Wall Street Journal Launches Video Channel for YouTube

The Wall Street Journal joins Reuters in launching dedicated YouTube channels.

... In conjunction with the launch, the channel will showcase "Off Duty," a daily lifestyle show debuting today based on the eponymous section of WSJ Weekend, the Journal's Saturday paper.

Hosted by Wall Street Journal reporter Wendy Bounds, "Off Duty" will bring to life many of its namesake's features, as well as other culture coverage from the Journal – from food to fashion, music and movies, travel to tech.

Full WSJ press release. via Mediabistro

Culture Film YouTube launches online short film festival

YouTube and the producers of its user-generated film Life in a Day will send 10 winners to the Venice film festival to compete for a $500,000 film-making grant.

[via The Guardian]

Reuters Teams With YouTube to Launch Reuters TV Channel

Reuters today announced the launch of Reuters TV, a new YouTube channel featuring 10 news, commentary and analysis programs covering hard news, finance, politics, technology and special Reuters investigations.

The programming, which will appear on Reuters.com and on Reuters redesigned YouTube channel, marks Reuters entry into the rapidly growing business of online video programming, in partnership with one of the biggest players in next-generation TV, YouTube. Reuters is employing a creative editing style that is suited for Internet programming and does not mimic traditional TV.

[via MarketWire]

YouTube Slam pits viral videos against each other

Google is attempting to remedy the dispute between which viral videos are the most entertaining with a new experiment called YouTube Slam. VentureBeat reports.

According to the YouTube official blog, YouTube Slam is a video discovery experiment it created in partnership with Google Research. Every week the staff will pick a new crop of videos in several categories (including Comedy, Cute, Music, Bizarre and Dance) that users can vote on. The winning videos get featured on a leaderboard.

The new service allows you to earn points for predicting the Slam winners, and gives you the ability to see how you stack up against other players each week. It’s an interesting development since we don’t typically see these kinds of simple gaming mechanics used to motivate people into using a new Google service.

Read more.

YouTube launches schools-friendly video service

YouTube, the world's largest video sharing service, has launched a new school-friendly version of its site. The BBC reports.

YouTube For Schools promises classrooms access to educational videos without the risk of pupils being "distracted by the latest music video or cute cat".

The Google-owned site has put together playlists according to subject matter and intended age level.

Google said it hoped to attract schools which had previously been put off by inappropriate content on the site.

Read full article.

Google buys YouTube.XXX domaine name

According to Fusible, a blog that tracks domain name purchases, Google has just bought youtube.xxx.

It doesn't mean YouTube is getting into the porn business. It's likely a move to protect the YouTube brand.

[via Business Insider]

YouTube offers Japanese and Hollywood releases for rental

YouTube will now offer Japanese and Hollywood releases for rent at youtube.com/movies.

In their own words:

We’re starting off with a few hundred titles — both new releases and classic films — from two of the biggest Japanese studios Bandai and Toei, as well as from Hollywood studios Warner Brothers, NBCUniversal, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

... Over time we'll be adding additional videos and features to the Movies page, as well as featuring titles from additional studios.

'Monopoly': A YouTube sensation knocks Saudi royalty

Young Saudi videographers are using YouTube to air a series of video reports that reveal the underside of life in the world's biggest oil producer. The Christian Science Monitor reports.

The narratives are compelling and the journalism impassioned as they guide their audience through slums in the major cities, satirize the severe national housing shortage and ridicule the government's failure to respond.

Since its posting, the Arabic version of "Poverty" has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. That would be equal to nearly one-tenth of Saudi Arabia's population of 18 million. (Version with English subtitles embeded above here.)

Read full article.

YouTube gets social-networking face-lift

YouTube has a new look, one that the video-sharing service hopes will make it easier for users to find and organize the kind of content that they want. [via Cnet]

You Can Rent Disney Movies on YouTube Now

From classics like Alice in Wonderland to the Pixar hits and Pirates movies of today, Disney will eventually put up a lion's share of its movies for rent on YouTube Movies.

[via Gizmodo]

Google TV Goes Full-On ‘Boob Tube’ With Porn App Debut

Seasoned smut peddlers Vivid Entertainment launched its Vivid for Google TV app on Monday, the first TV application to bring X-rated flicks to Google’s set-top box. Wired reports.

... Of course, Google’s app goes a few steps beyond cartoon boobs. Much of Vivid’s, er, entertainment — including its infamous X-rated parodies of mainstream, pop-culture TV and movies — can be streamed in high definition to the Google TV set-top box (for 18-year-old eyes only, of course).

Read more.

Disney and YouTube Make a Video Deal

Disney and YouTube will spend a combined $10 million to $15 million on original video series; those shorts will be produced by Disney and distributed on a co-branded channel on Disney.com and YouTube. The channel will also include amateur video culled from the torrent uploaded to YouTube daily.

