YouTube TV

Since 1927, television has evolved to become a main part of lives around the world, and continues to this day with newer technology- creating new ways to watch the programming you want to watch, whenever you want. In 2005, Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed Karim created the worldwide internet sensation of “YouTube,” where anyone could upload videos of whatever they want, whenever they want. Now, however, there is a growing argument of YouTube content and its place on TV.

This spur was created as part of the recent misunderstanding from popular late night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, as host Jimmy Kimmel had “unintentionally” insulted the idea of YouTube gaming by saying that this content was “dumb” and even “creating a generation of dummies.” From there, Kimmel received a major response from many gaming supporters, who felt people should be informed of the purpose and uses of certain YouTube content. With that, there has been an increasingly popularized idea of YouTube obtaining better treatment in the TV world, as compared to the huge publicity YouTube has given many television networks.

This has caused great discomfort for the television industry.  There has been a huge drop in ratings from Time Warner Cable, ComCast, and even big companies like DirecTV and Dish. All these companies are being beaten out of billions of viewers now, by many people who have switched to watching videos online that are either free or have small bills for commercial-free shows, like Hulu-Plus or Netflix. Though those who prefer cable to the internet for entertainment are still significantly high in comparison, although, no one can deny that the power and speed of the internet/YouTube content can spread faster than watching basic cable. People can like videos and share them with multiple social media sites where there is access for billions around the world. So why not include TV to the many places where all this content can be viewed?

Now, there have been many instances where YouTubers have made small parts in shows and movies: Fine Bros. Entertainment with their new show “Six Degrees of Everything” or Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla, better known as Smosh, who made their own movie, “Smosh: the movie.” It should be pointed out that these creators also work endlessly on their daily content of videos for their viewers that have millions of views. These videos are rapidly growing in popularity as compared with any television show or movie. So why don’t receive the same respect?

Although, some have gone to claim that too much of the content on YouTube would be too controversial or inappropriate for the public viewing; and some would be correct on certain channels or videos.  However, it would be best on both sides to allow the better parts of YouTube content on TV to capitalize on the high amount of views and entertainment value. Furthermore, it’s key to consider the major influence that YouTube has had on the world, both in the digital and the tangible one.

To form such a network would take many new measures to television, maybe a new channel for cable or a paid subscription channel like Cinemax or SHOWTIME. There are several compromisations that can go with many networks or production companies to create a new platform for television to incorporate entertainment that would bring a new way to view content for anyone. With an era of ground-breaking technology, bringing these two worlds together to bring an extremely large viewership for everyone would favor the entertainment industry as a whole.