CBS begins adding full length TV shows to YouTube
You know how online video site Hulu is working to differentiate itself from YouTube by focusing on professionally produced video from TV networks? Yeah, YouTube's starting to branch out into that territory too now. CBS and YouTube recently began rolling out full length episodes of selected TV shows from the CBS archives.
Right now there's not a ton of content to choose from. Just a few episodes each of Beverly Hills 90210, MacGuyver, Star Trek, and The Young And the Restless.
Unlike typical YouTube videos, these episodes will include pre-roll and interstitional ads, much like the video ads you find at Hulu.
To be honest, it's much harder to find full length TV episodes on YouTube right now than it is on Hulu. A search for "Star Trek" brings up a ton of short clips that you have to sift through to find the 5 full length episodes. But if CBS rolls out more content and if YouTube signs additional partners, perhaps the company will develop a better system for finding TV programs on the site.
[via Advertising Age and Gizmodo]
Right now there's not a ton of content to choose from. Just a few episodes each of Beverly Hills 90210, MacG
Unlike typical YouTube videos, these episodes will include pre-roll and interstitional ads, much like the video ads you find at Hulu.
To be honest, it's much harder to find full length TV episodes on YouTube right now than it is on Hulu. A search for "Star Trek" brings up a ton of short clips that you have to sift through to find the 5 full length episodes. But if CBS rolls out more content and if YouTube signs additional partners, perhaps the company will develop a better system for finding TV programs on the site.
[via Advertising Age and Gizmodo]













Comments
14
Subscribe to commentsbillOct 11th 2008 1:18PM
"MacGuyver" is spelled MacGyver.
Sean TaylorOct 11th 2008 1:18PM
Doesn't work for UK users.
PheeniXOct 11th 2008 2:20PM
It also doesn't work for Germany. :-(
JoshOct 11th 2008 3:15PM
Yeah, I'll stick with Hulu. I love Youtube (who doesn't?) but Hulu is perfect for my tv watching needs. It's the first good thing the studios have done in a long time.
chris josephOct 11th 2008 3:18PM
"embedding disabled by request"
Do the studios know how incredibly stupid this is? even the official music videos mostly have embedding disabled. If I blog their music video, it links to the page and the producer still gets credit for it. If I blog the TV show, the commercials are still intact. There is no compelling reason for YouTube to allow them this request.
I've embedded whole movies and TV shows off Hulu, no problem, because there is no such restriction.
saltrixOct 11th 2008 4:31PM
don't forget that imdb.com is linked to hulu now, and that can make it a lot easier to find the specific episode you are looking for. :)
ZachOct 11th 2008 4:40PM
CBS has separate playlists for the whole length episodes:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=20048A7C541C941C
KevinmOct 11th 2008 4:48PM
Hmm the ads aren't there right now for me...
KhaledOct 11th 2008 7:24PM
"This video is not available in your country."
yawn, BT/etc is more useful, sorry CBS, better luck next time..
richard.gaileyOct 11th 2008 7:23PM
UK users will have to use the Hotspot Shield to access this as it seems that it's only for USA people only. Pretty fucking annoying that this is still going on, why can't they make it globally available for everyone. Either make it easily available or people will simply pirate. The choice is simple.
WolvenSpectreOct 12th 2008 8:09AM
Well as a Canadian it doesn't work for me either, but remember this isn't CBS's fault, they only have rights to distribute in the US, and for example here in the "Great White North" those rights are often already held by CTV or Global and they stream them.
I wish the people that purchase the brodcasting and distribution rights for a region would partner up with each other and share the infrastructure costs and arrange local regional advertisments for the same stream.
If they don't wise up and start distributing this on a global internet basis soon people who control their content, mainly independant media will lap them and the old favourites and darlings of the media world will be left hard pressed to catch up as the independants attract a global fanbase where they are stuck with their smaller regional ones.
WolvenSpectreOct 12th 2008 8:09AM
Also it is ironic that a show, MacGyver, that is so Canadian that it supposedly surpassed the required CanCon (the standard for determining if a production has enough Canadian Content [ie number of Canadians on and off camera, the number of locations shot in Canada, etc] to qualify for govermental support or be classified as a show that Canadian broadcasters can use to count towards their required Canadian Content) can't be shown here in Canada on YouTube
Oh the Irony!
goobyOct 12th 2008 8:09AM
So really, all these just work in the US. Great. Just great.
mikoOct 12th 2008 8:09AM
itz simple, you can't buy usa products from the adverts so they won't let you see the videos.