[via The New York Times]

YouTube is streaming Hajj live

Hulu and YouTube are giving viewers options in watching commercials

Both Hulu.com and YouTube are offering online viewers the chance to choose which commercials they watch. The New York Times reports.

This month, Hulu introduced a format that gives users the option of clicking an “ad swap” button after a commercial begins and choosing to replace it with one of two or three options. Don’t want to sit through an oil company’s commercial? Then go with one from a cellphone carrier or a razor maker.

YouTube is also offering formats that give users an option, including one in beta testing that provides a choice of three commercials.

Read full article.

What Governments Worldwide Want Google to Take Down

Google published its biannual Transparency Report yesterday showing US Law Enforcement and courts requested the removal of 757 items from Google's servers—mostly Youtube videos depicting acts of police brutality. Check out the full list of American requests—plus those from other countries around the world—here and further analysis at The Register.

[via Gizmodo]

YouTube Close to Announcing Video 'Channels'

According to The Wall Street Journal,YouTube is expected to announce as early as next week that it has signed a slew of partnerships with media companies and well-known personalities to produce original content for the popular video website.

YouTube Merch Store to Sell Songs, Concert Tickets and Merchandise

YouTube has launched The Merch Store, to be rolled out globally over “the coming week", sa tool allowing musicians to sell digital downloads, concert tickets, branded merchandise and more directly from their respective YouTube channels. Mashable reports.

The Google-owned video platform partnered with a number of different companies to enable the ecommerce add-ons, including Topspin (for merchandise, concert tickets and other experiences), Songkick (for concerts), and Amazon and iTunes (for music downloads). The company did not disclose whether it would be taking a cut of sales made through those services.

Read more.

Google to launch YouTube Politics

Google-owned YouTube is launching a special site Thursday that it hopes will be a one-stop online spot for political junkies to watch the good, the bad and the ugly of the 2012 presidential campaign. Politico.com reports.

The site, YouTube Politics, will include videos from the candidates’ official YouTube channels and a mix of videos produced by media outlets and everyday citizens so people can follow every speech, gaffe and interview of the 2012 campaign.

Read YouTube blogpost.

YouTube launches online movie rental service in the UK

YouTube has launched its movie rental service in the UK with thousands of blockbusters including The King's Speech and The Dark Knight. The Guardian reports.

Film fans in the UK can now rent new releases for £3.49 ($5.45) and older titles for between £2.49 ($3.88) and £3.49 ($5.45) from YouTube.

The move puts the Google-owned site in direct competition with Amazon's LoveFilm, which claims some 1.6 million customers in the UK and Europe.

YouTube Goes Professional

According to The Wall Street Journal, YouTube is finalizing deals with well-known personalities, such as skateboarder Tony Hawk, and major media companies to produce original content for its popular video website, as it seeks to become a next-generation cable provider that oversees dozens of free online "channels" with professional-grade shows.

Read more.

YouTube Launches Google AdWords For Video

YouTube will launch Google AdWords for video in beta on Wednesday. The tool aims to simplify online video ad campaigns and allow advertisers to use a dynamic, auction-based platform to place and manage ads on YouTube and the Google Display Network.

[via Mediapost]

The Assads versus YouTube

The Assad regime is using YouTube to track protestors, but going through large amounts of data is proving difficult. AlJazeera reports in an depth opinion piece.

... Aware that the government´s attention increasingly focuses on citizen communications through video and mobile technology, activists are investing time and energy in concealing their identities on videos and pictures. Syrian citizens have had time to learn from the work of Tunisians, Egyptians and other activists on the region and they have developed quite efficient ways to protect their identities, which can be seen in the increasing number of videos that are recorded from behind the crowd to avoid showing people´s faces. According to Syrian activist Alexander Page, “If a face is clear it must be blurred. We have a video center, which is basically a team outside the country we send the video to, who clean up any possible threats, upload it to Youtube and then send us the link for us to share.”

Read full article.

YouTube adds a built-in video editor

In an effort to make it easier for YouTube users to make changes to their videos after uploading them, YouTube is rolling out a brand new video editor. Cnet reports.

No, this isn't the standalone video editor meant for splicing together clips from multiple videos that's been available in the service's TestTube labs since last year. Instead, it's a new one designed to give users a way to do quick fixes without having to re-upload the video. It's like a retouching tool for photos, but for non-commercial video.

Read more.

The attorney-general of Syria announces resignation on YouTube

The attorney-general of the Syrian city of Hama used online video-positing site YouTube to announce his resignation in protest of the government's violent crackdown on protests. [via IGN]

I, Judge Adnan Mohammad al-Bakkour, Hama province Attorney-General, declare that I have resigned in protest of the savage regime's practices against peaceful demonstrators," Bakkour said.

