WEBVTT - The YouTube Story Part Two 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:12.440 Text with technology with tech Stuff from stuff works dot com. 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:14.960 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I am your host, 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:19.000 Jonathan Strickland. I am an executive producer here at how 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:21.840 stuff Works and I love technology. And if you listened 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:24.920 in our last episode, I talked about the founding of 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.200 YouTube back in two thousand five and really only got 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.560 up as far as two thousand seven. It really didn't 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:35.520 take long for me to get through a full episodes 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:37.800 worth of material, although to be fair, I did backtrack 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:40.720 a bit to talk about the early days over at PayPal, 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:45.160 because the founders of YouTube started at PayPal. But those 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:49.239 first two years of YouTube, we're incredibly important. Around that 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:53.239 same time YouTube emerged from beta, there were dozens of 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:55.720 other sites that were trying to become the home for 0:00:55.840 --> 0:01:00.000 web streaming video. But YouTube's conversion tools made it really 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.200 easy to upload files, meaning that the site can handle 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.839 several different file formats, and it took all the work 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.399 of converting those into the format that YouTube was using 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:12.960 to display them on the web all on its own, 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:17.399 so users didn't have to worry about having their video 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:21.720 forms files in a specific format. YouTube could accept just 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.680 about anything, or at least several of the major ones 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:28.600 in that time. So YouTube became a big player in 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.679 the space, ultimately becoming big enough for Google to swoop 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.840 in and buy the company for the princely some of 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:39.720 one point six five billion dollars. Well by two thousand seven, 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:43.160 Google owned the company and fun tidbit. The deal to 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.360 purchase YouTube was apparently done in the parking lot of 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:49.720 a Denny's. That's according to Gideon You, who had worked 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.840 at Yahoo before moving over to become YouTube's first chief 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:56.040 financial officer. Yeahoo had also been one of the early 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.600 suitors for YouTube, so imagine how different things would have 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.520 been if that deal had gone through. Now, one of 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.760 YouTube's three founders, Joe Ed Kareem, had left the company 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:10.200 by the time Google was acquiring it, the remaining to 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:14.120 Steve Chen and Chad Hurley stayed on with YouTube. In fact, 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:18.000 Chad Hurley was the CEO of the company and remained 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:22.920 so until Steve Chen was YouTube's chief technology officer, and 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:27.120 both founders would stay with YouTube till now. One thing 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:30.280 I left out of the last episode was that time 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:34.760 Magazine had used YouTube's user interface design in its Person 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.320 of the Year issue. Now you might remember this. That 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:40.919 was the year when you were named Person of the 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.560 Year and and no, not not you specifically, but the 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:46.800 you in the general sense. I think what the magazine 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:50.360 was getting at was that user generated content was becoming 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.760 a powerful force in the online world. Suddenly you had 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:57.200 platforms like YouTube that were able to give average people 0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:59.880 the opportunity to make their voices heard to the war 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.120 at large, and it suddenly seemed possible for a young 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:07.600 storyteller to bypass the traditional pitfall filled path of finding 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:12.120 success with a direct conduit to an audience. Of course, 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:15.160 this was also in a time before hundreds of hours 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:19.359 of content joined YouTube's platform every single minute, which made 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.240 it increasingly difficult for any one piece of content to 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:25.880 be discovered on the platform. But we'll talk about that 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.560 more later. In March two thousand seven, YouTube announced it 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:33.080 would honor the best user created videos on its site 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:36.920 with a special awards ceremony, and they launched the YouTube 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:42.880 Video Awards, with nominees curated by YouTube itself. Users had 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.880 the opportunity to vote on their favorites, but they couldn't 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.440 just nominate anything. They could only vote on the ones 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:53.880 that the company nominated. Categories included most Creative, most Inspirational, 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:59.400 Best Series, Best Comedy, Musician of the Year, Best Commentary, 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:04.920 and Most Adorable Video Ever. Winners of those first awards 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:08.840 included Aska Ninja for Best Series and Okay Goes Video 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.080 for Here It Goes Again for most creative That's the 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:16.000 video with all the treadmills. YouTube would hold a similar 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.240 awards event the following year, and then it just sort 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.640 of quietly vanished after two thousand eight. YouTube would later 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:25.839 launch an award show specifically for music videos, and they 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:30.440 held that event in but mostly the company sat back 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:34.440 and let numerous other organizations step in to take over 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:38.640 the awards game. See also the Webbies, the stream E's, 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:44.039 the Online Video Awards, and more. YouTube helped legitimize user 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:48.479 created content, and they turned it into an industry. Not 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:51.000 everything was worth putting money behind, but there were more 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.599 than a few creators who stuck struck a chord with 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:57.120 their respective audiences, and they got tons of views as 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:59.920 a result and actually began to make a living once 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.599 YouTube allowed them to monetize those videos. Because in the 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.599 early days, just because you had a video that was 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.479 getting lots of traction didn't mean you were making any money. 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:11.560 You couldn't serve up and add against it for a 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:16.159 while until until YouTube started to create the partners program. 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:20.719 Early on, YouTube was working with larger outlets like established 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:24.279 media outlets, and gradually they began to also partner with 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:28.480 individuals and made two thousand seven, something truly historic happened. 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:32.720 Prankster's on four Chan, which some have described as the 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:36.240 Internet equivalent of moss Eisley. In other words, it's a 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:39.840 hive of scum and villainy, began a meme that occasionally 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:42.799 still pops up today, more than a decade later, although 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:45.840 it's not as frequent as it was and it's heyday. 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.840 That meme was to drop a link to a specific 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:52.760 YouTube video, but you would claim it was showing something 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:54.640 that would get a lot of point folks to to 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.400 click on the video. You you would make up something. 0:05:57.440 --> 0:05:59.039 Maybe you would say it was supposed to be the 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:03.000 trailer to an anticipated video game. So, for example, in 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.480 the early days, one of the claims was, oh, this 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.839 link will take you to a trailer for Grand Theft 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:11.280 Auto four, Or you might say that it was a 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.839 video of a famous person in a compromising situation, but 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.000 what the link actually sent you to was someone who 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:20.320 was there to let you know he's never gonna give 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.200 you up. He's never gonna let you down, He's never 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.240 going to run around and hurt you. Yep. Made two 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:30.800 thousand seven, just two years after YouTube had even entered 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:35.160 into beta, we got the first rick roll. That's how 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:40.280 old that joke is. YouTube branched out beyond the United States. 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:43.240 In two thousand seven, the company launched its service in 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:47.280 nine countries, including the United Kingdom, and the company also 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.680 formed a partnership with E M I, which used to 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:52.719 be a thing. In fact, it used to be a 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:57.719 really big thing. E M I was a conglomerate, so 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.640 it's a group of various record labels and collectively it 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:05.159 was the fourth largest record company in the world. E 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:07.960 M I was a powerful traditional media company back in 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:10.520 two thousand seven, and just a few years later it 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:14.640 would find itself billions of dollars in debt, and ultimately 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:18.240 it was sold off in various chunks to other companies 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:22.160 like City Group, Vivendi's Universal Music Group, and as well 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:24.560 as a business owned by Sony and a TV. But 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:28.920 in two thousand seven, this was a really big partnership. 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:33.040 In July two thousand seven, YouTube gained even more mainstream 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:37.480 attention when it partnered with CNN to host a presidential debate. 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:41.240 Citizens in the United States were invited to submit video 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.640 questions for the debate, and the July debate was for 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:47.480 nominees in the US Democratic Party, so it was the 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:52.360 Democratic hopefuls for the candidacy of president. The Republican presidential 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.880 debate also aired on YouTube, but that happened later in November. 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:59.960 The following year, two thousand eight, seven of the sixteen 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:04.360 presidential hopefuls had created videos for YouTube announcing their campaigns, 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:08.920 so it was the beginning of the politically savvy recognizing 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.520 YouTube as a way of reaching out to their potential constituents. 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:17.280 According to The Telegraph, YouTube began receiving ten hours worth 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:20.800 of video every minute. Today that number is more like 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:26.240 four hundred hours uploaded every minute. It's literally impossible to 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:28.800 watch everything on YouTube because by the time you finished 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:32.880 watching even a short video, hundreds or even thousands of 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:36.680 other videos have joined the platform. Now, I mostly say 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:38.560 this to get it out of the way, since otherwise 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:41.760 this episode and the next one would have every other 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.920 fact be a boost in the number of hours uploaded 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.440 every minute. I'd say, well, by now it was forty 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.640 hours every minute or eighty hours every minute, and that 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.280 just gets tedious. I'll in some episodes with some other 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:57.400 interesting statistics about YouTube usage, but for now, let's get 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:00.280 back to the history of the company. Before are we 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.480 say goodbye to two thousand seven. I thought it might 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:06.360 be fun to mention some of the videos that got 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.360 the most traction that year, and I'll do this for 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.360 the following years as well. At the tail end of 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.800 the year, the first episode of Drunk History went up 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.080 on YouTube, and if you're not familiar with the concept, 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:23.360 inebriated people, typically comedians, tried to relate some moment of 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:27.280 historical significance to the host of the show, and their 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:31.240 stories are inner cut with re enactments of that historical event, 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:35.800 with characters lips sinking to the voiceover to comedic effect. 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:40.040 It's actually a pretty funny series. One infamous video that 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:45.120 went up that year was the Leave Brittany Alone video clip, 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:49.720 in which Chris Crocker tearfully admonished the press for hounding 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:54.600 his beloved Brittney Spears. Numerous parodies of his video would follow. 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.840 Will Ferrell got a lot of views with a sketch 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.360 that went up on YouTube the Landlord Sketch, in which 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.920 he faced off against a very young, very tiny landlord 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:07.520 who took no crap. This was also the year that 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:12.400 Andrew Meyer gave us the phrase don't taze me bro oh. 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:15.240 And in two thousand seven, we also learned about a 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:20.080 particular type of precipitation a k a. Chocolate rain thanks 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:23.680 to Mr tezon Day. The video from that year which 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:27.520 has received the most views over time is I'm a 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:31.000 Gummy Bear, which I had never heard of before, and 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.880 yet it is the most viewed video from two thousand 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.640 seven over time, not necessarily just within that year. It's 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:41.160 a novelty song. Uh. It's received more than one billion 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:43.880 views at this point, although it took a long time 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:47.640 for it to accrue that many. Oh. Also in two 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:51.280 thousand seven, before I finish, one other thing happened, a 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:55.040 baby named Charlie bit a kid's finger. In two thousand eight, 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:59.880 YouTube formed partnerships with big media companies like CBS, MGM, 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.240 and lions Gate in an effort to become more of 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:06.400 a competitor in branded entertainment. YouTube was trying to compete 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:10.400 against a rising star in branded media online called Hulu. 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:13.800 Later on it would be Hulu and Netflix, and then 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:17.880 later still Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Video. The agreement allowed 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:21.920 these various studios to upload full length films or television 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:26.599 shows onto YouTube. They could serve the videos up alongside advertisements, 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.959 and the videos appeared in a category called shows that 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.080 would appear on the homepage, so you could just click 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.240 on the show's tab and see the things that were 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:37.280 up for offer. This feature was originally only available in 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:39.760 the United States. And when I say it was served 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:42.520 up against ads, a lot of those were static ads 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.160 that were actually on the page on YouTube. They weren't 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:49.320 video ads incorporated into the video the way they are today. 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.400 And this was really an attempt for YouTube to make 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:55.880 more revenue from its service. The company had found it 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.120 challenging to serve up ads against short videos, and it 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.400 found fuel to renatives to generating revenue. In fact, according 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:05.120 to many sources, the cost of bandwidth and storing all 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:08.199 those videos in the first place was much more than 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:11.200 the revenue generated by the company. It was a money 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:15.559 losing proposition. Some people even say that some of that 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:19.400 was hidden from Google during the acquisition process in order 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:22.080 to try and sweeten the deal as much as possible, 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.640 although I've not seen anything to really back up those 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:30.200 claims with facts. Also in two thousand eight, YouTube was 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:34.960 awarded a Peabody Now the Peabody Awards, named after philanthropist 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:39.240 George Peabody, are meant to honor powerful and enlightening stories 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:43.520 in media like television and radio. YouTube received a Peabody 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:46.600 in two thousand eight because the site's design allowed users 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.679 around the world to upload video directly to the platform 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:53.960 bypassing other hurdles, and thus the Peabody Awards said that 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:58.479 YouTube was promoting democracy by giving voices to the voiceless. 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:02.319 Over the summer of two thousand eight, hardware manufacturers began 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:07.000 to incorporate YouTube directly into their products. The Sony Bravia 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.840 television set released in June two thousand eight, had a 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:13.079 YouTube feature incorporated into it, giving Bravia owners the option 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.000 to watch YouTube videos directly on their television sets. In July, 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.400 Tvo followed suit and built YouTube functionality into its digital 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:25.200 video recorders. In December two thousand eight, YouTube launched a 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:28.520 new landing page for high definition video. The company had 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:31.319 been rolling out HD video capabilities over the course of 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.200 about a month, and went live with this new landing 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:37.120 page in mid December. This change also meant that the 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.480 video players appearance was a little different. It was now 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:43.400 in widescreen format. Of course, streaming video and HD means 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:46.520 sending more data over the Internet, which also means more 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:50.720 expensive bandwidth bills. The earliest implementation saw HD at seven 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.400 twenty resolution. Later on the following year, in two thousand nine, 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.559 YouTube would bump that up to ten a DP resolution. 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:02.080 So which videos were people watching in two thousand and eight, 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:04.960 While there was Star Wars? According to a three year old, 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:08.480 that was a popular video in which an unspeakably adorable 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.280 little girl attempted to explain what Star Wars is all 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.000 about and pretty much gets it right as far as 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:18.600 I'm concerned, people started watching a video channel featuring a 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:23.920 character called Fred Figglehorn, a high pitched, manic, little child 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:28.520 character played by not a little child person. His frantic 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:30.840 video struck a chord, and in the following year his 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.239 channel would become the first to hit one million subscribers 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.920 on YouTube. I didn't really get the appeal because I 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.560 found it a little too manic and high pitched and crazy, 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:44.160 and I'm old. A video in which two people froze 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:46.960 in place at New York City's Grand Central Station, got 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.920 a ton of views, and it also helped push the 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.880 concept of flash mobs into the public consciousness, So you 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.440 have that to blame partially. Thankfully, we've mostly moved on 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.520 from that idea at this point, and those were the 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.200 big ones for two thousand and eight. Now I've got 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:07.760 a lot more to say about these middle years of YouTube, 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.240 but before I jump into the next section, let's take 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:19.640 a quick break to thank our sponsor. In early two 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:23.880 thousand nine, US President Barack Obama launched a YouTube channel. 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:27.360 A few weeks later, the Pope launched one. YouTube was 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:30.760 quickly becoming an outlet for leaders, celebrities, and others to 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:34.040 speak to a potentially large global audience, and it was 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:36.800 a way to become related relatable to the average person, 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:39.680 or at least the average person who was using YouTube. 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.480 In April two thousand nine, YouTube signed an agreement with 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:48.800 Vivendi to create a music videos service called Vivo. Vivo 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:52.640 would distribute official music videos on YouTube in an effort 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.760 to sidestep the piracy issues companies had encountered over the 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.960 last few years. So you can actually watch official music 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:02.320 videos in instead of seeing someone who had shot a 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.640 video off of their television or otherwise pirated the content 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:08.680 and uploaded it under their own channel, and it gave 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:13.680 people an authorized source for that kind of content. According 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:17.600 to Fast Company, YouTube was serving up more than one 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.600 billion video views per day by October two thousand nine, 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:26.440 but also according to various sources, at this point, YouTube 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:29.960 still had yet to turn a profit. Fast Company sites 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.360 analysts who estimated YouTube and earned about two hundred forty 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.760 million dollars from ad revenue in two thousand nine, which 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.400 is a healthy chunk of change, no doubt about it, 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:43.800 But those same analysts said that YouTube's expenses in storing 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:47.840 and streaming that video were probably closer to seven hundred 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:51.880 million dollars, So spending seven hundred million to make two 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:57.960 hundred forty million yikes. But don't worry, there's always money 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:01.960 in the banana stand. Also in October two nine, the 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:06.199 British broadcast channel Channel four not part of the BBC, 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:09.720 but Channel four, signed a deal with YouTube that had 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:13.040 the streaming service offering up full length episodes of Channel 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:16.800 four shows shortly after they aired on television. The deal 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:20.960 involved an undisclosed ad revenue sharing deal. And was set 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.840 to last for three years. YouTube said it was the 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:26.880 first deal that saw a broadcaster engage in a comprehensive 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:30.880 catch up TV strategy on the platform, and the first 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:34.480 episodes found their way onto YouTube in early so catch 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:38.880 up TV. The concept is that you can see the 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.239 episodes that you would have missed otherwise, maybe you were 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:43.680 out of the house, you didn't have a DVR. It's 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:46.520 a pretty simple concept, but it was a big deal 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.119 for this to happen back in two thousand nine. It 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:51.760 actually set the stage for that happening on a grander 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:56.880 scale later on. Also included shows like Peep Show, which 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:01.160 stars Mitchell and Webb, two of my favorite comedians from England. 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.159 All right, so, some of the videos they got a 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:09.840 lot of us in two thousand nine included Okay goes here, 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.040 Here he goes again. Treadmill video. That one got a 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:13.760 lot of us in two thousand nine, even though it 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.080 previously had had a debuted, but it was one that 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:18.800 really struck a chord. It was one of those that 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.280 kind of it was almost like a sleeper video that 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.600 took off a while after it had hit YouTube, and 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:27.239 it really set a bar for the band that they 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.080 have surpassed a few times. Since then, they've become known 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:35.560 for their very creative and sometimes heads scratching, lee complicated 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:39.439 music videos. Another popular one from two thousand nine was 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:43.359 Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. You might remember her 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:46.440 singing a song from Laby Zarabla that brought the house down. 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:50.320 We also got to enjoy the effects of anesthetic on 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:54.520 a young kid in the video David after dentist. That 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:56.640 kid by this point as a teenager, and I wonder 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:58.840 if he still gets plagued by people saying how many 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:02.639 fingers do you have? They Avid? Another popular video featured 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:06.520 a couple named Jill and Kevin, and they danced down 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:08.840 the wedding aisle with their entire wedding party in a 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:13.280 choreographed number. They ended up inspiring tons of other videos 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:20.600 and an episode of the Office. So, I mean, who 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.800 can ask for more? You get married and do the 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:26.639 way you take the aisle ends up becoming a plot 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:32.080 point for a hit sitcom. That's pretty impressive, So let's 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:35.520 move on up to two thousand ten. In January of 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:39.000 that year, YouTube first began to offer up movies for 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:42.879 rent on its service. This put it into more direct 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:47.720 competition with services like Netflix, Hulu, and iTunes. YouTube began 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.120 with movies that were getting buzz at the Sundance Film Festival, 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:53.399 opening up the chance for people to see movies that 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:56.040 they might not otherwise get a chance to see if 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.320 they didn't get a wide theatrical release. The service would 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:03.200 gradually grow to include more mainstream films, and in fact, 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:05.200 you can still do this today. You can rent films 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:07.359 on YouTube, although I find that a lot of people 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.200 aren't aware of that. They just didn't even realize that 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.920 that was a service that was available on YouTube. YouTube 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:17.800 implemented a site redesign in March, the first of several. 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:21.520 Really their goal was to try and keep visitors on 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:26.080 the YouTube platform longer, because if you stay longer, you 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:30.359 watch more videos. Watching more videos meant generating more AD revenue. 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:34.199 The redesign removed some clutter from the homepage, reducing the 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:38.120 number of links visible on the screen by half. There 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:41.159 were new playlist tools that were designed to help users 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.439 binge videos and hop around more easily, so they'd have 0:20:44.560 --> 0:20:47.600 fewer reasons to just bounce after watching a video, and 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:51.280 YouTube also simplified the way you would rank videos so 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.960 you might not remember this, but back in the old 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.159 days at YouTube, you can actually give a video a 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:59.639 rank between one and five stars. But starting with that 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:03.560 red design, that was reduced to a simple like or dislike, 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:09.000 thumbs up or thumbs down. And YouTube's response, you know 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:12.080 why did they do this? They said that the vast 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:18.359 majority of ranks on YouTube videos were either five stars 0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:20.920 or one star. People either said this is the best 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:23.680 thing that's ever been uploaded to the Internet, or this 0:21:23.760 --> 0:21:26.679 is a garbage fire of the video clip and no 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:29.440 one should ever watch it. There were very few in between, 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:32.600 and so Google said, well, everyone saying it's either five 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:34.960 or one, let's just do thumbs up or thumbs down. 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:38.120 Make this simple. So that's what they did. That same 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:41.600 year saw Dan Savage launch a campaign to help teens 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:44.119 in the l g t b Q community deal with 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:48.120 anxiety and depression, offering up advice and counsel for those 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:50.960 being bullied because of who they are. That was called 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:53.679 the It Gets Better campaign and marked one of the 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:57.159 more visible and shared online campaigns up to that point. 0:21:57.840 --> 0:22:01.040 YouTube would also play a part in a larger online 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:05.879 phenomenon tied to a real world conflict. This was the 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:09.639 Arab Spring, which technically began at the very end of 0:22:10.840 --> 0:22:13.160 Most of the events of the Arab Spring would take 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:18.359 place throughout two thousand eleven uh from to two thousand twelve. 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.200 These events were unfolding, with most of them again being 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:26.040 in twenty eleven, but there were various protests and demonstrations 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:29.000 in Arabic nations in the Middle East and North Africa 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:32.159 that we're all part of this Arab Spring. It began 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:34.840 in Tunisia and spread from there as people throughout the 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:38.280 region began to resist what they saw as oppressive regimes. 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:41.879 Online platforms like YouTube served as an outlet for people 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.479 in those countries to tell their stories to the larger world. 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:49.119 Others included Twitter and Facebook, which were really instrumental for 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:52.360 that purpose. An event that shook things up at YouTube 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:57.040 was Chad Hurley stepping down as CEO. The co founder 0:22:57.040 --> 0:22:59.440 of the site had been in a leadership position since 0:22:59.480 --> 0:23:02.919 before the Google acquisition. Hurley moved to a more supporting 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:08.240 advisory role and Solar Commander stepped in to become the 0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:12.440 new CEO of the company. Now, Commander came from Google. 0:23:12.520 --> 0:23:16.160 In fact, he was employee number nine over at Google. 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:19.720 He had graduated from Stanford university, and he had a 0:23:19.760 --> 0:23:23.680 degree in biological sciences, which I admit is not exactly 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:28.040 the field i'd expect for a tech company executive to possess. 0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:31.639 I'm not exactly sure. I'd love to hear more about 0:23:31.680 --> 0:23:34.480 his story to find out how he was pulled into 0:23:34.480 --> 0:23:37.719 Google and what his contributions were. I mean, I assume 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:41.520 he also had a lot of education in other sciences 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:45.280 to make him a very valuable addition to Google's team, 0:23:45.440 --> 0:23:49.080 especially to become employee number nine. The biological sciences doesn't 0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:51.280 really jump to mind when I think of Google the 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:54.159 search engine. He would remain CEO of YouTube for a 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:56.480 few years. He would step down to take more of 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:58.960