YouTube live streaming is coming to the average web video producer that has at least a respectable following, Mountain View's favorite resident announced as part of its Google IO conference today.
"YouTube is expanding live streaming access to all channels in good standing with more than a thousand subscribers," said the company in a statement.
The year-old live streaming service has previously been available to select YouTube partners, which will now see competition from the eager video producers who make up the majority of Google's target group.
Live streaming should come to even more accounts in the future, as the company promises to "expand availability to more channels and add more features to YouTube Live over time."
How to live stream on YouTube
Gaining access to YouTube's live streaming capabilities requires account holders in good standing to apply for an invite first.
To verify if your account with one thousand subscribers is eligible, log into the Account Features page of YouTube and look for an "Enable" button. This will trigger the required sign-up function.
The ability to live stream might not be present right away, as Google has stated that you'll be able to broadcast to the world from your channel "in the following weeks."
YouTube live streaming API
On top of expanding YouTube Live, Google has expanded the YouTube live stream API, which lets users create, update and manage live events.
Specifically, the API will allow everyone on the video hosting website to schedule event broadcasts and associate them with video streams.
YouTube Live partners who had a year-long headstart were able to create "Emmy-winning sports events, amazing music, immersive gaming, [and] engaging talk shows," noted Google.
With more than one billion unique users visiting YouTube each month, Google has the power to immediately challenge other live video sharing websites like Ustream.tv, Justin.tv and Live Stream, which are now buffering in their boots.