The expulsion of independent foreign media from Syria makes it difficult to confirm news or events, but if confirmed Bakkour's resignation would be the first high-profile resignation from president Bashar al-Assad government since protests broke out in March.

Read full article.

Google, New York Times Launch Sept. 11 YouTube Channel

To mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Google and the New York Times have launched a dedicated 9/11 YouTube channel. PC Mag reports.

Entitled "Reflections on 9/11: 10 Years Later," the channel contains archived broadcasts from September 2001 and unique content from the Times.

The two content partners are also crowdsourcing personal stories and selecting clips to post on the channel and the Times Web site on September 11.

Contributors can answer questions like, "What is your strongest memory of 9/11?" or "How did 9/11 change you?" or "What did you lose or gain because of 9/11?"

Read more.

Bihar's new tool to fight corruption - YouTube

The state government of Bihar - a state in eastern India - has decided to use YouTube as a new tool to expose corrupt and bribe-seekers," reports The Economic Times.

Bihar Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra told media as graft becomes a nationwide concern, particularly with the anti-corruption crusade by Anna Hazare in New Delhi.

For the first time in Bihar, nearly one million people living below poverty line will be given the first instalment of money under IAY for construction of houses Saturday at statewide camps organised by the government in all 534 blocks.

The state government has directed all district officials to make arrangements to record video of complaints of all beneficiaries of IAY at the camps.

"We have asked officials to set up three counters in every camp, where beneficiaries will lodge written complaints against officials who may have demanded bribes and delayed work," Mishra told IANS.

"Everything will be recorded and soon uploaded on YouTube to expose corrupt officials and end the involvement of middlemen," he added.

The move follows increasing complaints by villagers about officials asking for bribes to get things done with respect to the IAY in the state.

Even top government officials have admitted that the poorest of the poor have to pay bribes to officials to get the benefit of this housing scheme. Those who have no money to pay bribes don't get the benefit.

Read full article.

Google+ Hangouts Can Now Be Initiated From YouTube

Google has quietly rolled out yet another feature of its Google+ social network, letting users click Share from any YouTube video, revealing an icon that suggests watching the video with friends in a Google+ hangout.

[via Mashable]

Cheer Detergent Music Video Lets You Click To Win Prizes

Cheer detergent is rolling out what it claims is an industry first: A clickable YouTube video that takes you to a non-YouTube site. Mashable reports.

The music video, for the song “Climbing Walls” from Strange Talk, has colorful objects, which viewers can click to be entered to win them.

The Cheer video leads to a Facebook app for Cheer where you can register for the item you “dug.” A YouTube rep says she believes Cheer is “one of the first” to use Annotations this way, though she said she couldn’t be sure others hadn’t.

Read full article .

YouTube Adds 20,000 Licensed Movie Clips To Its Library

YouTube will soon be home to 20,000 licensed movie clips now that it has signed a deal with MovieClips.com. The startup will provide the clips which can be found at MovieClips YouTube channel and via search.

[via Gizmodo]

Johnny Carson Launches YouTube Channel

Johnny Carson has come to YouTube, with the new and official "Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" channel. Carson, the original king of Late Night, was the host of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" from 1962-1992.

[via Broadway World]

12 Acts from the YouTube Online Auditions Compete Live on NBC's 'America's Got Talent'

NBC’s top-rated summer series “America’s Got Talent” announced today the 12 acts from the YouTube online auditions that will perform live for the first time on Tuesday, August 9. TV by the Numbers reports.

Last season’s runner-up, soprano prodigy Jackie Evancho, auditioned through YouTube and her recent debut album “Dream with Me” has just been certified gold.

Over the past few months, thousands of acts from across the country submitted videos at www.youtube.com/agt and from these submissions, the show selected 20 acts and the YouTube community picked their favorite – Matt Wilhelm, a BMX racer from Chicago.

Read more.

Australia uses YouTube to scare off asylum seekers

The Australian government plans to film asylum seekers being flown out of the country to Malaysia and post the footage on YouTube in an attempt to deter more from taking the perilous journey from Indonesia to Christmas Island.

[via The Telegraph]

Google+ Hangouts Adding YouTube Live Video Viewing

The Hangouts group video chat platform on Google+ now lets video-chatting groups of up to ten people watch live streaming videos together on YouTube. Mashable reports.

The ability to watch recorded YouTube videos together has been possible in Hangouts from the start, but now, YouTube Live product manager Brandon Badger told GigaOM that Google‘s been quietly rolling out live video stream viewing while chatting in Hangouts.

Read more.

