Reuters TV and the Evolution of YouTube

Reuters TV debuted today with 10 programs that will reside on Reuters.com, which draws an audience of 40 million (the fourth most trafficked business news site) and through its YouTube channel. Of note, Anthony De Rosa, Reuters Digital’s social media editor, will host “Tech Tonic.” De Rosa has been posting updates today on Twitter (@AntDeRosa) and you can read the Reuters announcement and view the “Reuters TV Tease” for more information.

While there is no question that online video and niche programming are changing the lives of consumers, they are also changing the nature of PR, opening up new opportunities for companies to connect directly with highly engaged audiences.

The New Yorker’s John Seabrook took a thorough and insightful look at YouTube’s evolution in his January 16 piece, “Streaming Dreams,” which follows the company from its 2005 inception in a Silicon Valley garage to its acquisition by Google for $1.65 billion in 2006, and on to its October 2011 debut of “YouTube Original Channels.” VentureBeat touted this latest bit of news as “Google TV’s killer app.”

The focus of YouTube Original Channels is to harness engaged and niche audiences. As Google’s Robert Kyncl told The New Yorker, “People went from broad to narrow [in terms of content consumption], and we think they will continue to go that way—spend more and more time in the niches—because now the distribution landscape allows for more narrowness.”

By most accounts, the primary programming on YouTube’s Original Channels will be entertainment, yet a number of news organizations also have plans to publish content, including The Onion, The Wall Street Journal, Hearst and Meredith, according to Seabrook’s piece. Reuters appears to be adding its name to this list in a big way.

The PR landscape changes every day, which is a good thing for nimble PR people who can quickly adjust strategies and tactics to connect with these highly engaged audiences on the Web, on mobile, and on social.

To read more about the future of TV, check out the following articles:

• CNBC, “CES: YouTube and the Upcoming Revolution,” by Julia Boorstin (@JBoorstin)
• AllThingsD, “Why the Future of TV Won’t Be Here Soon,” by Peter Kafka (@pkafka)
• GigaOm, “Buckle up: Traditional TV is in for a heck of a ride,” by Habib Kairouz of Rho Ventures (@habibkairouz) (disclosure: Kairouz is an InkHouse client)
• GigaOm, “Netflix, Hulu and the golden age of content,” by Janko Roettgers (@jank0)