YouTube geeks out with first-ever Geek Week: August 4-10, 2013

There’s never been a better time to be a geek. From “Game of Thrones” and “The Big Bang Theory,” to “Harry Potter” and “The Avengers,” geek culture is everywhere, attracting and connecting ever-expanding audiences. Today's obsession with all-things-geek has sparked a global community on YouTube, enabling fans around the world to express their love of superheroes, comics, gaming, science and sci-fi.

With more than half of our top 20 non-music channels dedicated to geek culture, YouTube has become a top destination for fans everywhere to create, share and watch geek content. That’s why on August 4-10 we’ll celebrate this content with a special programming event: our first-ever YouTube Geek Week at YouTube.com/GeekWeek.

 

Produced in conjunction with geek powerhouse Nerdist in the U.S. and Channel Flip in the U.K., Geek Week will showcase more than 100 channels that fans love, unveiling new videos, series premieres and creative collaborations, as well as highlighting some of the best geek videos and shows already on YouTube.

Each day is hosted by a different YouTube channel, who will introduce the highlights of the day in a special daily video, as well as launch exciting new content throughout the week.

  • Blockbuster Sunday: A celebration of the iconic characters, movies and shows that define geek culture--plus a spotlight on the best original YouTube sci-fi, fantasy and animation. Hosted by FreddieW in the U.S., with new content from Tomska in the U.K.
  • Global Geekery Monday: Anime from Tokyo, comic book heroes from Delhi, and a celebration of "Doctor Who." Explore geek culture from around the world. Hosted by YOMYOMF in the U.S., and including a special new episode of the British cult children's TV show “Knightmare.”
  • Brainiac Tuesday: Science, education and knowledge channels that make YouTube the world's biggest platform for learning. Hosted by Veritasium and The Spangler Effect in the U.S., with an epic stunt from Head Squeeze and Flow from the U.K.
  • Super Wednesday: From hilarious parodies to real-life superpowers, explore superheroes, the supernatural and the super-weird. Hosted by Stan Lee’s World of Heroes in the U.S., and you won’t believe what Fast Furious & Funny have done with an old Nissan in the U.K. Plus, released exclusively for Geek Week, the trailer for Marvel's “Thor: The Dark World.” 
  • Gaming Thursday: A gamers’ paradise, with live play-throughs, video games in real life, game-inspired original series and much more. Hosted by Machinima and Maker Studios' Polaris in the U.S., with a Guinness World Records gaming attempt live stream from the U.K.
  • Fan Friday: Sci-fi-themed cooking, incredible cosplay and impassioned nerd debates as YouTube's biggest fans take center stage. Hosted by Felicia Day of Geek & Sundry in the U.S., with an ultimate geeky quiz by Crabstickz from the U.K.

For our 3l33t geeks out there, keep your eyes out for Easter eggs all week, and you’ll also be able to collect badges from the eggs and select #geekweek videos when logged in and visiting YouTube.com/GeekWeek.

The YouTube #GeekWeek Team recently watched the trailer for “Video Game High School Season 2 Trailer.”

PsychoSoprano is your March featured partner On The Rise

Congratulations to Colleen Ballinger of PsychoSoprano, our featured “On The Rise” partner this March. You can find her videos featured on our YouTube channel today, along with Google+, Facebook, and Twitter.

Hailing from Southern California, Colleen has spent several years growing her YouTube audience and is a successful comedienne. She guarantees that you’ll enjoy a lot of laughs on PsychoSoprano, where she uploads vlogs, skits, character sketches, and “a lot of awkwardness” across two weekly shows. You can tune in for random fun videos every Friday; or, if you have a question for Colleen, you can submit it and check out her Tuesday show, ‘Colleen’s Corner,’ where she takes the time to interact and talk with her audience. In addition to PsychoSoprano, Colleen runs the mirandasings08 channel where she hosts her music content - she’s a professional singer who tours and teaches as well.



