YouTube launches an integrated live-streaming platform
YouTube introduced YouTube Live as an integrated platform feature, adding a dedicated discovery page and beginning a gradual rollout of broadcasting tools to selected partners. The move turned live video from occasional special events into an ongoing YouTube product.
Historical context
YouTube had experimented with one-off live events since 2008, while specialist services including Ustream and Justin.tv had made real-time web broadcasting a standalone category. By 2011 YouTube had the scale, creator ecosystem and infrastructure to integrate persistent live programming and discovery into its main service.
What happened
On April 8, 2011, YouTube began its initial YouTube Live rollout. Approved partners could stream from their own channels, viewers could find current and upcoming broadcasts through a dedicated live page, and YouTube said it intended to extend live-streaming capability to thousands of partners over the following months.
Consequences
The rollout placed one of the world's largest video platforms directly into the livestreaming market and reduced the distinction between uploaded and real-time creator video. It laid the foundation for live broadcasting to become a standard component of YouTube channels rather than an exceptional event format.
Related people
Sources
- YouTube Gets Into the Live Stream BusinessWIRED
- Google's YouTube Launches Live Streaming PageReuters / Fox Business