YouTube to get regularly scheduled channels, try on traditional TV suit?
What's old is new again. Or, is it that content is still king? We could never keep those Web 2.0 arguments straight, but from the sound of this latest YouTube rumor, ol' Mountain View might be moonwalking into an old media model. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google's been hustling to get contracts for a lineup of regularly scheduled channels ironed out "within the next 60 days." That sort of timeline would indicate a likely early 2012 bow for a refresh of the online video hub made famous by piano-playing cats, and a certain viral surprise in an SNL-made box. While on-demand digital video sites are nothing new in the crowded, streaming marketplace, a move like this could firmly position the search giant as the king of place-shifted, live viewing, and cause more potential headaches for its broadcast and cable competitors. With an in-house production studio already under its wing, courtesy of that Next New Networks acquisition, Google's entrance into the big, bad world of entertainment could be on its interwebbed way.