Here are a few words from Colleen:
Thank you so much for all of your votes... I am so excited to have been chosen! I try my hardest to keep my subscribers entertained with comedic skits, crazy characters, fun vlogs, singing, and a lot of awkwardness twice a week. I love building relationships with my viewers and want them to feel like my friends and not just my audience so no topics are off limits. You never know what you're gonna find on my channel, but I guarantee you'll smile a lot. :) Thanks again for voting for me! It means more than you know!
If you’ve enjoyed this monthly On The Rise blog series, and want to see more rising YouTube partners, check out our Google Hangouts with past featured partners on the YouTube Creators channel.

You can participate and help us surface YouTube talent by nominating a YouTube partner to be considered for the “On The Rise” program. Feel free to submit nominations for your own channel, or for channels you follow that you think deserve more attention or could be the next YouTube sensation. We’ll continue to feature promising partners who produce engaging content on a regular basis. See you next month!

Christine Wang and Devon Storbeck, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “Solving three cubes while juggling them.”

YouTube in Rewind: What you were watching in 2012

It’s that time of year again to pause, rewind and remember the videos, the entertainers, and the moments that captivated you in 2012.

This year, Korean Pop music transcended boundaries and took the world by storm. Cover songs, parodies, and "do-it-yourself" music videos from all genres entertained us in countries near and far. And you participated in conversations at a global scale, uploading videos to share ideas on everything from nonprofit campaigns, to political satire, to new and surprising voices and talents. Plus, all over the world, you tuned in for the most up-to-date news footage of presidential elections, natural disasters and more.



2012 has been a big year for YouTube. You’ve been watching over 4 billion hours of video a month. Millions of creators are using YouTube channels to experiment with innovative forms of entertainment, explore their passions and interests, and take creativity and pop culture to new levels. 2012’s top trending videos showcase this creative ingenuity in ways we'd never before thought possible.

Check out the YouTube Rewind channel to explore the trending videos of the year in your country. Globally, here’s what we were all talking about in 2012: 

Top Trending YouTube Videos:  
  1. PSY - GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V 
  2. Somebody That I Used to Know - Walk off the Earth (Gotye - Cover) 
  3. KONY 2012 
  4. "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen - Feat. Justin Bieber, Selena, Ashley Tisdale & MORE! 
  5. Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney. Epic Rap Battles Of History Season 2. 
  6. A DRAMATIC SURPRISE ON A QUIET SQUARE 
  7. WHY YOU ASKING ALL THEM QUESTIONS? .. #FCHW 
  8. Dubstep Violin- Lindsey Stirling- Crystallize 
  9. Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen. 
  10. Felix Baumgartner's supersonic freefall from 128k' - Mission Highlights 
Kevin Allocca, YouTube trends manager, recently watched "Interactive Timeline: YouTube Rewind 2012"

A new look to help you to subscribe and watch channels on YouTube

Update 12/12: The team that designed and built the recent YouTube update will answer your questions in a Hangout on Air Thursday 12/13 at 4pm PT on the YouTube channel. To ask a question, submit it here before Noon PT on Thursday 12/13. If you can’t make that, we’ll also hold a Reddit “Ask me Anything” on Tuesday 12/17 starting at 10am PT to answer your questions.

Those of you who use YouTube most have learned the secret to making it even better—find the channels you love and subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Last year we began to make it easier to subscribe to the channels you care about by introducing a Guide on the home page. When you add subscriptions to your Guide, you organize YouTube around what you like, available whenever you watch YouTube. Today, we’re taking the next step by bringing your subscription-filled Guide with you across both the site and all devices, as your best source of what to watch on YouTube.

Your Guide to YouTube

Just subscribe to your favorite channels and the Guide lets you know when there are new videos waiting for you to enjoy, suggests the latest and greatest channels you might like, and shows you what your friends are sharing across the web. You’ll also find the Guide and your subscriptions on apps across hundreds of millions of devices including Android, iPhone, Playstation 3, Google TV and more.


