Since Franklin D. Roosevelt, it has been tradition for every U.S. President to hold a weekly address on the state of the nation. But while these have always been broadcast on radio, President Obama is bringing the fireside chats bang up to date and using YouTube as well.

Yes We Can – By Using The Internet

A lot has already been made of the importance of the Internet in helping Barack Obama become the 44th President of The United States of America, and YouTube was a huge part of that.

Obama’s campaign team uploaded more than 1800 videos to YouTube during the two year election run-in, which garnered over 110 million page views. That’s a big enough audience to have a big impact on an election, and that’s likely what happened.

And now Obama is President-elect, he hasn’t just dropped these new forms of communication, and is instead utilizing them to bring the White House administration bang up to date, and YouTube looks like being a big part of that.

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It’s hardly news that Google is desperately trying to turn YouTube in to a money-making venture rather than the high-traffic, low-revenue property it currently is. But are the latest two monetization methods a step too far?

We’ve been keeping a watchful eye on the many and varied ways in which YouTube is being monetized here on WebTVWire, and the past few months have seen a lot of effort being put in to the site.

Monetization Efforts

We’ve seen pre-roll and post-roll adverts introduced, the YouTube homepage filled with banner ads, and a variety of different deals with media companies to improve both content and profits.

These include CBS, MGM, Lionsgate, and independent producers. Then there are the new ‘click to buy’ adverts being added to music videos and the like.

In the last few days, Google has announced two new methods for monetizing YouTube: Sponsored video search results, and overlay adverts on embedded partner videos.

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To watch Sky TV in the UK has up to now meant buying a satellite dish and set-top box and then paying a monthly subscription. But Sky TV is now on its way to the Web.

Sky Television is a subscription-only service in the UK that allows viewers to have access to a multitude of channels as diverse as sports, music, documentary, entertainment, and film.

Satellite Dish and Set-Top Box Required

To receive any of the channels other than those available on Freeview or Freesat currently entails buying a dish, which has to be mounted on the wall of your house, a set-top box, either SD or HD, and a subscription package from Sky for the range of premium channels you want to watch.

This can be an expensive exercise and a drain on monthly outgoings, with channels being bought in bulk and Sky Sports and Sky Movies adding massively to the bill.

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MGM and YouTube have announced a historic deal to bring movies to YouTube. But content is still clearly an issue, with the first offerings being pretty damn useless.

MGM Studios has become the first major Hollywood company to sign on the dotted line and do a deal with YouTube which will see full-length movies and episodes of television shows broadcast on the site.

YouTube In Bed With Hollywood

Rumors started to spread a few days ago about YouTube trying to tempt Hollywood studios in to doing deals which would see the video-sharing site further evolve from the short-form content it’s famous for.

And while the news that MGM Studios has become the first such Hollywood giant to agree to the deal, the content being initially offered leaves a lot to be desired.

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Supernatural Synopsis

Supernatural is an American horror TV show about Dean & Sam Winchester, two brothers who travel across the country to work as paranormal investigators. While most of the episodes deal with your usual supernatural creatures (ghosts, vampires, and werewolves) a number of evil spirits are those of urban legends, ancient myths, and folklore- The Lady in White and Bloody Mary to name a few.

The series’ creator, Eric Kripke, is known for using other classic horrer stories as influences; some of them being Neil Giman’s The Sandman, Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey and American Werewolf in London. Perhaps the show’s trademark is Dean’s 1967 Chevy Impala that was passed down to him by his father. The car’s trunk holds various supernatural weapons.

Supernatural first aired in September of 2005 on The WB and is currently on it’s 4th season on The CW’s lineup.

• Watch Supernatural on iTunes
• Watch On Demand at The CW (Latest Few Episodes & U.S Only)
• Watch Supernatural At Amazon On Demand
• Search for Supernatural Episodes
• Find Supernatural Torrents
• See if you can stream this on Netflix

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The BBC iPlayer is my favorite online TV service but that’s because I’m in the UK and use Windows. Thankfully there are plans afoot to solve both the international restriction and OS limitations soon.

The BBC has done a fantastic job of entering the world of online video with its television catch-up service, the BBC iPlayer, but the service is not without its problems, with two very large ones still to solve.

International Restrictions

The fact UK citizens have to pay a license fee to own a TV, all of which goes to the BBC, has helped the corporation enter the video on demand world more quickly and easily than rival media companies.

But that license fee also means the iPlayer is only available to British viewers, with those outside the UK effectively banned from using the service in the same way that those outside of the States are banned from watching any content on Hulu.

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Google has been attempting to evolve YouTube in to a money-making domain for months, but the latest effort, which will see full-length feature films on the site, must be the biggest step so far.

Googe Maximizing YouTube’s Potential

Anyone who reads WebTVWire regularly will know that the last few months have been dominated by Google’s efforts to maximize YouTube’s potential and turn the impressive viewing figures in to equally impressive levels of profit.

It’s not like YouTube isn’t already making money, it is, but the figures don’t justify the $1.65 billion Google paid for the world’s favorite and most well known video sharing site. They also don’t stack up when compared to Hulu’s profits, even though that company is much younger and has much less traffic.

Evolving Efforts

First of all, post-roll adverts launched on YouTube, closely followed by pre-rolls. Then the YouTube homepage had huge banner ads added, which should bring in some much needed revenue.

Then Google started making deals with other companies. The ‘YouTube Screening Room‘ made its debut, which sees independent films finding a home on YouTube. Lionsgate also decided to team up with the site but only short clips of movies would be included on YouTube.

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