On Sunday, U2 played a gig at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California as part of their current world tour. It streamed live on YouTube and managed to rack up 10 million viewers. Which is a huge success for both Google and the Akamai content delivery network which handled the event.

Live Success

YouTube is no stranger to live streaming, having experimented with the method of broadcasting a few times since being acquired by Google. However, Sunday night’s U2 concert was a hit like the site has never experienced before.

When competing with the bread and butter of YouTube – the viral videos generated by users – the U2 concert was a relative failure, but gaining such a large audience for an event such as this is nothing short of spectacular.

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Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time provoked controversy just by the fact it was happening. But it did, and most onlookers agree that Griffin didn’t do a great job of promoting himself, his party, and his views.

Interestingly, YouTube was mentioned continuously by the other panelists on the show, with references to video clips featuring Griffin. Clips he couldn’t simply talk his way out of. Online video is clearly even affecting politics now.

Nick Griffin & The BNP

Nick Griffin is the leader of the British National Party, a far-right political organization in the U.K. which believes Britain should essentially return to how it was prior to 1948 – that is with a vast majority white, indigenous population.

Without getting into the politics of it, the party has had some success in recent years fueled by terrorism and the failings of the British government to properly police immigration into the country.

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U2 are a hugely popular group with fans from every part of the world, many of whom will never get to see the band live. But YouTube is offering those fans the chance to experience the next best thing – live streaming of their California gig this Sunday (Oct. 25).

Live Streaming

Live streaming video is an everyday occurrence on the Web these days, with lifecasting sites such as Justin.tv, UStream, and Livestream (formerly known as Mogulus) offering everyone the chance to air an event to the wider world.

Last month saw Livestream launch Livepack, which includes all the kit required to film and stream live events such as weddings, graduations, and concerts. And all in a compact enough size to fit in a backpack.

U2 On YouTube

While that is a brilliant innovation, live streaming of big events is still a relatively rare treat for Internet users. I’m talking about rock concerts from big, well-known bands. Like for instance, I don’t know, U2.

Which is exactly who is lined up for a live streaming event on YouTube this coming weekend. As the video below previews, YouTube will live stream U2’s sold-out gig at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California this Sunday.

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Full-length episodes of television shows and movies are an important part of YouTube heading forward. Which means the company must be delighted to have signed a deal with UK broadcaster Channel 4 which will see 3,000 hours of content coming to the video sharing site.

YouTube and Channel 4

YouTube has for a while now been moving away from user-generated content and trying to entice broadcasters into providing content via the site. It’s had mixed success but it has now nabbed a major broadcaster in the form of Channel 4.

Channel 4 was the first UK broadcaster to launch a video on demand service, doing so in 2006. But 4oD failed to get the attention it deserved and the BBC iPlayer snatched the limelight instead. 4oD has gone through some major changes since then and now rivals the iPlayer for user experience.

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It was three years ago today that Chad Hurley and Steve Chen sold YouTube to Google for $1.65 billion. It has celebrated that anniversary by revealing the site now gets over one billion views a day worldwide and talking a little about the future.

Three Years Ago Today

It seems like just yesterday that the co-founders of YouTube sold the site to Google. In fact, it was a full three years ago that Google decided to ante up $1.65 billion for the fledgling online video site.

We found out just yesterday that Google CEO Eric Schmidt thought that price tag was around $1 billion out, with the site actually worth more like $600 million. But Google wanted the site so badly it was willing to pay a premium for it.

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Were you one of the many who back in 2006 wondered why on earth Google was paying $1.65 billion for YouTube, a site with no revenue and a ton of problems? Then you weren’t alone because even Google CEO Eric Schmidt thought it was overpriced.

YouTube Is Go

In February of 2005, a site popped up on the Internet that would cause a massive shift in how video is served on the Web. It would ease the process, and provide a platform for video of all kinds, mostly user-generated content.

Its name, if you hadn’t already guessed, was YouTube. And it has grown in the last four years to become one of the biggest and most popular sites on the Web, with millions of people from all corners of the world visiting and using the site on a daily basis.

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Music videos are a big part of the online video sector. They’re hugely popular on YouTube, and there’s a new YouTube-backed music video site called Vevo launching soon. But Muzu.tv has beaten Vevo to the punch and launched while our backs were turned.

Music Videos Online

In terms of online video, music videos are big business. They are a guaranteed draw for viewers and the most popular music videos are more in demand than the other big draws of movie trailers and one-off viral hits.

And it’s for these reasons that there is so much aggravation surrounding music videos, with YouTube desperate to keep them on the site and record labels pushing their luck to grab a heftier slice of the revenue pie to make it so.

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