouTube users think there’s anything on YouTube worth paying for – and if not, who can create that?

  • YouTube Launches New Campaigns Tool for Nonprofits

    It’s campaign season, and YouTube has been an integral part of that by streaming the conventions and debates live on their Elections Hub. Now, they’re turning to another type of campaign.

    YouTube has just launched another tool to help the nonprofit organizations enrolled in their YouTube Nonprofit program. Now, YouTube wants to give channel owners a “digital thermometer” for their videos.

    It’s simply called “Campaigns,” and it allows YouTube Nonprofit members to set specific goals and broadcast them to viewers.

    “This new feature allows nonprofits to create campaigns with goals like increasing views or subscribers, track their progress, and let people to contribute to their goals,” says the company in a blog post. “A campaign consists of one or more videos…Once a campaign is created, videos in that campaign will show an overlay on them, encouraging viewers to contribute to the campaign.”

    Not only will the video itself show an overlay with the progress bar, but the campaign will display front and center on the nonprofit’s channel. The Campaigns box with show the goal progress bar, how many days left in the campaign, as well as the number of new shares of the particular video(s).

    According to YouTube, they now have over 18,000 nonprofits enrolled in the program. They recently gave the option to include a more prominent donate button inside videos and also held the Next Cause program, a summit that enables charitable organizations to participate in a summit that gave them information on how to better achieve their goals.

  • Louis C.K. Talks reddit, Pushing the Comedy Limits, and More with Tony Hawk

    If you were ever curious about what it would be like to see skateboarding legend Tony Hawk sit down and interview the greatest living comic, Louis C.K., wonder no more.

    Hawk caught up with Louis C.K. during one of the comedian’s tour’s stops in Detroit and proceed to discuss a wide range of topics including reddit, Louie, Dane Cook, and pushing the limits of comedy.

    Tony Hawk obviously thinks quite a bit of Louis C.K., saying that he’s “smart, funny, poignant, crude, inappropriate and innovative; all the qualities of a genius in my opinion.” I’m positive that most of the internet agrees. Check out the entertaining (and a bit awkward) interview below:

    The interview was posted to Tony Hawk’s new YouTube channel, RIDE, which debuted earlier this year.

    [via UPROXX]

  • New Bill Nye The Science Guy Show Coming To YouTube

    When asked during a reddit AMA session three days ago whether or not he would consider doing new episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy, Bill Nye said

    Yes, yes. But, it would have to be with the right producers, and it would have to be a less unfavorable contract. I put my heart and soul into that thing; everybody on the crew did. It was a unique time in TV history. It was exciting to be part of it. Let’s change the world.

    A redditor specifically asked him if he would consider doing it on YouTube or independently on the internet, to which Nye replied “Stay tuned [winky face].”

    Now, we learn that Bill Nye is bringing a new show to Chris Hardwick’s Nerdist YouTube channel,

    “I’m proud to announce you guys, that Bill Nye will be coming to the Nerdist channel on YouTube,” announced Hardwick on his Nerdist podcast.

    The announcement was also reiterated in the info line of this video, posted today. Check out how Bill Nye ties a bowtie:

    When Bill Nye told reddit to “Stay Tuned,” were not sure that he meant for this announcement. But it is a new Bill Nye show coming to YouTube. The format of which, we can only hope, resembles his classic TV show.

    [via reddit]

  • HUNGRY: New Food-Centric YouTube Channel Launches July 2nd

    It would be hard to think of a type of television that has seen a popularity spike as large as food-centric television in the past few years. At some point, people decided that it’s just as fun to watch people make food as it is to make it themselves – at least sometimes. With that revelation, the Food Network entered a period of immense popularity. Cooking shows, reality cooking competitions, food writers and chefs taking global vacations – all of these are still examples of incredibly well-liked programming on the tubes.

    When you couple that buzz with the giant possibilites offered by the world of online video, you see why it’s not surprising that food television veterans have decided to try their hand at a new YouTube channel dedicated to food.

    It’s called HUNGRY, and it will launch on July 2nd.

