YouTube TV Is The Company's New $35 Per Month Pay-to-View Service

[Update: YouTube TV is Now Live! and is currently available in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Philadelphia] 

When YouTube reached the major milestone this week of surpassing a billion hours of daily content being watched it did so on the backbone of the company's all to familiar free video service. In order to reach the next major milestone however, the company is taking a totally different approach. One that takes aim at cable companies and other streaming giants alike!

At an event in Los Angeles the company debuted YouTube TV, a streaming service that combines live content from broadcast and cable television networks with content from several of your favorite YouTube creators.

Here’s what YouTube TV offers:

• Live TV streaming from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, regional sports networks and dozens of popular cable networks. YouTube TV gives you the best of live TV, from must-see broadcast shows like “Empire,” “The Voice,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “Scandal,” to the live sports you want. YouTube TV includes major sports networks like ESPN and regional sports networks like Fox Sports Networks and Comcast SportsNet, so you can watch your favorite NBA or MLB teams. We’ve also partnered with local TV stations, so you’ll also get sports and local news based on where you live. And YouTube TV offers dozens of additional cable channels, so you won’t miss out on the latest news from MSNBC or Fox News, popular shows and movies from USA or FX, kids programming from the Disney Channel or Sprout, or reality TV from E! or Bravo. You can also add Showtime, or Fox Soccer Plus to your networks for an additional charge. In total, YouTube TV gives you access to more than 40 networks, listed below.
• A cloud DVR, with no storage limits. With YouTube TV, you’ll be able to record live TV and never run out of storage. Your cloud DVR can record as many shows as you want, simultaneously, without using precious data or space on your phone and we’ll store each of your recordings for nine months.
• A service that works great on all your screens. You can watch YouTube TV on any screen—mobile, tablet or computer—and you can easily stream to your TV with a Google Chromecast or Chromecast built-in TV. YouTube TV works on both Android and iOS. And your cloud DVR goes with you, so you can stream your recordings on any device, whenever and wherever you want.
• YouTube Red Originals. With a YouTube TV membership, you can watch all of our YouTube Red Original series and movies right on the new YouTube TV app.
• Six accounts, one price. Every YouTube TV membership comes with six accounts, each with its own unique recommendations and personal DVR with no storage limits. You can watch up to three concurrent streams at a time.
• Half the cost of cable with zero commitments. A YouTube TV membership is only $35 a month and there are no commitments—you can cancel anytime.

YouTube TV will be available soon in the largest U.S. markets and will quickly expand to cover more cities across the country. At launch it will have over 40 networks available for streaming and will allow you to connect up to six separate accounts to share with friends and family. Visit tv.youtube.com and sign up to find out more about the service and when it will launch in your market.

Celebrate The Fourth of July With 4 Free Months of Google Play Music and YouTube Red

To help entice new users to join Google Play Music this Independence day weekend, Google is offering up four free months of Google Play Music as well as access to the monthly-paid subscription service YouTube Red. The offer is only available this weekend to celebrate the Fourth of July, so you'll want to act fast to get that extended trial period.

 All you need to do is head over to Google Play and sign up for the service. Even though the offer is for four months of free service, you will need to be a new subscriber and enter valid credit card information. You should also note that you will need to cancel the subscription before the end of the 4months (by approximately Nov 42tnd) or you be charged $9.99 after the trial is over.

YouTube Gaming Now Available Via Android, iOS Apps and the Web

As expected YouTube has just launched their new dedicated gaming site,  YouTube Gaming which is now live on the web and available for download for Android and iOS devices.

The new site already features more than 25,000 dedicated game pages with content ranging from live streams to cheats, tips and tricks. It will also support a DVR feature, and automatic conversion of streams into YouTube videos.

"YouTube Gaming is built to be all about your favorite games and gamers, with more videos than anywhere else. From 'Asteroids' to 'Zelda,' more than 25,000 games will each have their own page, a single place for all the best videos and live streams about that title. You'll also find channels from a wide array of game publishers and YouTube creators," reads YouTube's June blog post.