A cleaner, simpler look

You come to YouTube to watch the videos you care about, so it’s important that the videos stand out. In this new layout, you’ll find the most crucial elements are front and center when you watch a video: the video is right at the top of the page and the subscribe button, social actions and video information are all combined directly below the player. Playlists are now available to the right of the video so you can browse through while you watch. You’ll also see this cleaner and simpler design across the entire site.

Your feedback matters

We’d love to get your feedback on these updates, so we’ll be hosting a Google+ Hangout on Air and a Reddit IAmA in the coming weeks--stay tuned here for details. If you’re a YouTube creator, you can learn more about these updates on our YouTube Creator Blog.

Josh Sassoon, Senior Unicorn eXperience Designer, recently watched “Hipster Thanksgiving” and
Alex Nicksay, Staff Engineer, recently watched “Crystalfilm.”

YouTube shows rolls out across the sky, aboard Virgin America flights

We’re teaming up with Virgin America to bring you great shows from five YouTube partners right on your personal seatback screen. By mid-December, Warner Brothers’ H+ The Digital Series, WIGS’ Blue, Geek & Sundry’s Written By a Kid, Crash Course and Barely Political’s The Key of Awesome will be available for free on all Virgin America planes in the US and Mexico.

Venture into an apocalyptic future where the human race is hardwired to the Internet and a virus has entered the system with H+ The Digital Series. Or watch Julia Stiles in Blue, the story of a single mom trying to evade her past and protect her son from a secret she’ll do anything to keep.

In the mood for some comedy? What's funnier than a kid's wild imagination? Watch these tales come to life in hilarious live-action and animated shorts on Written by a Kid. Or indulge your ironically-pop-loving side as The Key of Awesome makes a mockery of hipsters and hobbits alike with music videos, fake movie trailers and other ridiculous sketches.

When you’re ready to enlighten yourself, join John Green with his quirky, fast-paced and entertaining teaching style for a Crash Course on The Fall of Rome, The Dark Ages and The Mongol Empire.

Bringing YouTube aboard Virgin America is part of a larger effort to bring you more of the videos you love, at heights you’ve never seen them before. Sample these great series on your flight, and then visit YouTube to enjoy the full seasons. New series and shows will become available every two months.

So pack up your 3 oz containers, fasten your seatbelt, and join YouTube and Virgin America 35,000 feet in the air. Happy flying!


Kate Berland, YouTube Marketing Manager, recently watched "Written By A Kid - the tale of a paper, panty-clad horse in ‘La Munkya’."

YouTube’s keynote at MIPCOM: Building your audience on YouTube

Yesterday, YouTube's Vice President and Global Head of Content, Robert Kyncl, delivered the Media Mastermind Keynote at the MIPCOM conference in Cannes, France. Robert was then joined on stage by Alex Mahon, CEO Shine Group, Peter Tortorici, CEO and Chairman of GroupM Entertainment, and Yair Landau, Partner at MK Capital for a panel discussion moderated by MediaLink’s Chairman and CEO Michael Kassan. It was standing room only in the auditorium, so we thought we’d give you an opportunity to hear and see Robert’s presentation for yourself.



While the speech and subsequent discussion were geared towards the content creators and distributors in the audience, we wanted to share it with you as it paints a broader picture of our long-term strategy to bring more great content to love on YouTube. You can also find a full transcript of Robert’s speech here.

Let us know what you think of the speech in the comments below.

The YouTube Team

Supersonic freefall from the edge of space to Earth, live on YouTube

This Monday, the launch window opens for aviation pioneer Felix Baumgartner to freefall from the edge of space back to Earth, hoping to break the speed of sound with nothing but his body and a parachute on the way down—live on Red Bull’s YouTube Channel. The mission aims to collect scientific data for the advancement of aerospace safety.

