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YouTube Adds Full-Length Television Shows

Posted by timothy on from the what-about-magnum-pi-and-square-pegs? dept.

thefickler writes "YouTube has moved to put full-length television shows on its site for the first time. Historically, YouTube has hosted a bewildering and attractive variety of video clips, the vast majority of which have been under ten minutes in length. YouTube has announced that it had finalized a deal with CBS to offer shows such as Star Trek, MacGyver, Beverly Hills 90210, and The Young and the Restless. I can't wait to watch The Young and the Restless!"

28 of 197 comments (clear)

  1. Still using Flash by Daengbo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd like to see Google switch over to the video tag and a free codec. That would make everything perfect.

    --
    Put identity in the browser.
    1. Re:Still using Flash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I don't disagree that I would like to see that happen, but think about it from the perspective from someone who works at GooTube and wants to keep that job: would it really make sense to switch to a brand-new standard only supported by [let's be generous] 25% of the market?

      Ok, you may respond, why not maintain two parallel versions of the site: one for legacy users and one for browsers that support the new standards? And to that I say, it's a little bit hard to go to management and ask for the resources and time to implement a second parallel version of a service that already works splendidly well.

      I would be just as happy as you if YouTube started offering video streams in other formats and other access methods. Until they do, though, I'll continue watching their FLV streams directly with VLC. The newly-released 0.9.2 even has a Lua scriptlet specifically designed to allow you to drop a YouTube URL directly into the playlist.

      Not good, but good enough. At least you don't need Flash.

    2. Re:Still using Flash by Daengbo · · Score: 4, Informative

      MPEG-4 contains patented technologies that require licensing in countries that acknowledge software patents. Patents covering MPEG-4 are claimed by over two dozen companies. The MPEG Licensing Authority[1] licenses patents required for MPEG-4 Part 2 Visual from a wide range of companies (audio is licensed separately) and lists all of its licensors and licensees on the site. New licenses for MPEG-4 System patents are under development[2] and no new licenses are being offered while holders of its old MPEG-4 Systems license are still covered under the terms of that license for the patents listed (MPEG LA â" Patent List). AT&T is trying to sue companies such as Apple Inc. over alleged MPEG-4 patent infringement.[3] The terms of Apple's Quicktime 7 license for users[4] describes in paragraph 14 the terms under Apple's existing MPEG-4 System Patent Portfolio license from MPEGLA.[1]

      No, it's not.

      --
      Put identity in the browser.
    3. Re:Still using Flash by MasterOfMagic · · Score: 4, Informative

      No, but Theora and Dirac are. Theora is from the Xiph open source community (the same people that do cdparanoia, FLAC, Speex, and Vorbis). The FSF has recommended its use along with Vorbis audio for some time now. Dirac is from the BBC.

    4. Re:Still using Flash by Talderas · · Score: 4, Funny

      However, seeing as though they will be showing MacGyver, Google will only have a paper clip, post-it notes, and 4 bullet casings to complete the objective.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
  2. As a non-american... by Tx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...Hulu sucks, since it won't stream outside the USA. No mention in the article as to whether YouTube will add regional restrictions on these full-length shows, but let's hope they can convince the studios otherwise. If not, well, bittorrent works just fine.

    --
    Oh no... it's the future.
    1. Re:As a non-american... by FireFury03 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Does anyone seriously want to watch full length TV shows in a tiny box in their browser in crumby YouTube quality?!

      --
      http://blog.nexusuk.org
    2. Re:As a non-american... by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Informative

      This is region-locked the US also.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
    3. Re:As a non-american... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes.

    4. Re:As a non-american... by kentrel · · Score: 5, Informative

      Youtube offer better-than-TV resolution. Check out their high-quality option, which you can view full screen.

    5. Re:As a non-american... by dosius · · Score: 4, Informative

      The videos are still encoded to 480x360 at the most. That's hardly "better than TV".

      -uso.

      --
      What you hear in the ear, preach from the rooftop Matthew 10.27b
    6. Re:As a non-american... by Tx · · Score: 5, Informative

      Hate replying to my myself, but went to find one of these full-length Trek episodes, clicked on it: "This video is not available in your country". So much for that.

      --
      Oh no... it's the future.
    7. Re:As a non-american... by FireFury03 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Youtube offer better-than-TV resolution. Check out their high-quality option, which you can view full screen.

      If you say so... I have yet to see a YouTube video encoded anywhere close to 768x576 (SDTV resolution), and resolution aside, they don't come close to broadcast quality from the encoding point of view either.

