[Infowarrior] - YouTube adds full-length television shows

[Richard Forno]

YouTube adds full-length television shows
By Michael W. Jones

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2008/10/12/youtube-adds-full-length-television-shows/


At a time when much of the television news revolves around the analog  
to digital change and reality television hijinks, YouTube has made  
some news of its own. The Google-owned video Web site has moved to put  
full-length television shows on its site for the first time.

Historically, YouTube has hosted a bewildering and attractive variety  
of video clips, the vast majority of which have been less than ten  
minutes in length. YouTube announced on Friday that it had finalized a  
deal with CBS to offer shows such as Star Trek, MacGyver, Beverly  
Hills 90210,  and The Young and the Restless.

In some ways this new offering is more of a change in length and  
legality than an abrupt left turn. There have been small segments of  
television shows on YouTube almost since the beginning, but these also  
adhered more or less to the ten-minute time limit and were not  
sanctioned by the owners of the content.  Often, such segments were  
removed after the copyright owner complained about their inclusion on  
the site. That will no longer be the case, at least for the content  
covered by the deal with CBS.

YouTube also said that it was in negotiation with other providers of  
lengthier content, specifically mentioning other television networks.  
This announcement follows on the heels of the introduction of their  
TheaterView product, which is aimed at the provision of a higher  
quality online viewing experience. It is not too far a stretch of the  
imagination to assume that these two new services are somehow related.

The new services also put YouTube head to head with Hulu, competing  
directly for the full-length television show viewer. Hulu currently  
has more of this sort of content than YouTube, but YouTube has the  
lion’s share of the Web video audience. It is estimated that YouTube  
has 100 times the viewers that Hulu has. With viewership being the key  
number in this marketplace, and with a business plan that now includes  
full-length television content, YouTube (and Google) are positioned to  
make a serious run at their competition.