Next time you have guests at your home for a live TV event, you might be streaming it from YouTube. Just don’t expect it to be free.
YouTube announced it would add the option for partners to monetize on YouTube Live, its year-old streaming service, with advertisements or other paid options.
In a blog post, YouTube Partner Product Manager Varun Talwar joked they considered renting a bouncy castle or hiring a magician to celebrate YouTube Live’s first birthday.
“Neither of these seemed just right to celebrate the millions of you who’ve seen live videos,” Talwar wrote, “so we went with our favorite gifts: new features from our tireless engineers.”
YouTube Live lets viewers watch live events, while companies and brands grow their following — and now, make a profit. This means live content will be accessible through a paid livestream option.
“A live event can be claimed in the new video manager like any other video and monetized with in-stream ads or paid options where you can set price by country,” Talwar writes.
You can also preview live events before they actually go live, and view real-time analytics that show at-the-moment viewers according to geography and format.
New Wirecast software lets YouTube partners produce and stream professional-quality live events directly from a desktop. Add files, images and other overlays to enhance the program. For those who are livestreaming enabled, simply download Wirecase for YouTube.
What do you think about this new feature? How much would you pay to watch a big, live television event on YouTube? Tell me in the comments.
