YouTube Goes Long

Posted on October 10, 2008

YouTube has announced that it will begin playing full episodes of tv shows, not just clips. There will be ads embedded before, during and after the episodes.

Executives at the Google-owned property said the decision to break from the site's traditional emphasis on short video clips was based on demand from its own user base and the fact that long form Web viewing has proven popular on other sites such as ABC.com. YouTube has been quietly exceeding it's previous nine-minutes-or-less limit for video length by offering several documentaries and excerpts from political debates, and it's users have responded positively, said officials.

"This is about giving the community what they want, said Jordan Hoffner, YouTube's director of content partnerships, YouTube "Plus, we're not blind to the growth of long form on other sites."

AdWeek says Hoffner would not comment on whether YouTube's move into streaming shows was a result of Hulu's recent success.

At first the deal with CBS only includes older shows such as the old 90210 and Star Trek. It will have new shows from Showtime such as Dexter and Californication. YouTube is really late to this party. We like to watch on Hulu.com -- it has the best interface for watching full episodes of current shows with minimal commercial interruptions.

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