What's Next?

YouTube Is Killing It

YouTube has been quietly getting bigger and better. Besides all those usual what-YouTube-was-about clips, now you can also watch movies for $4 each, live streams of events, and all kinds of shows created by their “partners”. This partnership program is, I think, taking YouTube to the next level. It works like this: anyone (that includes you, your mom, your friends, or even the big bad old media companies) can become a YouTube partner, then Google would put ads on their videos and give them a cut of the revenues. To the partners, it’s simple; all you need is an internet connection and some creativity. Imagine some guy in Madagascar (Hey I like the name) who created some interesting show that people would watch, now imagine that he had to get it on HBO, if that’s even possible. Now he can just put his show on YouTube to the internet audience and make money. Content is king and YouTube is becoming the hub of all video content. There will be more content, better content, and Google owns it all. Think about that and Google TV. No wonder Rupert Murdoch is freaking out. Also rumor has that Google and Apple are bidding for TV rights to show the English Premier League live next year. I will say bye bye to Comcast for sure if that happens.

In terms of investing, the question has been whether YouTube’s revenue is big enough to move the needle. Google’s revenue run rate is about $35B after all. They have remained tight-lipped about it, probably because it hasn’t been substantial enough. But I think that will end soon; within this year I’d say. They did disclose that their mobile revenue was $2.5B in 2011. YouTube’s revenue should be higher, no? I don’t own $GOOG currently, but it looks interesting.

Personally, YouTube is where I go to regularly for laughs and giggles. It’s hard for me to watch anything that’s 30+ minutes long. So YouTube is perfect with those short and funny skits. Plus, where else can you watch a cooking show that features only in-game, in-fictional-movie dishes?

Or this comedy sketch: