YouTube is this generation’s boob tube. With some upcoming changes planned, it may soon become downright indistinguishable. The site is planning to revamp itself, putting the spotlight on topic channels and original content on its homepage.
The Wall Street Journal says that a good portion of these channels will showcase several hours of “professionally produced original programming a week.” Reports has it that YouTube might spend as much as $100 million to commission videos produced exclusively for the site.
Original web videos? Starting to sound a little bit like Netflix, are we. With the cable networks also getting involved, the online video market is starting to sound pretty competitive. Netflix just snatched up ‘Mad Men,’ an aggressive move on their part. Don’t discount other major players like Amazon and Hulu as well.
It was just a few years ago that YouTube could care less about who posted what kind of content on their site. Full episodes and random home clips reigned supreme, until the Google buy-up in 2006. Little of that remains today with media corporations keeping a watchful eye over potential copyright conflicts.
They’re hoping the paid content will be interesting enough to entice more viewers, and in turn, more advertisers. Still, many users still upload original material everyday. One wonders what kind of content YouTube will be able to draw for $100 million – after all the company is still getting many videos for, well, free.
(via Wall Street Journal)
More on TIME.com:
YouTube Adds More Search Functionality, Makes Wasting Time Easier
Google Science Fair Invites YouTube, Gmail Submissions
