YouTube is set to launch a number of scheduled channels in 2012, with themes ranging from fashion to sports.
While broadcasters the world over have been battling to offer on-demand television through an internet connection, according to The Wall Street Journal, YouTube is to flip reverse this trend and begin offering scheduled programmes.
It is reported that YouTube is speaking to content providers about how they can fill 12 channels in total, with the video-streaming site willing to pay good money for shows.
Google box
According to some unnamed content owners, YouTube is looking to take on television broadcasters at their own game and is offering anything from a few hundred thousand dollars to millions for content and will make money on the shows through ad revenue.
The power balance between broadcast and internet is definitely shifting at the moment. Just this week, it was announced that Netflix managed to secure a premium content deal with Dreamworks – considering it was up against HBO this is no mean feat.
Amazon has also secured content from 20th Century Fox in the US, something the UK could benefit from in the future, given that LoveFilm is owned by Amazon and has a long-standing disagreement with the distributor where it will not allow its Blu-rays to be rented through the site.
If YouTube does begin offering scheduled content then it could mark another shift away from traditional broadcast to the internet and give Google TV, which is set to launch in the UK in 2012, the hook that it needs to bridge the broadcast gap.
