InfoAnda - Analysis: YouTube alienates amateur users by courting pros |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Tribeca documentaries examine bullying and toxicity | | 25 April 2011
Colombian rebels say to free six more hostages | International | | 22 December 2008
3-year-old leads toddler to safety in Ariz. fire | 21 November 2009

Suicide attacks kill 76 in Iraq | 24 April 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Analysis: YouTube alienates amateur users by courting pros |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Aerospace & Defense Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Campaign Polling Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Anatole Kaletsky Reihan Salam Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Frederick Kempe Christopher Papagianis Mark Leonard Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Slideshow Editor's Choice Successful test for land speed record A British team behind a project to build a 1000mph car hold a successful test of the rocket they hope will push the vehicle beyond the sound barrier. Video Facebook reaches one billion monthly active users Austrian gravesites get digital twist FDA cracks down on websites selling bad drugs Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Obama fights back after debate setback | 3:26am EDT First major U.S. snowstorm, cold snap may harm some crops 04 Oct 2012 Romney says his 47 percent comment was "completely wrong" | 3:28am EDT Morocco denies entry to Dutch "abortion ship" 04 Oct 2012 U.S. coal stocks jump on Romney comments: analysts 04 Oct 2012 Discussed 234 Romney’s strong debate showing puts Europe on edge 154 Obama and Romney battle over economy at debate 126 Chavez to Obama: I’d vote for you, and you for me Sponsored Links Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Sesame Street The beloved characters from Sesame Street have made cameos in some unusual places. Slideshow Overcrowded prisons Inside California's overcrowded prison system. Slideshow Analysis: YouTube alienates amateur users by courting pros Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Facebook crosses billion threshold, on quest for growth Thu, Oct 4 2012 In mobile-computing boom, a battle rages for marketing Thu, Oct 4 2012 YouTube opens Turkish site, giving government more control Tue, Oct 2 2012 Live from Syria: Swedish streaming site gains followers Tue, Oct 2 2012 Iran unblocks Google email again after officials complain Mon, Oct 1 2012 Analysis & Opinion Images of September How Mitt Romney’s offshore income jumped Related Topics Tech » Media » 1 of 6. Crew members produce an episode of Tekzilla at Revision3 in San Francisco, California October 3, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Noah Berger By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Oct 4, 2012 7:12pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - After struggling for years, in late 2010, Driving Sports TV, a scrappy, two-person video production outfit led by Ryan Douthit, finally began supporting itself with advertising income from YouTube. It didn't matter that the channel's production set was simply a green screen in Douthit's cramped garage in a leafy Seattle suburb; Driving Sports TV's revenues were roaring like the rally car engines it featured. Achieving self-sufficiency on YouTube was Douthit's dream. Then it became a nightmare. Over the past year, Driving Sports TV's popularity and revenues have plummeted as much as 90 percent, Douthit said, as viewers abandoned him for slicker, more professional and better-marketed fare that's suddenly streaming onto YouTube. Douthit is among thousands of amateur video producers who helped Google-owned YouTube become the Internet's most popular video-sharing site. But YouTube's thriving amateur core now feels squeezed out by the site's sweeping transformation from user-generated clips to more professionally produced content, posing a potential dilemma for Google's long-term ambitions in online video. "I drank their Kool-Aid," Douthit said. "I believed their whole pitch, that anybody with talent and drive could make a living out of YouTube." A year ago this month, YouTube embarked on an initiative to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire original, professional content in an effort to compete for ad dollars against traditional television networks, digital streaming services such as Netflix and rival Internet companies like AOL and Yahoo. Tom Hanks, Amy Poehler and other big-name talent are now backing YouTube projects, while Madonna, Jay-Z and Ashton Kutcher have signed up to curate YouTube "channels," bringing hierarchy to an ecosystem that looks more like Hollywood by the day. The influx of cash, celebrity and structure has left many small "YouTubers" - the bedroom pundits and aspiring guitar heroes who helped make YouTube popular - feeling alienated and shunted aside. In July at Vidcon, an annual conference for the YouTube creator community, Jim Louderback, the chief executive of Revision3, a well-known digital video network recently purchased by Discovery Communications, said disenchanted YouTubers were fleeing for other