YouTube Unveils New Channels and Consumer Trends Ahead of First-Ever Google Upfront

Brandcast Event in NYC to Demonstrate How Brand Marketers Can Reach Audiences Online with Google and YouTube

NEW YORK (May 2, 2012) - Today Google and YouTube host "Brandcast," the company's first-ever upfront event, in New York City. "Brandcast" will highlight YouTube's new original channels and opportunities for brands to reach diverse audiences on YouTube and right across Google, including demographics like women, teens, young men, and multicultural audiences. This is happening as online video consumption continues to grow, with three billion hours of video a month watched on YouTube by more than 800 million viewers around the world.

"At YouTube, we're not just re-imagining video - we're re-imagining brand-building on the web." said Google's VP for Global Video Sales, Lucas Watson. "The world's most important brands are increasingly looking to reach the diverse audiences YouTube attracts, which is why Unilever, Toyota, GM, and AT&T have already jumped on board and are building their brands alongside these new YouTube channels."

Ahead of the event, the company today announced additional YouTube channels, along with consumer trend research. New partners and channels include filmmakers Jon Avnet and Rodrigo Garcia, the U.S. Olympic Committee, collaborations between Tribeca Enterprises and Maker Studios, and a new show from Machinima and Halo Waypoint.

- New Partners and Channels -

YouTube welcomes filmmakers Jon Avnet (Black Swan, Fried Green Tomatoes, Risky Business) and Rodrigo Garcia (Albert Nobbs, In Treatment, Mother and Child), who have joined forces to create WIGS (youtube.com/wigs), a channel producing original, scripted dramatic series and short films about the lives of women. Virginia Madsen, Stephen Moyer, Caitlin Gerard, Jennifer Garner, Alfred Molina and Julia Stiles star in the first three series, with Jennifer Beals, America Ferrera, Dakota Fanning, Michael C. Hall, Alison Janney and other acclaimed actors starring in upcoming series. The content will also feature documentaries, behind-the-scenes videos, and other unscripted content, all starring female leads, and will launch in May.

Also coming to YouTube is the TeamUSA channel (youtube.com/teamusa) from the United States Olympic Committee, which will include original content featuring 2012 U.S. Olympians, hopefuls and legends from years' past, instruction from Olympic sport coaches, and historical Olympic Games footage. The channel will be sponsored by AT&T.

Tribeca Enterprises, the parent company of Tribeca Film Festival and the distribution label Tribeca Film, has teamed up with YouTube partner Maker Studios, to bring a new channel called The Picture Show to YouTube later this year.

And coming to YouTube this Fall on Machinima (youtube.com/machinima) and Halo Waypoint (youtube.com/halowaypoint) is Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, a new live action series that leads into the events of Halo 4.

The new channels announced today join a roster of YouTube original channels that includes Machinima, DanceOn, Nerdist, U look haute, the Warner Sound and more; and feature talent like Rainn Wilson, Amy Poehler, Jay-Z , Walter Latham, Electus, Jon M. Chu, The Onion, Justin Lin, and Participant Media.

"Content creators of all stripes, from super producers to talented up-and-comers, are creating the next generation of channels on YouTube," said Robert Kyncl, Global Head of Content for YouTube. "With top channels averaging more than one million views a week, they're attracting fans and developing robust content brands."

By the end of the July, there will be 25 hours of new original content on YouTube each day.

- Consumer Trends -

At "Brandcast," YouTube will also share highlights from "Generation V," a comprehensive YouTube study of consumer video trends, which reveals that men 18-34 are now spending more time streaming video than watching live TV, one third visit YouTube multiple times a day, half subscribe to a YouTube channel, and two thirds shared YouTube videos in the past week. It also finds that 40% of women 25-49 have subscribed to a YouTube channel, half shared a video this past week, and one third regularly share online video with their kids or parents.

"YouTube is a place where brands can have vibrant conversations with the people they want to reach," stated Jim Lecinski, VP, US Sales and Service for Google. "It's one of our cornerstone investments in making the web work for brand marketers. When you add the full reach of Google, across search, mobile, and the Google Display Network, and combine it with your TV campaigns, you can reach people across all four screens, at the moments that matter most to them."

About YouTube

YouTube is the world's largest online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch, and share original videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original-content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC, is based in San Bruno, California, and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.