The aim of the new site is to create a direct head-to-head competition against Amazon's popular gaming site Twitch, mirroring many of the sites popular features. Google hopes that by adding in a standalone gaming channel users will now find it easier to follow their favorite games as search results will be more gaming oriented and not feature tradition YouTube results. As YouTube notes, "typing 'call' will show you 'Call of Duty' and not 'Call Me Maybe.'"

Keeping up with these games and channels is now super easy, too. Add a game to your collection for quick access whenever you want to check up on the latest videos. Subscribe to a channel, and you'll get a notification as soon as they start a live stream. Uncover new favorites with recommendations based on the games and channels you like the most.

New Subscription Service Means You May Soon Be Able to View YouTube Videos Without Ads

According to recent updates found in the terms of service for YouTube program developers, Google is planning on launching a new paid subscription service for YouTube viewers that will allow subscribers to watch select videos without those painfully intrusive and often annoying ads!

At this time there are few details about the new service other than the fact that Google is reportedly offering content creators 55 percent of revenues generated from subscription and that the new terms will go into effect in June of this year.

"While we can't comment on ongoing discussions, giving fans more choice to enjoy the content they love and creators more opportunity to earn revenue are always amongst our top priorities," Google's YouTube said in a statement, without commenting on the timing of the service.

The new terms of the service letter seen here, offers few other details such as how much the subscription will cost per month or when we can expect to see the service launched to users. For now that will all be a wait and see scenario.

Also unclear at this time is the type of content that will be offered through the service, or rather if the monthly subscription will cover anything beyond the typical YouTube or content or if the service will include new premium or exclusive content that can’t be found elsewhere. YouTube might position it as a premium service with its own programming, similar to Netflix or HBO Now.

What little we do know is that Google has been very busy over the years trying to leverage YouTube's popularity and attract as many partnerships as possible. As recent as last year they even launched their own music video subscription service.

In a bit of irony, the Official YouTube blog posted a retrospective of "The last 5 years of ads on YouTube" celebrating their fifth anniversary of our skippable TrueView ads and showcasing how many advertisers have moved from traditional ads to create videos that feel less like ads and more like content you want to watch.

Google Makes Kid Friendly YouTube App Official

Google has launched their very first Google product built from the ground up with little ones in mind, the YouTube Kids app!

The YouTube Kids app, available for free download on Android and iOS, is built with a fun friendly interface and contains family-friendly videos from children's favorites such as DreamWorks TV, Jim Henson TV, Mother Goose Club and Talking Tom and Friends. The app will also feature several additions that Google hopes will make it safer and easier for children to find videos on topics they want to explore.

New app specific features will include a much more kid friendly user interface with larger images, bold icons and more, which should make it fast and simple for little thumbs to navigate. There will also be a voice search so that even if your little one can’t spell or type the name of their favorite videos, they can still speak the names or ask for videos related to things they’re curious about.

The YouTube Kids app will feature more family-focused content which Google has narrowed down and labeled as appropriate for kids. You can browse channels and playlists in four categories: Shows, Music, Learning and Explore. Or search for videos of particular interest to your family, like how to build a model volcano, math tutorials, the amazing (and endless) world of trains—and everything in between.

For those even further concerned with the content available the app will feature several Parental controls with built in options into that help you control the experience for your kids:

• Timer: Let the app be the bad guy with a built-in timer that lets you limit kids’ screen time. The app alerts your child when the session is over, so you don’t have to. (You’re welcome. ;) )
• Sound settings: Sometimes you need a little peace and quiet! You have an option to turn off background music and sound effects, so your kids can keep watching while you catch a breather.
• Search settings: If you’d rather limit your children to just the pre-selected videos available on the home screen, you can turn off search.
• Product feedback: Our goal is to improve YouTube Kids all the time, so we’ve included a space for you to give us your feedback.

YouTube Kids is available for free starting today in the U.S. on Google Play and the App Store, and will soon be available on Kurio and nabi kids’ tablets.

