14 DAY TRIAL // The launch of the Mexican YouTube homepage on the 11th of October 2007 was highly successful and is currently under a lot of attention from the local media firms that want to broaden their offer to the public.
Reuters reports that Exa Tv, an entertainment cable channel has signed a deal with Google's video sharing service, alongside newspaper El Universal, modeling agency Contemp Models and soccer site Medio Tiempo. The benefit of the agreement for the companies mentioned above is that the content uploaded by them will show up higher in the search results page which is no mean feat, considering the advertising revenue that will be going their way.
Warner Music Mexico's talent executive Alejandro Abaroa told the same source that an emphasis on local content because of YouTube's new Mexico homepage can and will increase exposure for local acts and thus giving labels like the one he's representing new stars for the signing.
Unfortunately, he concludes, not everybody wants to pay for the songs, videos and ringtones based on the online success of the artists that are afterwards marketed. "It's a beginning effort," Abaroa says of such deals and the most important thing is being able to steer clear off those that have no potential and grab the projects and people that actually have a future, as fast as you can. "Maybe next month it's not going to be a hit anymore. The minute you hear about it, you have to grab it."
Exa Tv is currently uploading 65 to 70 videos per week, their range going from live musical performances to artist interviews, as its director, Jorge Shahin said. That bodes well for Warner as they are also in that line of work and with YouTube backing them up, it looks like a good starting point for any of the stars to be discovered.
The YouTube Mexico Channel was launched after Google noticed the heavy traffic from Mexican users to the main English and Spanish country's site, as YT's international product manager Luis Garcia told Ayala Ben-Yehuda from Reuters.