    HUNGRY is a partnership between Electus media and Food Network’s Duff Goldman, which you know from the popular show Ace of Cakes. The CEO of HUNGRY is Bruce Seidel, a former top exec at Food Network. He’s the guy who oversaw the launch of the Food Network-spawned Cooking Channel.

    “In the evolution of the food arena, and as original content on digital platforms continues to flourish, HUNGRY marks a new vision and attitude about all things food. Whether you love to eat, cook or drink, our dynamic original series have something for everyone,” said Seidel. “Our mission is to create highly entertaining shows and galvanize the niches that are driving the Internet food conversation forward via the incredible power and social influence of YouTube.”

    You can expect to see shows involving all things food on the channel, including “culinary challenges, food pranks, and gastronomic adventures.” The channel’s management hopes that the selection of big personalities attached to do shows will help set it apart from other food-oriented YouTube channels.

    As far as Duff Goldman’s part in all of this, he’ll have his own show on HUNGRY called “Duff’s Food World.” He’ll also serve as “a talent and programming consultant for the channel.”

    Duff Goldman
    @Duff_Goldman     “@AlexThomopoulos: @Duff_Goldman can’t wait to work with you dude. so happy to be apart of the HUNGRY family.”We gonna have us some fun!
    16 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Here’s a snippet of what Duff’s show will be like:

    Get inside the head of Duff Goldman, and explore the world of food via Duff’s experiences. Duff’s Food World explores everything from one-of-a-kind dishes and dining experiences like “dining in the dark” and “naked sushi in Vegas,” to tasty and often hilarious “Internet and TV Food Clips of the Week,” to unique food festival field trips like the notorious Spam Festival or Fungus Festival (will he bring his own?). Duff picks his favorite “Food Porn Clip of the Week,” man-on-the-street food pranks and historical re-enactments of great moments in food. Duff’s Food World premieres a new episode on HUNGRY every week beginning this summer.

    Along with Duff Goldman, some of the debut programming on HUNGRY will feature chefs Alex Thomopoulos, Laura Vitale, and Chris Cosentino. Popular dining app Urbanspoon is also set to debut a series on the channel.

    YouTube has made no secret of the fact that they really want to push “channels.” In the past few months we’ve seen new sports channels, automotive channels, and more – all in an effort to up the original content offerings on the site.

    “What once may have been considered too over the top for TV is now funny, fresh programming on HUNGRY,” says Goldman

  • YouTube to Promote Auto-Generated Channels More

    In order to help users find topics, channels, and videos they will enjoy, YouTube today announced that it will be promoting auto-generated channels in more places around the site. These channels will be popping up in the “Recommended for You” section of the site, the channels page, and video pages.

    The announcement came on The Official YouTube blog, where Mur Viswanathan, a Google product manager, outlined the layout changes that have been implemented. From the blog post:

    Lots of complex algorithms are working behind the scenes to give you the channel you’re looking for, for example, being able to tell when the word ‘Chicago’ means the music band and when it means the movie/musical. We’re still tweaking everything to make sure it works just right for you, so let us know what you think of the channels or learn more in our help center.

    YouTube has been auto-generating channels based on search topics, and putting them in the “Top YouTube Collections” tab, for over a year now. The channels are often based on niche topics such as “Yoga” or “Big Wave Surfing,” as seen in the picture above. The channels function the same as other channels, allowing users to subscribe and follow a topic. To tell if a channel has been auto-generated by YouTube, users should look for the “auto generated by YouTube” message below the channel’s title.

    It seems that YouTube is now confident enough in their auto-generating algorithms to begin promoting the feature more publicly. What do you think? Are auto-generated channels useful or annoying? Have you spotted any of these on YouTube yet? Leave a comment below and let us know.

  • YouTube’s New Ad Model: Channel Sponsorships

    YouTube is rolling out a new ad model option for 96 YouTube Channels. Rather than selling television style ads to certain demographics, they will now sell full sponsorship for certain YouTube channels. The ads include display, overlay and pre-roll; so basically they will cover the entire page with an ad preceding the video. The annual price tag for sponsorship is around $4 to $10 million.

    YouTube will cover cost of production for certain channel producers, and the producers themselves will share equally in advertising revenue, once YouTube recoups the original investment. Production costs range from a few hundred thousand to a few million for most channels.

    YouTube has struck deals on the new advertising scheme with brands like Toyota, GM, AT&T, and Lowes. As part of the deal, buyers will also be investing in other videos, with their ads appearing in non-channel videos as well. The channel sponsor ads comprise just 20% of the total ad campaign revenue for investors, with the other content being run on the rest of YouTube’s videos.

    Unilever will be sponsoring Young Hollywood Network channel for a reported $10 million. Toyota is to sponsor Cafe Mom, Kin Community and Mom’s View for $10 million, and GM will sponsor a package of automotive channels including Red Bull’s action sports channel for $5 million. Chrysler, AT&T, and Lowes also have agreements, but details on those deals have not been released.

    YouTube is asking brands to get on board for sponsorship of groups of channels as part of a package deal. According to AdAge, a one year exclusive contract in the music and pop culture categories would cost as much as $62 million a package. Sports would cost $40 million, and automotive would run you about $16 million.

    This new advertising model comes after a recent redesign of the channels look for YouTube. As more attention is being shifted from television to online video entertainment, YouTube is trying to stay ahead of the game with improvements to their channels offering, giving a more professional feel to original content and offering new ad opportunities to investors.

  • YouTube Launches Channel To Follow Burma Elections

    Burma (or the Republic of the Union of Myanmar) is opening up its doors to the rest of the world and allowing media to take part in chronicling this year’s by-elections. On April 1st, millions will vote, and YouTube has set up an elections channel to cover it.

    On Sunday, April 1, millions of voters in Burma will cast a ballot in the parliamentary by-elections. This year, Burma is opening its doors to media and election observers alike to document the election proceedings in real-time. With support from Google Ideas, our friends at the J-School News Lab, a real-time reporting training program for Burmese journalists, will be curating a Burma Elections news channel on YouTube. Here, they will feature original reporting from J-School journalists on the ground, Burmese media outlets, and international broadcasters.

    Google Ideas is Google’s “technology-oriented think/do tank” that deals with technology and its influence/purpose around the world. They back technological projects and research, and hope that these “technological developments our insights fuel will scale to help as many people as possible.”

    For a long time, the inner-workings of the country were kept behind a wall, and information had a hard time reaching international ears. In 2011, as part of Burma’s democratic reforms, the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest. Her releases was also accompanied by a National Human rights Commission.

    The UN’s report of human rights conditions in the country states that strides have been made, but they have a ways to go:

    This is a key moment in Myanmar’s history and there are real opportunities for positive and meaningful developments to improve the human rights situation and deepen the transition to democracy. The new Government has taken a number of steps towards these ends. Yet, many serious human rights issues remain and they need to be addressed.

    YouTube’s Burma Elections page is up and running, and is already populated with two dozen videos.

  • Indian TV Shows Are Taking Over YouTube

    Polish your dance shoes and put on your fighting mitts, YouTubers, because the online video site announced today that its updated the Shows page so as to include over 19,000 episodes of various Indian television shows. That may sound like a staggering, even unbelievable number but when you consider the fact that shows like Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah have over 800 episodes (beat that, Law & Order), those start to stack up and before you know it – pow – you’re sitting atop a stack of 19,000 episodes of Indian television just waiting to be watched.

    The shows cross six different languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Gujati, and Punjabi – can be found in the Shows tab. Simply click that tab, then open the drop down menu to and then select Other Languages. The first option you’ll see is Hindi, you can follow and explore the whole world of Hindi television. It may seem like a lot at first, so here’s a primer to get you going with a couple of shows. First, here’s the first episode of Bade Acche Laggte Hai. It’s the story of two strangers getting married who surprise themselves by also falling for each other. Charming, yeah?

    Here’s a show in Telugu, Seethamma Maayamma, that follows a woman named Seetha who seeks to create a treatise between two feuding villages. It so happens that the villages are feuding because Seetha’s mother is from one village and her father is from another, which, as you can imagine, complicates things a bit.

