Disney signs deal with YouTube to provide short-form content
Jacksonville – Media giant Disney Media Networks has signed a deal with Google to make short-form content available to be streamed via YouTube.
The companies are coming together in a revenue sharing deal that will involve a number of ad-supported channels to be hosted on YouTube, the world’s largest video Web site. Disney will sell and control the advertising, splitting the revenue with Google.
Ad types will include YouTube’s traditional overlays and display advertising, as well as 15 second commercials run prior to viewing the Disney clips.
The deal should benefit both parties as Disney/ABC expands its web presence and YouTube generates some much needed revenue. Disney hopes to drive brand awareness and increase its viewership. Despite its estimated 99 million monthly viewers, YouTube is under pressure from parent Google to increase its revenue stream and is searching for ways to draw more advertising.
A spokesman for Disney indicates that the company’s cable channels such as ESPN, SoapNet and ABC Family will provide content as well as broadcast programs from ABC Primetime and ABC News. First up will be an ad-supported ESPN channel slated to start in mid-April, with an ABC channel following in May.
Disney will not make full shows available, but ads will steer viewers to ABC.com where they can be found. YouTube promises a redesign to make their professional content stand out from its amateur video offerings.
Disney should have signed up with MSNTube!