14 DAY TRIAL // The rumored and sometimes confirmed, sometimes laughed at, coming of live video on Google's video sharing service has finally had a pin stuck in it. It won't float around anymore, because there's no point in speculating about something everybody knows is going to happen.
Live streaming has been a life-long dream (metaphorically speaking) of the online community, and many video sharing services have attempted it throughout time. The one thing they all lacked is exactly what makes YouTube the giant it is today: reach and fan base. Being the site with the second most visitors in the world, according to the latest Alexa numbers, it will take live streaming to a whole new level.
That can't be anything but bad news for the websites that are offering the same service right now, and it will probably be only months before the first one will be forced to fold. When live streaming will be presented by YouTube, you need to keep your eyes on the following sites and watch how predictions come true: ustream.tv, blogtv.com, mogulus.com, Justin.tv and liveuniverse.com. Just looking at their funding, you get a grasp of the different level the game is played at when the Google owned video sharing site will jump aboard the streaming boat. None of the above has reported a number greater than $3 million, while everybody knows that YouTube was bought for $1.65 billion.
This is the transcript of the conversation between Sarah Meyers and Chen, but the video is embedded below, so you won't think it's a hoax:
Meyers: "When are you guys gonna do live video on YouTube?" Chen: "2008. We'll do it this year. Live video is just something that we've always wanted to do, we've never had the resources to do it correctly, but now with Google, we hope to actually do it this year."
Just skip to the last mark to see the dialogue between the two.