YouTube is going LIVE

Today we’re announcing the initial roll out of YouTube Live, which will integrate live streaming capabilities and discovery tools directly into the YouTube platform for the first time. This begins with a new YouTube Live browse page (www.youtube.com/live), where you can always find the most compelling live events happening on YouTube and add events to your calendar. Subscribe to your favorite YouTube live-streaming partners to be notified of upcoming live streams on your customized homepage.

Broadcasters like TWiT already stream their content live when it hits the air, but imagine how much exposure independent or amateur content creators can get through the power of YouTube. We’ve started to see the shift from traditional news outlets to independent blogs and journalists, and the same disruption is happening with consuming video. While Hulu, Netflix, and others are making strides to offer content outside of traditional cable media, the launch of live video on YouTube will make this transition more apparent and continue to deliver more options to consumers. I’m not surprised that Hak5 is already streaming, and Geek Beat will also have upcoming programming this evening. Also of interest: there’s already sports programming for the NBA Playoffs. Could good independent vloggers unroot traditional news channels like ESPN? The exposure YouTube brings, plus what it chooses to feature on their live page, will be significant.