Channelization of the Web: YouTube to Renew Some of its Channel Deals
By Rob Scott
November 12, 2012
November 12, 2012
- As part of its strategy to “channelize” its popular video site, YouTube has so far helped fund about 160 “channels” that feature original content and, in some cases, celebrity talent.
- “And just like the TV world, YouTube isn’t going to renew all of last season’s programs,” reports AllThingsD. “This week, Google’s video site will start offering new contracts to some of the channel programmers/creators it signed up in the last year. But not all of them: YouTube figures it will end up re-investing in up to 40 percent of its original channels by the time the renewal process is done.”
- YouTube plans to address the renewals in batches, beginning with the first group of channels it launched in January.
- New deals are expected to reflect the ones originally established last year, in which content creators received up to $5 million to produce content exclusively for the site. Channels that are not offered new deals will not be bounced from the site. YouTube hopes the producers will continue to provide content.
- “Jamie Byrne, YouTube’s director of content strategy, says the site is most concerned about engagement — primarily the total ‘watch time’ a channel has generated — and cost — how efficient programmers have been with their programming budget,” explains the article.
- Financial performance is not expected to be a deciding factor in the new deals, since the advertising model remains a work in progress.
- “We’ve had some really great response from the advertiser community. As we continue to talk to advertisers and marketers, there’s a real sense that they’re looking at YouTube differently,” Byrne says. “But as we look at this initiative, we are taking the long view here. It’s not necessarily about immediate results.”
No Comments Yet
You can be the first to comment!
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.