YouTube Goes Live

YouTube has launched YouTube Live where one can view live videos from certain content partners of Google.

Users can browse through the live content via www.youtube.com/live

With over 2 billion views a day, it's easy to think about YouTube as a place to watch videos recorded in the past. But you've told us you want more - and that includes events taking place right now. In response, we've live streamed a number of popular concerts, sporting events, and interviews, but primarily on a one-off basis, Google said in a blog post.

Google is working on a major site overhaul of YouTube to organize content around channels as it increasingly tries to position itself to produce and monetize high quality video on the internet following its acquisition of Next New Networks earlier this year.

Changes to the homepage would include building channels around topics such as arts and sports. So far, YouTube is looking to introduce ~20 premium channels that would feature upto 10 hours of professionally curated original programming.

YouTube will integrate live streaming capabilities and discovery tools directly into the YouTube platform for the first time and one can find the most compelling live events happening on YouTube and add events to calendar.

Subscribe to your favorite YouTube live-streaming partners to be notified of upcoming live streams on your customized homepage.

YouTube also start gradually rolling out its live streaming beta platform, which will allow certain YouTube partners with accounts in good standing to stream live content on YouTube.

The beta platform enables partners to stream live from their channels at any time and schedule events ahead of time to notify their subscribers.

In order to ensure a great live stream viewing experience, we plan to roll this offering out incrementally over the course of the coming year, the blog post added.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported Google wants to make YouTube as a broadcast platform pushing for original content, ideally to make the site friendlier for viewing on living room televisions instead of just computer and smartphone screens.

Specifically, the Journal said the site wants to refocus around broadcast channels for arts and sports, along with several hours of professionally produced original programming.