YouTube Launches New $9.99 Monthly Music Video Subscription Service

Looking to cash in on the popularity of some of your favorite artists, Google and YouTube have launched a new paid music video streaming service that will offer users ad free steams, offline content and more. Along the new service YouTube has also made several music oriented changes to its apps and website.

Starting today, you’ll see a new home just for music on your YouTube app for Android, iOS and on YouTube.com that shows your favorite music videos, recommended music playlists based on what you’re into and playlists of trending music across YouTube.

The new streaming service which will be launched in full in 2015 will be dubbed YouTube Music Key, and will be a monthly subscription service starting with the promotional price of $7.99/month (discounted from $9.99/month). The new services will offer subscribers ads-free music, background play and offline viewing. It will also include a subscription to Google Play Music (which is currently $10/mo on its own), with 30+ million songs, expert-curated playlists, and in the coming days, the ability to watch many YouTube official music videos right from the app.

For now YouTube Music Key will only be available through an invite to its "biggest music fans", who can try out the beta version for six months at no charge, YouTube said in its blog. If you’re interested in getting more info on the beta, you can let Google and YouTube know at YouTube.com/musickey.

Get Your Geek On With YouTube's Geek Week August 4 - 10

Geeks rule!! Come get your geek on this week with YouTube first ever Geek Week from Aug. 4 to 10. Showcasing different genres of geek culture and hosted by a different YouTube channel, with a special video introduction and the launch of new content, Geek Week will be the ultimate celebration of the geekdom!

The event will showcase more than 100 popular channels, unveil new videos and trailers such as Marvel's "Thor: The Dark World" on Super Wednesday.

• Blockbuster Sunday: A celebration of iconic characters, movies, and shows that define geek culture, with a special spotlight placed on the best original YouTube sci-fi, fantasy, and animated videos. Hosted by FreddieW in the U.S., with new content from Tomska in the U.K.
• Global Geekery Monday: Explore geek culture from around the world with anime from Tokyo, comic book heroes from Delhi, and a celebration of the U.K.'s Doctor Who. Hosted by YOMYOMF in the U.S., with a special new episode of the British cult children's show Knightmare.
• Brainiac Tuesday: A focus on science, education, and knowledge channels that make YouTube the world's biggest platform for learning. Hosted by Veritasium and The Spangler Effect in the U.S., with an "epic" stunt from Head Squeeze and Flow in the U.K.
• Super Wednesday: Explore superheroes, the supernatural, and the super-weird. Hump Day also marks the exclusive release of the trailer for Marvel's Thor: The Dark World. Hosted by Stan Lee's World of Heroes in the U.S., with an "unbelievable" stunt from Fast Furious & Funny in the U.K.
• Gaming Thursday: A gamer's paradise filled with life play-throughs, real-life video games, game-inspired original series, and more. Hosted by Machinima and Maker Studios' Polaris in the U.S., with a Guinness World Records gaming attempt live stream from the U.K.
• Fan Friday: Sci-fi-themed cooking, cosplay, and nerd debates. Hosted by Felicia Day of Geek and Sundry in the U.S., with an ultimate geeky quiz by Crabstickz from the U.K.

For those of you looking for a bit more YouTube promises the 3l33t geeks out there, that they will features Easter eggs all week, and badges from the eggs and select #geekweek videos when logged in and visiting youtube.com/geekweek.

YouTube Launches Paid Channels With More Than 50 Pilot Partners

YouTube on Thursday announced plans to let content creators earn revenue for their offerings buy selling paid subscriptions to their videos, creating a prominent new marketplace for programming on the Internet. The new pilot program is launching with a small group of partners that will offer paid channels on YouTube with subscription fees starting at $0.99 per month. Every channel has a 14-day free trial, and many offer discounted yearly rates.

For now the program only features about 50 of partners, with other video makers reportedly coming on board soon. Some of the current partners include UFC Select, SmartTV.com, PGA Golf Academy and PhotoGuide+. Missing from the list however, were the biggest names in media, like the Walt Disney Company and Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal. Instead there were a lot of start-ups and indie style channels.