      In an era when people are interested in HDTV (1920x1080), making a big deal about a crappy sub-SDTV streaming service seems a bit nuts.

      (Note: I'm not one who believes in bothering with HDTV for most stuff - maybe nature programmes, etc, but certainly not worthwhile for anything with a story - but I do draw the line at watching significant amounts of YouTube quality TV).

      --
      http://blog.nexusuk.org
    8. Re:As a non-american... by lufo · · Score: 3, Funny

      Does anyone seriously want to watch full length TV shows in a tiny box in their browser in crumby YouTube quality?!

      What else can you do during your boss' lunch time?

    9. Re:As a non-american... by EvilMonkeySlayer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Don't be so obtuse.

      If you haven't noticed the BBC isn't ad sponsored, it's UK license fee paid. How are they meant to cover the costs of international streaming? Youtube does streaming of their video internationally paid for by advertising with a well built back-end that can handle it.

      Comparing the BBC's iPlayer license fee paid service to the ad-sponsored Youtube is like comparing Apples and Oranges.

    10. Re:As a non-american... by FireFury03 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Which is why I watch YouTube on my TV. I installed a GreaseMonkey Script that will send the URL of a YouTube video to Xbox Media Center. After a little bit of caching, the movie plays.

      So you get to watch it on your TV in crappy YouTube quality instead... great...

      --
      http://blog.nexusuk.org
  3. Hulu vs. The World by junglee_iitk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The new services also put YouTube head to head with Hulu, competing directly for the full-length television show viewer. Hulu currently has more of this sort of content than does YouTube, but YouTube has the lionâ(TM)s share of the Web video audience. It is estimated that YouTube has 100 times the viewers that Hulu has.

    It might have to done something with the fact that Hulu's "video library can only be streamed within the United States".

    Some people go to great lengths to put their feet over an axe, just to see if it hurts or not.

  4. What Next? by nicknamenottaken · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think it is a smart idea to have star trek on youtube to compensate for the rest of the proposed garbage listed in the story. Hopefully the trend of 1 in 4 television shows on youtube not being garbage will continue.

    1. Re:What Next? by White+Flame · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wait a sec, you're calling MacGyver "garbage" on a nerd website?

  5. Region-locking is an abomination. by EWAdams · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's called the WORLD WIDE Web, assholes.

    --
    I piss off bigots.
    1. Re:Region-locking is an abomination. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So if they used a medium of delivery beyond HTTP, you'd be happy with it? Or would it just ruin your witty one-liner?

      Seriously, just because licensing agreements haven't yet caught up with the global nature of the Internet doesn't mean we should disparage the positive steps being made in the direction of having content available on the Internet AT ALL.

    2. Re:Region-locking is an abomination. by electrictroy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes this is the WWW, except that the American owners don't want non-americans looking at A-Team, McGuyver, et cetera. They want to sell those programs to Japanese stations for reruns, or on DVD directly to European citizens, and thereby maximize profit. If they gave this stuff for free via the web, they'd be killing their non-american market.

      Everything makes sense if you just follow the dollar to its source and assume the owner is greedy.

      --
      The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
    3. Re:Region-locking is an abomination. by DMalic · · Score: 4, Funny

      I know! It's not like they've had much time to prepare, what with ARPANET's unexpected arrival in 2001 and the advent of the web browser shortly after in 2005! Why, I just remember back in late '07 when AOL was in its prime and nobody thought broadband would ever come into play..

  6. CBS only? by themightythor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The shows and their original networks:

    Star Trek: NBC
    MacGyver: ABC
    BH 90210: Fox
    Y & R: CBS

    I guess I don't understand how these things work...

  7. Please no by hcdejong · · Score: 3, Interesting

    With short clips the YouTube UI is bad enough. For full-length TV shows I want:
    - a UI that can be controlled from arbitrary input devices, e.g. an IR remote and rotary controller (Griffin Powermate). Sitting at your computer doesn't cut it, I want control from my comfy chair.
    - a full-featured UI with controls for skip forward/reverse (at short/long intervals), aspect ratio, mute, etc.
    Basically, I want the VLC UI.

  8. A closed curve on a sphere has no inherent inside by pjt33 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes. I hear there's a country with about 300 million inhabitants there.

  9. Re:A closed curve on a sphere has no inherent insi by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You shouldn't have told us that. Now we'll have to invade.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  10. US-ONLY! :( by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 5, Informative

    So, this means I won't have to pirate the videos to watch my favorite shows?

    Think again.

    "This video is not available in your country."

    Oh well, at least I know a site that DOES let me play the videos in my country - and without ads.