    Last, here comes a show in Gujarati called Avtaran, which is described as: “A couple tries to save the marriage at all costs. They have a son Hardik. Not able to reconcile their differences they separate. Years later Hardik is stricken with a mysterious ailment. The only cure for this is for the couple to come together again and create a new life a child. A new life that could save an older one. Will this avtaar come to earth. Can Hardik be saved. See this electrifying drama.” If you want a low-level committment, Avatran only has 12 episodes so you can warm up on that one and then decide if you’re ambitious enough for the towering collection of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah episodes.

    Of course, you can watch shows in other languages, like English since I presume you’re actually reading these words and not just scribbling with a marker on the screen of your tablet or computer.

  • Disney Kids’ Shows Start Popping Up on YouTube

    Disney Kids’ Shows Start Popping Up on YouTube

    You probably haven’t noticed it, but Disney is in the process of adding a bunch of their full-length shows to YouTube. Over the last week or so, dozens of episodes from Disney original series have popped up on their channel.

    As of right now, kids (and adults, of course) can enjoy episodes of Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Hannah Montana, Lizzie McGuire, The Proud Family, That’s So Raven, and more. The videos are full-length (20+ minutes long) and are fully embeddable.

    The reason for the new crop of Disney content on YouTube comes from a deal that the two made back in November. The biggest part of that deal was the announcement that Disney was going to produce original content specifically for YouTube, which would then appear on the cobranded channel. For instance, the first new series is a show based on the “Where’s My Water” puzzle game. The agreement also has Disney selecting specific amateur content from around YouTube to display on the channel.

    But that deal also said that Disney would bring some of its older content to the YouTube channel. Of course, Disney’s not going to be able to give up everything for free – cable providers wouldn’t be too fond of that idea. But in just under a week, Disney has added 67 episodes to their channel.

    Back in the Fall of 2011, YouTube announced a push for quality TV. Their goal is to make YouTube a place of good content – a place that can rival cable perhaps. Part of this strategy involved new channels devoted to original content. In the last few months, YouTube has added new sports channels, new automotive channels, and new entertainment channels.

    [H/T All Things D]

  • YouTube Channels Get New Look March 7th

    Time is ticking to update your new YouTube channel. YouTube unveiled its new channels look in December, but are trying to have everyone caught up by March 7th. The update includes new templates for channels and new features across the site to connect users with their favorite channels.

    YouTube recommends the following checklist to get you up to speed:

    Featured Tab

    • Do you want a featured tab? If so enable it by clicking “edit channel” on your channel page.
    • Choose the right publisher template for your featured tab. If you have upcoming Live events we recommend the Live template.
    • Do you want to include a video player on the feature tab?

    Background Banner

    • Migrate your existing background or select another
    • If you previously had a separate banner image then merge it with your background image and reupload it.
    • Enter a pixel height to push down your Channel if you would like to expose more of your background image. Entering a height greater than 0 will immediately activate your image map code.
    • There will be no separate banner images in this new Channels design. Instead you will be able to push down your Channel (up to 150 px) to expose your background image. To push down your Channel use the Banner height section in the Appearance tab of your Channel editor and enter a number between 0 and 150.
    • To make the exposed area of their background image clickable, you can also apply image map code to the area. Image maps will be up to 970 px wide and will be the height you specified (between 0 and 150 px).

    Watch Page Banner

    • If you currently depend on a white background for your white mini banner than you might want to consider switching to a transparent background. The new watch page has a grey background making white banners look out of place.

    Default Landing Page

    • Choose which tab you want users to land on when they come to your Channel by selecting a default tab in Settings menu of the channel editor.
    • If you would like unsubscribed users to land on your default tab and subscribed users to land on your feed check the checkbox below the default tab drop down.

    Timing

    • When do you migrate your Channel?

    YouTube thinks this new update will help users browse your channel while keeping some of the old options viewers used frequently. Like the ability to feature content, which YouTube is expanding by offering a new “Featured Tab.”

    For those of you that fear change, YouTube encourages people to use the “Send Feedback” link and tell them what you think of the new look, and what they can do better in future updates.

    For an in depth look at how to create your own channel, check out the YouTube Creator Playbook: