NewFront News and Views: YouTube's Smart TV Highway

Venue amp160Radio City Music Hall the annual site of NBCNBCUniversal39s Upfront next Monday and where MTV will return late summer for its Video Music Awardsamp160 Few venues of this grandeur more than 5000 seats surpass Radio City when it comes to stagecraft and cuttingedge graphic displaysamp160 Popcorn and soda as in whole bottles were distributed among attendees en route to their seatsamp160and monitors were set up around the lobby for latecomers amp160Grade 5 JacksPresentationamp160 Previously YouTube would operate its showcase like a variety hour opening performance or video followed by remarks then a celebrity guest spot and so forthamp160 In a radical departure some might conclude gamble the format came off like a twoact playamp160 Act One consisted of announcements testimonials and videos roughly 45 minutes with Act Two largely one big round of performancesamp160 The opening portion could have induced many on hand to groan and didn39t thanks to the balance of YouTube executive patter and videosamp160 Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki stressed two pointsamp160in particularamp160 First the YouTubewatching universe of smart TV sets and TVconnected devices is now a force to be servedamp160amp160Second being a content carrier open to all creators and platforms carries great responsibilityamp160 quotThere isn39t a playbook for how open platforms operate at our scalequot she acknowledgedamp160 quotBut the way I think about itamp160is it39s critical that we are on the right side of historyquotamp160amp160Grade 4 JacksNewsamp160amp160The unscripted original programming movement that kicked off the last Brandcast will expand over the coming months after the first batch of originals elicited more than 700 million viewsamp160amp160Best Shot a highschool basketball documentary series from LeBron James will be an early addition to the YouTube Originals lineup along with If I Could Tell You Just One Thing inspirational advice forum with Quantico star Priyanka Chopraamp160and Training Days soccer training satire with Jack Whitehall sponsored by Wendy39samp160 Will Smith currently involved with One Strange Rock on National Geographic will celebrate his birthday September 25 with The Jump Off a live special where he will bungee jump from a helicopter over the Grand Canyon amp160Grade 35 JacksHosts amp160Wojcicki and Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl handled the firsthalf proceedings in comfortable fashion while YouTube celebrity Tyler Oakley pictured above moved the second half along amp160Grade 35 JacksStar Timeamp160 A set of allout music and dance montages featuring a group of YouTube personalities from Postmodern Jukebox to Lia Kim pumped the place up with substantial help from Radio City39s graphics and technical crewsamp160 That gave way to super talent on the rise Camila Cabello pictured below singing her chartbusting hit quotHavanaquot and a threesong closing set from superstar Ariana Grandeamp160 In between The Daily Show host Trevor Noah thanked Kanye West for providing a new source of humor while comedianactress Anna Akana star of current YouTube Red dramedy Youth ampamp Consequences documented how YouTube has increased the media spotlight of AsianAmericansamp160 quotI no longer had to be frustrated by the lack of diversity on the screen because now I had the opportunity to write and produce the authentic stories I wanted to tellquot she saidamp160 quotThere is no glass ceilingamp160 There is no suit telling me there are no bankable Asian stars and no bit partsquot amp160Grade 5 JacksCuisineamp160 Great eats abounded at the Rockefeller Center skating rinkquartered after party amp8230 when you could get to the foodamp160 The placement of the food stations inside the rink caused a traffic jam and long wait timesamp160 Unfortunately people were not directed to other less crowded food stands in the center concourse hallwaysamp160 Best eats cold sesame noodles mushroom poboy sandwiches and Cubano sandwich bitesamp160 Worst eats the tater tots amp160Grade 4 Jacks for the food 15 Jacks for the layout amp160Note Cuisine ratings does not figure in the overall Jacks scoreData Insight amp160More than 18 billion people log onto YouTube every month consuming over 150 million hours every day via smart TV setsTVconnected devicesamp160 Seven out of every tenamp160YouTube viewers catch what they watch over those sets or devices Grade 4 JacksInnovative Opportunity amp160National advertisers will be able to place spots on YouTube TV the monthly channelbundling subscription service now operating in more than 100 US markets amp160Grade 3 JacksOverall Grade 45 Jacksamp160amp160The new approach generally scoredamp160 YouTube put its mantra and announcements way up front then let the audience enjoy an almost nonstop performance tidal waveOur Jacks scoring system amp1605 Jacks amp160Excellent 4 Jacks Very Good 3 Jacks amp160Good 2 Jacks amp160Fair 1 Jack amp160Poor 0 Jacks Donamp8217t go thereClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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NewFront News and Views: YouTube's Smart TV Highway

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Simon Applebaum

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

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NewFront News and Views: YouTube's Smart TV Highway

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Simon Applebaum

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

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