1 Billion Views A Day

Came as interesting news out of the US that YouTube surpassed one billion video views in a single day on a regular basis. That is huge numbers any way you look at it, but what really surprised me about these figures is that the company that owns the brand is still not making money from it.

YouTube is arguably the most powerful brand in video content delivery and yet, there is still no money being made. There have been ructions in the past about what sort of model needs to be adopted when it comes to payment – either advertising, click throughs, or paying for content from production houses and passing the cost on to consumers.

The thing about YouTube is that it has now become a staple in the cyberworld, but it has hit a few hiccups over the past year or so, with the likes of the English Premier League demanding that videos be taken down of matches that have just been played. If BSkyB and YouTube had any brains, they would come to some sort of content agreement. At the end of the day, BSkyB needs the content to sell its subscriber service, and the immediacy it gives to viewers. So, I can see Rupert Murdoch’s point of view that his company would object at videos going up almost immediately after a game.

But, surely, they can go up a week later and make YouTube pay for the content? Not only would it be another revenue stream, it would give those who don’t have satellite television a way of seeing football. Of course, there are already third parties who pay for the content – ie other television stations, but maybe the pieces could be put up after these third parties have had their say.

This is just one example where it might work. YouTube could then make its money via advertising revenue.

That aside, YouTube is here to stay and it’ll be interesting to see how it develops over the next six months to a year.