There has been no official word from YouTube as to whether or not we can expect big media channels to climb aboard or any further details about the revenue process and what the split with content creators might be. Currently YouTube keeps 45 percent of the revenue from the ads it sells and gives producers the rest. 

If you’re a YouTube creator and are interested in more details on building your own paid channel, let YouTube know here.

'Gangnam Style' Generated Over $8 million In Advertising Deals

If you haven't seen, or at least heard of the YouTube sensation Psy and his hit song, 'Gangnam Style,' then you must have been living under a rock, or on the far side of the moon. The video which has now passed more than 1.23 billion views and become YouTube's all time views leader has made Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-Sang, a world wide sensation racking up views in close to 75 countries.

His YouTube successes aside 'Gangnam Style' has netted a reported $8 million in all in advertising deals. During the company's quarterly earning calls Google senior vice president and chief business officer Nikesh Arora gave the companies estimates on the videos success.

Google allows creators to monetize popular YouTube videos by placing advertisements before the video you want to watch. For ultra-popular videos like Gangnam Style, this practice can be lucrative: Christopher Mims of Quartz does the math and says the $8 million in earnings reported by Arora means the video is generating about $0.65 in revenue per click. For a video with 1.23 billion YouTube views and counting, that kind of cash adds up -- fast.

While the $8 million sounds impressive Psy doesn't get to keep all of the money. Half of the cash from YouTube advertising goes to YouTube itself, which means Psy likely pocketed a $4 million. This doesn't account for any outside deals or downloads through other sources such as iTunes. A previous analysis by the Associated Press indicated that Psy had already earned $7.9 million from Gangnam Style in worldwide revenue, including downloads on iTunes and streaming and sales on services available only in Korea.

Psy has certainly raked in cash and his share of the 15mins of fame from "Gangnam Style". Not bad for a YouTube sensation.

Paramount Pictures Inks Movie Licensing Deal With Google

Google and Paramount Pictures have announced a new partnership that will bring hundreds of Paramount's movies to Google Play and YouTube. According to today's blog post over the next few weeks Paramount Pictures will make available for rent  nearly 500 new movie titles to YouTube and Google Play users in the U.S. and Canada.

Some of the titles users will now be able to rent include Captain America, Hugo, and The Adventures of Tin Tin, Coming to America and The Godfather. Many of these movies are already available, and the rest will be added over the coming months. Most titles will be available for 48 hours once you begin watching, and HD versions of new releases will cost $4.99. Older releases will cost $3.99 for the HD version, and $2.99 for standard definition.

With the addition of Paramount's licensing agreement Google now offers for rent more than 9,000 movies from several studios including Sony Pictures, Universal, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Brothers, along with more than 10 indie studios, including Lionsgate Films, Magnolia, Starz, and The Weinstein Company. 

Google Announces New YouTube Vlogger Program

Google and YouTtube are asking; Do You Have What it Takes to be the ‘Next’ great YouTube Vlogger?

Recently YouTube asked YouTube creators what they thought should be the next major promotion for the Next Creator program? After checking the feedback and tallying the results they came up with the "Next Vlogger" program.

What is it you may ask? Well its the chance for 16 vLoggers to be featured on YouTube and Google+ Hangouts conducting educational workshops for Google. Each vLogger will receive $5,000 worth of video equipment and more than $10,000 worth of promotion and ads on and off YouTube. Participants will also receive training and mentoring from top industry experts to help aid you on your quest to take over the vLogging world.

Now through April 18, applications will be open for you chance to be one of the sixteen vLoggers to take part in the three month program. To apply you'll need a YouTube account, with a video uploaded to your YouTube channel that you think best represents your vlogging style and you will be required to complete two short essays: one essay about why you want to participate in this Program and a second essay about what your plans are for developing your Channel. Each Essay must be in English and two hundred (200) words or less in length. If your Essay is longer than 200 words, only the first 200 words will be considered.

The vLogger program is open to YouTube creators from Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. You'll need to apply first!

For more detail see the Next YouTube Vlogger page.

You Can Now Rent Movies Via YouTube

Google has officially expanded YouTube into the online rental market today with the announcement that the site will immediately begin allowing users to rent and stream full-length movies online.

