YouTube Original Channel Initiative

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The YouTube Original Channel Initiative was a $100 million program funded by Google in 2012 to bring original content onto YouTube . [1] [2] The original channel initiative was also meant to kick start Google TV . [3] The channels are collectively known as "original", "premium" or "YouTube funded" channels.

Participants include Madonna , Pharrell Williams , Young Hollywood founder R.J. Williams , former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal , comedian Amy Poehler , actor Ashton Kutcher , The Office star Rainn Wilson , comedian Kenny Hotz , Motor Trend , SourceFed , spiritual doctor Deepak Chopra and Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara . Most created channels through their production companies. Madonna is a partner with the dance channel DanceOn, while O'Neal plans the Comedy Shaq Network.

History [ edit ]

In September 2012, twenty of the 100 original channels started getting at least 1 million views a week. [4]

In October 2012, it was announced that YouTube introduced 60 new original channels. [5] Google invested $200 million into the original programming as well. [6] The top 25 original programs also averaged around 1 million views per week at the time of the announcement. [7]

In November 2012, YouTube ended funding for more than 60% of the 160 or so channels it financed as part of the initiative. [8] After cancellation, YouTube kept all incoming revenue from these channels that failed to recoup their initial investments. [8]

In November 2013, it was reported that the landing page for the original channels had become a redirect to a 404 error page , seemingly as a way for Google to remove any reference to the original channel initiative. [9]

Content [ edit ]

The content of the YouTube Original Channel Initiative includes SourceFed , Young Hollywood , The Mom's View , The Wall Street Journal , Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles , [10] Crash Course , BadTeeth , i am OTHER , The Pet Collective, Epic Level TV, Geek & Sundry , MyMusic , Frederator Networks' Cartoon Hangover and The Multiverse among several others. [1] [11] [12]

One of Tubefilter 's articles includes a full list of the original channels, [1] which differs from YouTube 's listing. [13]

Deadline Hollywood started tracking the weekly video view stats for all the channels part of YouTube's Original Channel Initiative in May 2012. [14]

References [ edit ]

  1. ^ a b c Marc Hustvedt (Oct 28, 2011). "YouTube Reveals Original Channels" . Tubefilter. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012 . Retrieved Jul 7, 2012 .
  2. ^ Ryan Nakashima (Oct 29, 2011). "YouTube launching 100 new channels" . USA Today . Archived from the original on June 28, 2012 . Retrieved Jul 7, 2012 .
  3. ^ Devindra Hardawar (Oct 30, 2011). "YouTube's original channels could be Google TV's killer app" . Venture Beat. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012 . Retrieved Jul 7, 2012 .
  4. ^ Sam Gutelle (September 19, 2012). "20% of YouTube Original Channels Achieving One Million Views a Week" . Tubefilter. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012 . Retrieved September 22, 2012 .
  5. ^ Annlee Ellingson (October 9, 2012). "YouTube goes global with more original channels" . Biz Journals. Archived from the original on 2014-03-11 . Retrieved October 10, 2012 .
  6. ^ Claire Cain Miller (October 7, 2012). "YouTube to Serve Niche Tastes by Adding Channels" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on October 11, 2012 . Retrieved October 10, 2012 .
  7. ^ Robert Kyncl (October 7, 2012). "YouTube's original channels go global" . The Official YouTube Blog. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012 . Retrieved October 10, 2012 .
  8. ^ a b "YouTube to cull poorly-performing original channels, 60 percent not getting renewed" . The Verge . 11 November 2012. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017 . Retrieved 25 April 2017 .
  9. ^ Sam Gutelle (November 12, 2013). "YouTube Has Removed All References To Its Original Channels Initiative" . Tubefilter. Archived from the original on November 16, 2013 . Retrieved November 17, 2013 .
  10. ^ Randy Kennedy (January 18, 2012). "Museum of Contemporary Art to Create Original Programming for YouTube" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on April 3, 2015 . Retrieved Dec 3, 2014 .
  11. ^ Alexei Oreskovic (May 2, 2012). "YouTube covets TV gold with new channels" . Reuters . Archived from the original on July 2, 2012 . Retrieved Jul 7, 2012 .
  12. ^ Eriq Gardner (May 2, 2012). "Upfronts 2012: YouTube Announces New Channels" . Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on August 23, 2012 . Retrieved Jul 7, 2012 .
  13. ^ "YouTube Original Channels" . YouTube. Archived from the original on 2013-09-03 . Retrieved Jul 8, 2012 .
  14. ^ The Deadline Team (May 29, 2012). "New Feature: Deadline's Weekly YouTube Channel Rankings" . Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on July 5, 2012 . Retrieved Jul 8, 2012 .
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