YouTube to Launch 100 Channels; Madonna, Jay-Z, Ashton Kutcher to Produce Shows

Google Inc. has announced on its blog late Friday that it will be teaming up with several members of Hollywood, sports networks, music stations and more to bring original content to the site.

The new content will include channels dedicated to music, television, film, news, and sports, and are part of the company’s effort to appeal to a broader range of consumers seeking professionally-created content. Similar to how Cable television entwined itself within the standard channels, YouTube’s new content creators will be producing shows and features specifically for YouTube.

Participants include, Madonna, actor Ashton Kutcher and rapper Jay- Z, former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, comedian Amy Poehler, "Office" star Rainn Wilson, spiritual doctor Deepak Chopra and "Modern Family" actress Sofia Vergara. Most are creating channels through their production companies.

The partnerships involve more than $100 million in upfront payments by Google to their partners, a person familiar with the deals told Reuters. According to further sources, Google will sell ads alongside the original video channels, sharing up to 55 per cent of revenue so generated with some of its partners. However, the sharing of ad revenue will only happen after Google has earned back the cost of its up-front payments, the Reuters report further explained.

Google’s goal for the channels is to produce about 25 hours of original programming per day once all channels are available. The channels will be rolled out over the next year, starting in November, and will be available on the company’s website as well as all YouTube-enabled devices, including Apple’s iOS devices. Until then, YouTube has created a “sneak peek,” previewing what’s to come.