As of today Google has begun adding around 3,000 new movie titles for rent which will be available to users in the U.S. Along side the feature films users will have access to reviews and behind-the-scenes movie extras. The selection is currently pretty limited but I did find a few of our favorite films. There are cult classics like Caddyshack, Goodfellas and Scarface. The new service also features a few new releases like Inception, The King’s Speech, Little Fockers, The Green Hornet and Despicable Me.

Movies are available to rent at what Google is calling "industry standard pricing", and can be watched with your YouTube account on any computer or YouTube capable device. The new titles will begin appearing later today and over the coming weeks to www.youtube.com/movies, so keep checking back.

Read More: YouTube Blog: Get more into movies on YouTube

YouTube Now Hiring What You Need To Know

Google today announced that the company will be increasing the number of people working at YouTube by more than 30% at various positions and locations around the world. The company currently has about 650 employees meaning a 30% increase would mean YouTube could hire close to 200 more staffers this year.

Want to work for Google? Well here is a list of the positions they are looking to fill:

Current openings

• Administrative
• Advertising Sales and Customer Support
• Business Operations and Development
• Engineering Operations
• Human Resources
• Legal and Public Policy
• Marketing and Communications
• Product Management
• Software Engineering
• User Experience

What’s it like to work at YouTube?

YouTube is an extremely team-oriented, creative workplace where every single employee has a voice in the choices we make and the features we implement. We work together in small teams to design, develop, and roll out key features and products in very short time frames. Which means something you write today could be seen by millions of viewers tomorrow. And even though we’re a part of Google and enjoy all of the corporate perks, it still feels like you’re working at a startup.

Good luck to all those that apply, I've heard nothing but great things about working for the company and would love to learn some of our readers were the next Googlers to make the team. You may want to watch some of these video to learn more about working at YouTube.

YouTube Now Features Online Video Editor

Google introduced a rather exciting new feature for you wanna viral video makers, a new online video editor for YouTube.The new feature can be found via TestTube, a section of the site designed for YouTube engineers and developers to test out new tools and get feedback on how they’re doing.

With this new editor, you can:

• Combine multiple videos you’ve uploaded to create a new longer video
• Trim the beginning and/or ending of your videos
• Add soundtracks from our AudioSwap library of tens of thousands of songs
• Create new videos without worrying about file formats and publish them to YouTube with one click—no upload necessary

The online editor certainly isn't as powerful as some of the free down-loadable software but it doesn't provided users access to a quick, user friendly way to edit their clips before posting them. For more details checkout the Official Google Blog.

YouTube Gets A Redesign, We Hate It!

As of 7pm PST today YouTube will begin rolling out it's newly revamped, more streamlined YouTube homepage to the masses. User wanting to get a peek at the new design can do so by visiting this YouTube page. Users who then agree with us and dislike the new changes and want the old design back can then opt back out by visiting this page here.

Only about 10 percent of YouTube's users can see the new format now; it will be officially rolled out to everyone by 7pm Pacific time on Wednesday for everyone else.

YouTube's old design

YouTube's new design

For more details on the new page changes you can checkout the Official YouTube Blog announcement

YouTube Adding Support For 1080p HD Videos

YouTube has announced that starting next week YouTube's HD mode will add support for viewing videos in 720p or 1080p.

How much better will 1080p look over the current 720p offering, well find out for yourself by viewing the 1080p test video.

What does this mean for us end users, well it could lead to tons of added content down the road. YouTube could potentially start offering premium content such as streams of higher resolution HD movies. Might we see a new subscription service from the site? Who knows forsure.

It is possible however that YouTube will add a boost to the user maximum file size limit. The move to 1080p won't mean that users will need to change their uploading habits. Currently videos uploaded from regular users are limited to 10-minutes and or 2GBs. This limit would need to be boosted in order to accommodate the new 1080p videos.

