Google has announced that it will soon add 100 new channels to its video website YouTube. These channels are being produced by some top-tier entertainers including Jay-Z, Ashton Kutcher, Shaquille O’Neal, and CSI creator Antony Zuiker.
There is really nothing surprising here. Google is on track to take over the world – or at least to unseat Howard Stern as the “king of all media.”
OK, all kidding aside, this looks like an opportunity for advertisers. These channels will need sponsors and who do you think they are going to go after? You, of course.
This is no time for cynicism. Many of these shows will be perfect places to advertise your business. For instance, if you sell medical products directly to consumers – particularly sports athletes – then Shaquille O’Neal’s channel could prove to be a profitable advertising medium. I hope you can see where I’m going with this.
YouTube channels have the potential to reach a larger audience than most TV and cable programs considering that it’s a global delivery system. Advertising will likely cost less per viewer than traditional TV advertising. So it looks like a win-win for advertisers and channel producers. I think the future of TV advertising could very well go by way of radio advertising in the late 20th century. It will develop into a small niche of its own.
