UPDATE: Ha! Well, we called YouTube to confirm their new channels announcement set for Monday. What did they do? Since we published at 2pm Eastern, they decided rather than call back they’d just issue a press release. So great, YouTube. Anyway, YouTube is taking a bunch of ventures and allowing them to have new channels. Some make sense, like the Wall Street Journal. And Ben Silverman’s Electus, part of Barry Diller’s IAC, has been getting ready for this for some time. Penske Entertainment, which owns HollywoodLife and MovieLine, is getting a channel. So is “The Onion.” Is this a brave new world, or just a lot of junk smooshed onto the internet? We’ll have to wait and see. It could be the beginning of people watching TV for real on their computers. Or it could be the renaissance of books and reading.
Exclusive: Is Jay Z about to become a YouTube star? That’s the word as YouTube may getting ready to implement its new channel design as soon as Monday, I’m told. You may recall a Wall Street Journal story from last April that summarized YouTube’s plan to get competitive with Netflix (now having its own problems) and regular broadcast TV. WSJ said that YouTube owner Google would spend $100 million to develop cheap content. This would be especially synergistic if Google TV and integrated televisions with the internet ever takes off in a meaningful way. Where does Jay Z fit in? The highly successful rap and hip and hop entrepreneur is said to be getting one of these new channels. I’ve also heard that several supermarket tabloids and websites have vied for a spot on the YouTube dial, with possibly Bonnie Fuller‘s “HollywoodLife” leading the way. So, literally, stay tuned on Monday or early next week to see what develops…Maybe Beyonce will host a talk show on Jay Z’s channel…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013604576247060940913104.html
