Google strikes with ‘YouTube TV’ – 40 Channels for $35

Google strikes with ‘YouTube TV’ – 40 Channels for $35. Just as we released our last Mashup on Amazon succeeding as a major disruptive force, here comes Google – taking a big swing at cable television. YouTube announces that for just $35 a month, they will offer access to live TV from over 40 providers, including some of the top network broadcasters like ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, Disney, and ESPN, just to name a few. This new subscription service will include Cloud DVR (with unlimited storage), Artificial Intelligence powered search (with the ability to personalize), plus access to their coveted original YouTube Red Programming (their paid, streaming subscription service with original movies and series). YouTube declared they have been working on this project for two years, and CEO Susan Wojcicki calls it, “the evolution of television, and a bid to give the younger generation the content that they love with the flexibility they expect.”

Ok, so let’s take a step back here. This past week, Google released some staggering new YouTube stats (as their darling put up some auspicious numbers), announcing that over a billion hours of content are being watched every day by users around the globe. That’s right – every single day! YouTube puts it in perspective, “If you were to sit and watch a billion hours of YouTube, it would take you over 100,000 years. 100,000 years ago, our ancestors were crafting stone tools and migrating out of Africa while mammoths and mastodons roamed the Earth.” This number represents a ten-fold increase since 2012, according to YouTube. The Wall Street Journal first reported: “the site reached that milestone in part by powering its recommendations engine with machine learning algorithms. Other factors have contributed… including the shift to mobile… more than 60 percent of YouTube watch time now happens on mobile and tablets.”

Let’s unpack the importance of this for a second. Google piloted this expedition with YouTube in 2005, and now, 400 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube each minute! Online video and content are clearly soaring, as Facebook says users watch 100 million hours of video daily on their major platforms, and Netflix says its subscribers watch 166 million hours a day. Nielsen data says, that US viewers watch 1.2 billion hours of TV a day but the numbers are diminishing. I think we may have an addiction to screens?! (but… that’s another Mashup)

Google’s foray into TV and a la carte viewing with YouTube TV is attention-grabbing, to say the least, and truly embraces their motto of “Broadcast Yourself”. Posted in their headquarters on a massive server, in classic YouTube style, there is a quote from the 1975 film Jaws – “We’re going to need a bigger boat.” I have a feeling they may…

Michael Chase, CMO
St. Joseph Communications

 

#MondayMprningMashup > http://stjoseph.com/google-strikes-with-youtube-tv/

 

 

Posted on March 7, 2017 in Entertainement, Marketing, Technology, Trends

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About the Author

Michael Chase - a true hybrid – part strategist, part data monkey, part creative director, part global growth hacker (when you're doing bic pen tracheotomies you still have to think of EBITDA) and through and through an innovator.

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