Live streaming is the next big thing in video consumption and YouTube wants a piece of action by launching a feature that allows users to live stream music, gaming, sports, news and other events.
YouTube announced that verified users will soon be able to stream live footage as it rolls out its live streaming capability for users worldwide. The service was initially restricted to users who have at least 1,000 subscribers in May and then to users with 100 subscribers in August this year.
On Thursday, the video sharing site announced that it is expanding its live streaming service to all YouTube channels so long the account is verified and in good standing. To be in good standing, your account must not have breached community guidelines nor committed copyright violations. None of your videos should have also been blocked by YouTube's Content ID within the last six months.
If you qualify for both requirements, you can check your account to see if the feature is already available for your account. If it hasn't yet, you may have to wait a bit longer since the company is rolling it out over the next few weeks.
In addition to live streaming news, sports and video games, eligible users will also be able to stream Google+ Hangouts on Air on YouTube directly. Hangouts on Air used to be only shown on Google+ but they can now be launched via YouTube's event manager and the broadcasts can be replayed in the future on the video site. "This gives you a simple way to reach your fans live and is the ideal way to invite participants to join your show," said Satyajeet Salgar, product manager at Google, and Tim James, software engineer, in a blog post.
The live streaming service may prompt more YouTube users to verify themselves on the platform and this could give an advantage to Google, which owns YouTube, since it can now gather more data on how people are using the service. The Google+ Hangout on Air feature, on the other hand, could also help drive more people to Google+.