The new higher resolution won't change much for the uploader side. For instance you won't need to change the format you current use YouTube stores videos at whatever resolution you originally used so unless you used 1080p before you won't be affected. 1080p uploaders also won't need to re-upload old videos. Videos that had already been uploaded at 1080p will be automatically re-encoded to play back at the higher resolution.

Google Sites Surpasses 10 Billion Video Views in August - comScore, Inc

comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released August 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, showing that 161 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month, the largest audience ever recorded. Online video reached another all-time high in August with more than 25 billion videos viewed during the month, with Google Sites accounting for more than 10 billion.

Top 10 Video Content Properties by Videos Viewed

Google Sites continued to rank as the top U.S. video property in August as it surpassed the 10 billion videos viewed threshold, representing 40 percent of all videos viewed online. YouTube.com accounted for 99 percent of all videos viewed at the Google Sites property. Microsoft Sites ranked second with 547 million (2.2 percent) followed by Viacom Digital with 539 million videos viewed (2.1 percent) and Hulu with 488 million (1.9 percent).

Top U.S. Online Video Content Properties* by Videos Viewed August 2009 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Video Metrix
Property	Videos (000)	Share (%) of Videos
Total Internet	25,366,195	100.0
Google Sites	10,051,924	39.6
Microsoft Sites	546,547	2.2
Viacom Digital	539,471	2.1
Hulu	488,255	1.9
Fox Interactive Media	380,115	1.5
Yahoo! Sites	355,226	1.4
Turner Network	298,991	1.2
CBS Interactive	168,993	0.7
Disney Online	162,934	0.6
AOL LLC	156,871	0.

*Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks. Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video.

Top 10 Video Content Properties by Viewers

More than 161 million viewers watched an average of 157 videos per viewer during the month of August. Google Sites attracted 121.4 million unique viewers during the month (82.8 videos per viewer), followed by Microsoft Sites with 54.9 million viewers (10 videos per viewer) and Yahoo! Sites with 51.6 million viewers (6.9 videos per viewer).

Top U.S. Online Video Content Properties* by Unique Viewers August 2009 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Video Metrix
Property	Unique Viewers (000)	Average Videos per Viewer
Total Internet	161,109	157.4
Google Sites	121,393	82.8
Microsoft Sites	54,859	10.0
Yahoo! Sites	51,583	6.9
Fox Interactive Media	48,914	7.8
Viacom Digital	42,415	12.7
Hulu	38,513	12.7
CBS Interactive	35,688	4.7
Turner Network	28,151	10.6
AOL LLC	28,092	5.6
Facebook.com	24,229	4.1

*Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks. Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video.

Top Video Ad Networks by Potential Reach

In August, Tremor Media ranked as the #1 video ad network with a potential reach of 68 million viewers, or 42.2 percent of the total viewing audience. YuMe Video Network ranked second with a potential reach of 59.1 million viewers (36.7 percent penetration) followed by ScanScout Network with 57.6 million viewers (35.7 percent).

Top U.S. Online Video Ad Networks by Potential Unique Viewers August 2009 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Video Metrix
Property	Unique Viewers (000)	Viewer Penetration
Total Internet : Total Audience	161,109	100.0
Tremor Media - Potential Reach	68,010	42.2
YuMe Video Network - Potential Reach	59,100	36.7
ScanScout Network - Potential Reach	57,581	35.7
Broadband Enterprises Video Network - Potential Reach	54,858	34.1
BrightRoll Video Network - Potential Reach	53,369	33.1
Advertising.com Video Network - Potential Reach	52,996	32.9
SpotXchange Video Ad Network - Potential Reach	47,304	29.4
Break Media Video Ad Network - Potential Reach	35,672	22.1
Digital Broadcasting Group (DBG) - Potential Reach	26,537	16.5
TidalTV – Potential Reach	21,101	13.1

Other notable findings from August 2009 include:

• The top video ad networks in terms of their actual delivered reach were: Tremor Media Video Network (19.5 percent penetration of all online video viewers), BrightRoll Video Network (16.2 percent penetration), and BroadbandEnterprises.com (14.8 percent penetration).
• 81.6 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
• The average online video viewer watched 582 minutes of video, or 9.7 hours.
• 120.5 million viewers watched nearly 10 billion videos on YouTube.com (82.6 videos per viewer).
• 44.9 million viewers watched 340 million videos on MySpace.com (7.6 videos per viewer).
• The average Hulu viewer watched 12.7 videos, totaling 1 hour and 17 minutes of videos per viewer.
• The duration of the average online video was 3.7 minutes.

