There are those who think that Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) YouTube could be the second coming of cable TV. And, while those who say it don't necessarily know what the first coming of cable was like, they do have a point. Like cable, YouTube is starting in a financial hole with less-than-stellar programming. And, like cable, it's attracting both viewers and money.
"YouTube's revenue has grown dramatically," reported the San Jose Mercury News, pointing to financial losses that only recently ranged into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Once seen as a dead-end by Google employees, the YouTube segment is now viewed as "an attractive place to work, offering a less bureaucratic environment that lets them run with their ideas."
What this all means is a potential challenge for cable--or at least cable programmers.
"I think 995 of the next 1,000 TV channels will be created on YouTube," said YouTube's product management director Hunter Walk.
For more:
- the Columbus Dispatch has this story
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