”All systems are a go” for The Red Bull Stratos Mission starting 6:00am PT on October 8. Since freefalling from space requires perfect weather conditions, the full launch window extends for two weeks. To find the exact time of the launch, check the Red Bull YouTube Channel or sign up for email updates at redbullstratos.com.



How it works
The 120,000 foot jump over Roswell, New Mexico is the culmination of over five years of work by Felix and the Red Bull Stratos mission team, who are now prepared to break the 102,800 ft record set by US Air Force legend, Col. Joe Kittinger 52 years ago. After rising in a capsule propelled by 30 million cubic feet of helium, Felix will jump from 23 miles above Roswell, New Mexico. You’ll see a live data feed that will show exactly where Felix is in the sky, his rate of speed during the freefall, and how high above earth he is throughout the entire flight. You’ll also be able to hear Felix’s conversations with Col. Kittinger who will be the only voice from Mission Control advising Felix.

Enjoy the ride.

Tim Katz, Sports Partnerships Manager, recently watched “Supersonic Freefall - Red Bull Stratos CGI.”

Classic Japanese anime comes to YouTube, with fansubs from Viki

Collaborative subtitling hub Viki has opened a new channel on YouTube called tezukaanime bringing classic titles like Astro Boy to a global audience. The original animation series are in Japanese, but thanks to Viki’s crowdsourcing, polyglot community, the YouTube videos have captions available in as many languages as the community contributes.



The channel currently hosts 16 full-episodes of the iconic Astro Boy series from the 1980s, with subtitles uploaded so far in English, Arabic, Romanian, Turkish, Spanish, French, and transcribed Japanese. As more translators finish captions in new languages, Viki will add them to the videos on YouTube. The channel’s videos are available everywhere other than Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Italy and Spain.

Other titles on the channel include Jungle Emperor Leo, Black Jack, Dear Brother, The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion, Don Dracula, and Marvelous Melmo, with more exciting titles to come soon. Subscribe to the channel to find out anytime new episodes are added.

Jean Huang Lundgren, Head of Video Partnerships, YouTube, Greater China and South East Asia, recently watched “The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion - Full Episode 1.”

Your Film Festival finalist filmmakers head to Venice

This weekend, the filmmakers behind the ten films you selected as the Your Film Festival finalists, will travel to another film festival – the world’s oldest, in Venice. There, they’ll pitch their idea for a new YouTube project to the Your Film Festival jury and have the chance to win $500,000 to make their idea a reality with the support of Sir Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender, and Scott Free Productions.

Subscribe to the channel to catch the latest news and return on Monday 3rd after the finalist film screening has taken place in Venice, when we’ll announce the Grand Prize Winner. In the meantime, meet the ten finalists in the video below and watch their short films on the channel.



Dom Elliott, marketing manager, recently watched “Tether.”

Game on: Get the new YouTube app for PlayStation 3

Playing hours of Journey giving you cravings to watch Journey on YouTube? Or maybe DiRT Showdown put you in the mood to watch real-life action sports from the Red Bull YouTube Channel?

Give button mashing a whole new meaning with the new YouTube app for PlayStation 3—rolling out today in North America for free download from the PlayStation Store.


You might have watched YouTube on PS3 before, but get ready for a whole new world of video and features. We have a completely new experience, designed for the big screen and PS3 controls. Here’s what you’ll find:
  • Search: Finding the videos you want is easier than ever, with search suggestions and instant video results while you type.
  • Your subscribed channels: Sign in to find the latest videos from your YouTube subscriptions, which now also includes HD and official music videos.
  • Your phone as a remote: With a quick pairing process, you can control YouTube on PS3 with a smartphone. Find a video on your phone and with a button it’ll play on the big screen. While the video is playing you can control it from the phone, or keep browsing YouTube for the next one.

You’ll find the new app in the PlayStation Store under My Channels. We’ll keep improving the PS3 experience and plan to bring the app to more countries in coming months.

Sarah Ali, product manager, recently watched “Top 7 Panda Cheese Commercials.”