# YouTube Is the Sleeping Giant of Livestreaming



## tivonaute (May 6, 2015)

Hopefully someone from the product management team will read it:

http://www.wired.com/2015/08/youtube-sleeping-giant-livestreaming/

THE FIRST GAME of the German soccer season kicked off on Friday. Bayern Munich vs. Hamburg, 8:30 pm Munich time. This game was a big one: It marked the new season, and the beginning of a new partnership between the Bundesliga league and Fox Sports. It also was on YouTube, broadcast for free all over the world.

At kickoff, there were 2,735 people glued to the stream, many of them also furiously typing trash talk and xenophobia into the running chat on the right side of the screen. (Its just like being there!) During the game, the stream was basically perfect. Only 720p (lame), but was perfect.

Soccer fans shouldnt get used to the treatmentthe YouTube stream was a one-off from Fox Sports, promoting its new property as the season begins. But its the latest indicator that YouTube is beginning to take livestreaming seriously. So far, the Internets biggest video site has stood silently as Periscope, Meerkat, and countless rumored products from Facebook have made livestreaming video into a powerful new medium. But YouTube has the infrastructure and the audience, and now its deciding to focus on live video. Its the sleeping giant of livestreaming, and its finally waking up.

Broadly speaking, we think about YouTube being synonymous with video, Manuel Bronstein says. Bronstein is the head of product for consumershes in charge of everything that impacts how creators and viewers use the platform. He wants YouTube to be suited to every kind of video, whether its the latest Taylor Swift epic or the recent Dota e-sports championships. The platform is forever expanding: YouTube is making an app for kids, a music service, an app for gamers, and presumably many others. Its getting into 360-degree video, 8K video, and more. And live is a big part of the plan. Live has alway been a part of video, Bronstein says. And its actually always a very exciting part!


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Perhaps Google will release a service akin to Sling TV or Playstation Vue that works via YouTube. If that happened then it would work with TiVo already, since TiVo has a YouTube app.

In fact we know Apple is poised to release a service like this soon, so I'd be willing to bet we see one from Google too. They always seem to be in tight competition.


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## tivonaute (May 6, 2015)

It would have to be a different app. The current youtube app can not even play live streams - http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=531477 . We would need a program guide for live streams and DVR functionality. Tivo, are you listening ? Have you had a conversation with your Youtube partner yet ?


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## mrizzo80 (Apr 17, 2012)

tivonaute said:


> It would have to be a different app. The current youtube app can not even play live streams - http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=531477 . We would need a program guide for live streams and DVR functionality. Tivo, are you listening ? Have you had a conversation with your Youtube partner yet ?


Are you sure that is a technical limitation of the app and not the channel owner preventing the stream from playing on televisions?


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## tivonaute (May 6, 2015)

mrizzo80 said:


> Are you sure that is a technical limitation of the app and not the channel owner preventing the stream from playing on televisions?


If you read the linked post it says the streams play fine on PS3. I also tested Roku and it worked fine. TiVo's youtube app has always been wonky compared to other streaming devices. I would bring in the person from Roku for a small consulting gig. They are practically next door.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

As far as I know the YouTube app on TiVo is developed and maintained by Google. It's essentially the same HTML5 app used by most Smart TVs. Google might do special apps for Roku and PS3, that could be why they support live streams.


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## tivonaute (May 6, 2015)

Dan203 said:


> As far as I know the YouTube app on TiVo is developed and maintained by Google. It's essentially the same HTML5 app used by most Smart TVs. Google might do special apps for Roku and PS3, that could be why they support live streams.


If this is the case, then maybe TiVo should do the same and ask for a new app. Google is known for a quick turnaround on these things. There is no reason not to have this functionality.


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