platforms. As he spoke on stage, a slide presentation behind him showed a picture of rats scrambling off of a ship named "YouTube." Louderback's presentation proved prescient - in the past year, as their frustration has mounted, some young YouTubers have begun uploading content elsewhere, a potentially damaging prospect for Google. In an interview with Reuters at Revision3's 4,000-square foot studio space in an industrial building in San Francisco, Louderback said many successful YouTubers were exploring how to stream video in their own apps, totally independent of YouTube. He has poached some of YouTube's biggest stars himself, signing them to Revision3's talent roster and shifting some of their videos onto its own website. "If you've got great content, you can find an audience anywhere," he said. MONEY VERSUS LOYALTY YouTube executives say they've made a concerted effort to keep all the site's content-providers happy. However, there is little doubt that the move to more professionally produced content is proving good for business. "Our big advertisers like the path that YouTube has taken," said Andy Chapman, head of digital investment at Mindshare, an ad agency that counts Unilever, Kimberly Clark and LG Electronics among its clients. "A number of clients say this looks and feels like the direction the market is going." Wall Street analysts like Citigroup's Mark Mahaney say YouTube already contributes about $3.5 billion to Google's top line every year, a figure that is expected to climb. In the U.S. market, for instance, total revenue from digital video advertising is expected to grow from $2.3 billion this year to about $7 billion to 2015, when roughly 40 percent of the U.S. population will be watching TV online, according to advertising industry analyst eMarketer. In recent years, YouTube has shared ad revenues with its content creators, based on how many views their videos get. But tensions between the company and video creators came to a head in March when YouTube, which says its streams more than 4 billion videos per day, changed an algorithm that governed which clips were recommended to viewers. The tweaks, which lowered the number of overall views across the site but boosted the average time viewers spent in each video, prompted many of YouTube's amateur providers to cry foul, arguing that the move favored longer, professionally produced content. A group of young users started circulating the #saveyoutube hashtag on Twitter and, in May, when a Google employee sought feedback on the situation on the Google+ social network, she received more than 150 responses from users, many concerned and some bitterly angry. Douthit, the producer of Driving Sports TV, said he was stunned recently when he saw YouTube promoting Drive - a competing professional program that received investment funding from the site - in ad slots shown before his own videos load. "It felt like being kicked," he said. "They're forcing independent producers like us to go other routes." Douthit has since sold his segments to a TV network in South Africa and uploaded segments to Apple Inc's iTunes, where, he said, they were downloaded 800,000 times last month. For its part, YouTube executives say they recognize the importance of their "community" and that they are working hard to cater to both the "heartland, heritage YouTube" and the name-brand content streaming in from Hollywood. "Any time you have a lot of changes, people get nervous," said Tom Pickett, the company's global head of content operations. "We're trying to listen as best we can to the concerns coming out and coach folks through these changes." In recent months, company employees have held Google+ video chats to talk creators through their concerns, and next month, Google will open a sprawling, 40,000-foot facility in Marina del Rey, California, offering free studio space and equipment rentals to independent creators who otherwise wouldn't have access to such resources. "YouTube is nothing without its content creators," Pickett said. "One of our key differentiators is that breadth and depth of content, so we're totally about making it possible for anybody to have that opportunity for success." YouTube has in fact deepened its investment in its young would-be stars. Last March, Google acquired video start-up Next New Networks, and turned it into an academy of sorts teaching videography skills and publishing a Creator's Playbook offering tips on how to promote videos. The company invited up-and-coming YouTubers with fewer than 300,000 subscribers to apply for $35,000 in funding and four-day stays at a "Creator Camp" to hone production skills with help from pros. STRIKING DIGITAL GOLD To a great extent, the frustration among YouTube's amateur users stems from the ever-mounting competitiveness amongst their peers. Not unlike aspiring actors, aspiring YouTubers have flocked to Los Angeles with hopes of joining the handful of stars rumored to make million-dollar salaries. An entire industry of production start-ups, perhaps ironically called "networks," has sprung up, signing YouTube stars to contracts and helping negotiate ad deals and merchandising tie-ups. These