YouTube hasn’t had a very good year, and it’s about to get worse.
Between constantly having to put out PR dumpster fires, fighting off questionable kids’ content and being on the receiving end of scorn from users regarding their strict new monetization policies, the streaming giant seems to be in a weakened state.
And competitors are taking full advantage.
Twitch, which has become the defacto live-streaming platform for thousands of gamers, has just announced a deal that will see several YouTube stars from Disney’s Maker Studios (or is that Disney Digital Network?) creating exclusive new content for the Amazon-owned company.
From Slash Gear…
Perhaps the part that would worry YouTube the most is Twitch’s multi-year partnership with Disney, which will bring “exclusive” content from some famous Internet personalities. Practically Disney-managed personalities like Jacksepticeye, Markiplier, Strawburry17, and Luzu. Some of these, of course, are also YouTube personalities. There’s probably going to be some messy conflicts of interest in the days to come.
It could be that Disney is hedging its bets, as many streaming video providers are pretty uncomfortable with a company the size of Disney entering their space. Earlier this year, Disney lost board members from Twitter and Facebook due to “a conflict of interests.”
In addition to the announcement of the Disney deal, Twitch has also unveiled “Video Producer,” which allows users to upload pre-recorded video just like, well, YouTube.
Let the streaming wars continue…
[Source: Slash Gear]
Leave a Reply