ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 23: The YouTube and Netflix app logos are seen on a television screen on March 23, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan passed a new law on March 22 extending the reach of the country's radio and TV censor to the internet. The new law will allow RTUK, the states media watchdog, to monitor online broadcasts and block content of social media sites and streaming services including Netflix and YouTube. Turkey already bans many websites including Wikipedia, which has been blocked for more than a year. The move came a day after private media company Dogan Media Company announced it would sell to pro-government conglomerate Demiroren Holding AS. The Dogan news group was the only remaining news outlet not to be under government control, the sale, which includes assets in CNN Turk and Hurriyet Newspaper completes the governments control of the Turkish media. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
YouTube already commands a dominant share of U.S. TV viewership, and if its latest job postings are to be believed, it wants to make its presence on that screen even stickier. TechCrunch highlighted several active listings that reference the development of interactive experiences intended for consumption on TV screens.
The job descriptions contain varied allusions to the future of YouTube’s TV presence. A call for a UX Designer references “the power of real-time interaction,” while a Shorts-oriented Product Manager opening mentions a “one-of-a-kind, immersive media experience.”
Other listings specifically call out YouTube’s live programming endeavors. One Product Manager role mentions “shared live experiences” that “can only happen between creators and fans live, in real time.” Meanwhile, in India, the expansion of a YouTube Live hub in Bengaluru will “drive the Live streaming offerings in living room surfaces.”
The increasing interactivity within YouTube’s TV app has been one of the company’s top priorities this year. A recent product update introduced a TV-specific chatbot feature called Ask as well as a TV Companion that “automatically recognizes what’s playing on your TV, allowing you to interact with comments, control playback, or dive deeper into content without missing a beat.” In addition, new Stations enhance YouTube’s capabilities as an always-on TV distributor.
If you want to know why YouTube is so committed to immersive, TV-based experiences, its push into live shopping provides a partial explanation. Platforms like Whatnot have attracted millions of users to live shopping experiences (and have raised oodles of VC funding along the way). YouTube’s recent presentation at the NewFronts signaled its intention to bring its own ecommerce experiences to more TV screens.
There is a key difference between Whatnot and YouTube, however, that could make that pivot tricky. The former platform gets most of its traffic from mobile devices, while YouTube is targeting TV viewers who might prefer to lean back rather than actively engaging with interactive features.
“Viewers don’t interact with TV screens the same way they do with phones,” eMarketer Senior Analyst for TV and Streaming Ross Benes told TechCrunch. “It’s clunky.”
Figuring out how to most effectively unlock that audience is the problem YouTube is currently trying to solve. Its expanding Live teams have their work cut out for them, but the platform’s dominant market share certainly gives it a leg up.
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