Caption Technology Opens Up World of YouTube Japan

YouTube launched the Japanese version of automatic captions last week, becoming the only language in which the software is available outside English. It was first released to select U.S. users in November of 2009 and made available to the wider public the following March. Auto-captions have since been generated on nearly 40 million videos, according to YouTube.

When these auto-captions are combined with our auto-translate feature, you’ll be able to generate subtitles into more than 50 languages.

Read full article in The Wall Street Journal.

Pippa Middleton's derriere doppelgänger gets YouTube series

It seems there is no looking back for Pippa Middleton and her celebrated derriere, writes the Daily Mail.

Artist and satirical photographer Alison Jackson is planning a series of YouTube-style episodes dedicated to achieving a bottom as perfectly sculpted as Pippa’s.

Gabriella Parris, left, turns out to be the perfect double for Pippa's bottom.

CCTV website rebuked over YouTube clip

According to The Telegraph, a controversial website that allows members to monitor CCTV cameras has been ordered to make changes by privacy regulators after footage from a shop was uploaded to YouTube.

Security video streamed to amateur store detectives' computers by Internet Eyes was saved and posted online in violation of data protection legislation, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The regulator received a complaint after the clip, which included an identifiable image of an innocent shopper, was discovered on Google's video sharing website.

Read full article.

Related: - Citizens monitor CCTV footage for a reward

Audition on YouTube for X-Factor

YouTube is accepting audtions for X-Factor.

Simon Cowell and his crew on are still on the hunt for talent and are expanding their search to YouTube.

So if you think you have that "it" or shall we say that "x" factor that the former American Idol judge is looking for, you can try out for the show by uploading a vocal performance video to Youtube right now. We'll have a link to the XFactor USA page in our info section below, so check it out and let us know if you plan to throw your name or your group's name into the ring.

Good luck!

YouTube introduces Creative Commons licensing option

YouTube will introduce a Creative Commons licensing option for uploaders at 9am Pacific tomorrow morning, boingboing reports via TheNextWeb.

A move that will make it that much clearer to mashup artists which videos can be used to create new works without fear of reprisal.

YouTube: Three Billion Views a Day

YouTube users are now uploading 48 hours of video a minute. That’s up 37 percent in the last six months, and 100 percent in the last year.

[via All Things D]

YouTube posts most viewed commencement addresses

YouTube has posted the most viewed commencement speaches. Fabulous.

In first place, and my forever favorite, Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

[via The Huffington Post]

YouTube remembers fallen journalists

YouTube has teamed up with the Newseum in Washington, D.C., to create a video memorial for men and women who lost their lives pursuing the news.

The Newseum in Washington, D.C., Google and YouTube are together launching thevideo memorial"> Journalists Memorial channel on YouTube to remember the journalists who have died in the last year while reporting news around the world.

[via YouTube Global Blogspot]

Is Google taking the 'you' out of YouTube?

Despite YouTube having the tagline "broadcast yourself", the most viewed clips are often corporate videos or those featuring internet celebrities, many of whom now earn over $100,000 a year. The BBC reports.

So much has changed for YouTube since the days where it seemed to be known solely for videos of cats playing the piano and people falling down holes. Now, users are more likely to be found watching a Channel 4 programme or Justin Bieber music video than its more traditional output.

Indeed, half of the top 10 most viewed clips of all time are by Bieber or rap star Eminem.

Read full article.

YouTube videos now have Live Captions

Watching videos on YouTube just got a bit easier to understand, thanks to the launch of Live Captions. The service is available to all of YouTube’s partners or even competing live stream sites to improve video viewing experience for all users (particularly those with hearing impediments but also to make sense of foreign clips).

[via ZDNet]

A Russian Titan Embraces the Web

Amid the ever-shifting landscape of film-viewing technology, streaming has suddenly become a rushing river. And now Mosfilm, the 87-year-old titan of Soviet and Russian film production—famed for works by masters such as Sergei Eisenstein and Andrei Tarkovsky, as well as genre films from adventure tales to musicals—has taken a leap into that river. On April 26 Mosfilm announced a partnership with YouTube allowing viewers to watch a substantial number of landmark movies from the studio's collection in their entirety.

Read full article in The Wall Street Journal.

Google’s YouTube Adding 3,000 Rentals, Challenging Netflix

Google Inc. YouTube website will add “The King’s Speech,” “Inception” and about 3,000 other titles to its movie-rental service, accelerating its shift into Hollywood entertainment and stepping up competition with Netflix Inc. Bloomberg reports.

YouTube is adding films from Sony Corp., Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures and Lionsgate, according to a statement today. The additions will push YouTube’s total movie rentals available to more than 6,000. Most of the newer titles will cost $3.99 and up to rent.

Read full article.