Source: comScore Press Release

YouTube Announces New Partnerships Including The Smithsonian, Encyclopedia Britannica And More

YouTube today announced several new channels including new partnerships or recently converted partners. Among the list are some great sources of history and science including the Smithsonian Channel, the Library of Congress and the Encyclopedia Britannica channel.

• Smithsonian Channel tells America's stories. There's lots of video on Wanda Jackson, the first lady of rock 'n' roll, and riveting insight into turmoil among the Monkees.
• Encyclopedia Britannica leaps into the world of video: their YouTube channel contains vibrant footage of the internal workings of the human body, like this pounding heart (commenter BinkieMcFartnuggets is not far off when he says it looks like a chicken breast beating its head on the wall), cheese making, astronomy, and more.
• Library Of Congress has gems from vast archives, including the earliest Edison films. (More on government channels in a future blog post.)
• BlahGirls features sassy animated teens dishing on the week's celebrity gossip. From producer Ashton Kutcher.
• Total Beauty TV specializes in helping you approximate celebrities' looks, from Gwen Stefani's signature makeup to Reese Witherspoon's clean and classic hairstyle.
• FixMyRecipe comes to the rescue when you and your kitchen are just not getting along. Chef Billy Parisi helps "fix" recipes on a daily basis. Send your recipe to chef@fixmyrecipe.com to see if it will become a "Featured Fix of the Day."
• paintinganddrawing offers instruction in watercolors, acrylics, oils, and pastels -- there are four new 24-minute instructional art programs uploaded every week.

YouTube Partners With ABC, Disney & ESPN To Offer Content

Earlier this week YouTube announced a partnership with the Disney/ABC Television Group. The new partnership will bring short-form content from the Disney/ABS's companies including ABC Entertainment, ABC News, ABC Family, SOAPnet, and ESPN.

O the new ABC's YouTube channel, which officially launches in early May, you'll find clips of popular prime-time shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, as well as behind-the-scenes footage, celebrity interviews, online-only specials and a lot more. These won't include full length features rather short clips or highlights.



ESPN's YouTube destination officially launches in mid-April, but if you go there now you can get a preview of the kinds of sports videos that will be uploaded to the channel: Sportscenter highlights, sports chatter from Bobby Knight, exclusive interviews with athletes like T.O. and, of course, the crazy commentary of Dick Vitale. In addition, ESPN's own Video Player will be integrated into the page, allowing fans access to the features and functionality that are already familiar to them. There will be more short-form content available through the YouTube player on the page.

Unfortunately we'll still see the new InVideo overlays, the new in video animated ads that appear over a portion of the content. Disney/ABC and ESPN will be allowed to sell their own advertising inventory within their own channels so we'll probably see ads from various shows within their network.

Nonprofit Uses YouTube To Raise $10k In One Day

According to a recent YouTube blog post non profit organization Charity: Water utilized a new feature on YouTube called "Call to Action" to raise more than $10,000 in a single day. The new feature allows non profit and charity organizations to use InVideo overlays to drive traffic to an off-YouTube web site, where they can collect signatures, email addresses, or even donations.

On Sunday, to commemorate World Water Day, YouTube featured a video from charity:water on the YouTube homepage. The video included a Call to Action overlay that encouraged YouTube users to donate money to help build wells and provide clean, safe drinking water for those who don't have it.

Charity:Water asked for a $20 per person donation to fund clean water solutions like shallow wells, deep wells, rainwater harvesting systems, and spring protections to provide people in need with clean and safe drinking water. Thanks to viewers, charity:water was able to raise over $10,000 in one day from the video. That's enough to build two brand-new wells in the Central African Republic and give over 150 people clean drinking water for 20 years!