networks, among them Revision3, Maker Studios, Big Frame, the Collective, Machinima and Fullscreen, use subtle programming techniques to make YouTube's recommendation engine to highlight their videos more often and also call on their roster of stars to cross-promote rising talent. YouTubers say it's becoming impossible to rise to the top without the support of these networks, who increasingly control the levers of stardom. "The sad thing was when YouTube was first starting out, we didn't need networks," said Philip Wang, 28, an independent YouTuber who has made videos professionally since college. "It was people working together and exploring. But now there's more at stake. People are all fighting for ad dollars, fighting for views." YouTube also benefits from the new networks. For instance, the ad deals Big Frame has independently struck with Home Depot, Levi's and Electronic Arts in turn burnish YouTube's reputation as an ad vehicle, said Jamie Byrne, the site's head of original programming. And not all of YouTube's amateur providers feel disenfranchised by its move to more professional content. Many argue that the corporate dollars and Hollywood attitudes have had a net positive effect for them. In May, the company disclosed that "thousands" of its young stars now make six-digit salaries from YouTube, up from just a handful a few years ago. "This is real money - and real businesses - being made. The ecosystem is getting that much stronger," said Shira Lazar, who hosts the "What's Trending" show on YouTube. "It's incredible," Lazar said, "if you think how this has all happened in the past three years." (The story corrects to read "...Lazar hosts the 'What's Trending' show on YouTube," instead of "... Lazar, a YouTube star who went on to host the 'What's Trending' show on the CBS News website.") (Editing by Peter Lauria and David Brunnstrom) Tech Media Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Friday, 5 October 2012
U.S. investigators visit Libya compound where ambassador was killed |
South African mine unrest spreads, Toyota hit by strike |
Exclusive: EU poised to agree ban on Iranian gas imports |
Georgia poll winner asks supporters to end vote-rigging protests |
Russia dismisses talk of new spy scandal with U.S. |
Libya PM-elect says withdraws proposed government list |
Jordan's King Abdullah dissolves parliament ahead of elections |
A Galaxy glow, but Samsung's record profit run to end in fourth-quarter |
In mobile-computing boom, a battle rages for marketing |
Oracle's CFO says no acquisitions needed to compete in cloud |
Rio bets it can become Brazil's Silicon Beach |
ViaSat bets on internet services as fiscal cliff looms |
New York police probe jewelry theft from actress Julianne Moore's home |
Book of rare Beatles photos offers inside peek at iconic band |
Using his own blood, New York artist paints Resurrection exhibit |
Fans to vote for 2013 Rock Hall of Famers |
ABBA museum to open in Swedish capital in 2013 |
Greek PM says can't manage beyond November without next aid tranche |
Turks on Syrian border skeptical after shelling |
Son of prominent Mexican politician shot dead |
Georgia poll winner asks supporters to end vote-rigging protests |
Russia considers Arctic licenses for western oil majors: FT |
Colombian drug boss turns himself in to U.S. officials |
Venezuela's Chavez fights young rival in re-election bid |
World Bank chief Kim signals changes to come |
Facebook IPO lawsuits to be heard in New York |
Samsung posts $7.3 billion third-qurter profit, this quarter will be tougher |
Zynga slashes 2012 outlook again, shares hit record low |
Oracle CFO: no acquisitions needed to compete in cloud |
Sony halts Xperia tablet sales after defect found |
Oracle CEO Ellison dreams of making Hawaii island model of sustainability |
Lawmaker cites new cyber threats to financial networks |
Analysis: YouTube alienates amateur users by courting pros |
Cisco taps two execs in CEO race |
Actress Daryl Hannah arrested in Keystone pipeline protest |
Alec Baldwin says he offered to take pay cut to save 30 Rock |
Ann Romney to guest host Good Morning America |
It's all black and white in new Picasso exhibition |
Using his own blood, New York artist paints Resurrection exhibit |
Israeli forces kill American gunman in hotel shoot-out |
South Africa's Amplats fires 12,000 strikers as unrest deepens |
Britain to extradite radical Islamist cleric to U.S. |
Israeli police use stun grenades to break up al-Aqsa protest |
Merkel to visit Greece as money running out |
In biggest protest, Jordan Islamists demand change |
Students clash with police in protests across Italy |
Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez arrested in Cuba: reports |
Rights abuses persist in new Tunisia, investigators say |
Motorola wins German patent case against Microsoft |
Global Logistic Properties gains from China's online boom |
Bond films turn 50 with Adele song and documentary |
Fans, filmgoers get look at vintage Rolling Stones |
Gay characters at record high on U.S. television |
Using his own blood, New York artist paints Resurrection exhibit |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01