You have more than likely watched many of the thousands of videos posted by users on the YouTube website. Well, the video superstar is now starting a live content web video service called YouTube Live that will give some competition to live broadcast programming online and maybe even on television as well.
This brand new service is going to be accessible by specific YouTube partners at first, and will gradually add more customers so that eventually it will be accessible by thousands of viewers over the next few months.
Live broadcasts must be scheduled, which could cause some inconvenience since they will also be listed in the time zone of the location they are being broadcast from. However, users will be able to put the listing on a calendar. Plus, there will be a way for viewers to post their comments during the broadcasts, giving them a way to talk with each other about what they are watching.
At the moment, there isn’t much there except some cricket games and news. However, in the past YouTube has shown some broadcast products like music events, sports and a few interviews on an on off basis.
YouTube’s new service is expected to give sites such as Ustream TV, and other live broadcast services, some competition since YouTube’s names is known quite well.
It’s not known yet if it will offer as much competition to the live content currently shown on broadcast TV or cable, but time will give that answer as it becomes clearer. This depends on who is supplying the content, and in the States this is likely to be places such as ABC and Fox sports, so may be restricted to just the States at first.
