Mountain View, California — In its quest to lure its audience to its the world’s most popular video sharing website YouTube, search engine giant Google Inc. is working on a major overhaul of YouTube as it tries to position itself as a more traditional channel-oriented site, and will spend $100 million to create original programming to populate them, according to a report published in The Wall Street Journal today that cites unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The Google owned popular video-sharing website YouTube will soon be revamped and transformed into a premium content competitor with organized channels and professionally produced video as it strives to position itself for the rise of televisions that let people watch online video in their living rooms, according to people familiar with the matter.
The forthcoming makeover is a big bet by the world’s most-popular video site to push in a new direction. Apparently, jumbled between the Wild West of user-generated content and the pricier surroundings of full-blown TV shows, Google is hoping to carve out a niche of original, professionally produced Web videos that it hopes will cultivate loyal viewers.
A YouTube spokesman refused to comment on the new initiatives, except stating that: “YouTube saw remarkable growth in 2010 and we are excited about the future. We are always working on updating the site and improving the general user experience and interface. We do not, however, have any plans to dramatically change the site’s design in the near future.”
A report from the Wall Street Journal brings this news, based on what they were informed by “people familiar with the matter”. The report says:
The company is preparing to overhaul the homepage that would highlight sets of channels around topics such as arts and sports. YouTube is striving to position itself to better cater to the demands of Internet-connected televisions, and is planning to introduce 20 or so “premium channels” that would feature five to 10 hours of professionally-produced original programming a week, one of these people said. Additional channels would be assembled from content already on the site.
The report also stated that Google is planning to spend as much as $100 million to commission the creation of original content designed exclusively for the Web, people familiar with the matter said. This is certainly in line with the apparent trend in video entertainment distribution companies.
This would all make a great amount of sense for YouTube and Google, given the rising popularity of connected televisions and related devices. YouTube is looking to compete with broadcast and cable television, some of these people said, a goal that requires it to entice users to stay on the website longer, and to convince advertisers that it will reach desirable consumers.
Likewise, YouTube’s move comes as streaming video services are growing stronger, upending the way people watch TV shows. In fact, the video-sharing outfit is looking to align itself with the growing trend of the likes of Netflix Inc., which is building up a cache of TV content and movies, recently securing rights to stream the hit series “Mad Men.” Amazon.com Inc. and Hulu LLC are making a similar grab. Hulu’s investors include Wall Street Journal owner News Corp.
Well, with original content created exclusively for the web tucked into the battle for viewers, it is going to be more difficult for cable TV, broadcast and satellite TV to dominate television broadcasting as they still do.
The report, if true, would mark a change in strategy for YouTube, which has historically maintained that it is not in the content creation business. The move would also foster longer time spent on site by users, which means Google will have more time to show more ads and drive more revenue. It could also help Google TV look more appealing to consumers.