Making it easier to watch YouTube videos on TV

What if you could send YouTube videos from your phone to your TV with a click of a button? It’s an idea we’ve been working on since 2010, and today we’re taking the next step.

We’re making it even easier to play videos from your phone or tablet on your TV, with a YouTube app update for Android and Google TV that automatically pairs your devices on the same WiFi. Just find a video on your YouTube app for Android — like the latest video from GoPro or H+ The Digital Series — click the TV icon that appears, and the video will play instantly on your Google TV.

Like a remote control, you can pause, scroll or skip to the next video with your mobile device as it plays on your TV. Since your devices are connected in the cloud, you can also do things like find the next video to watch from your tablet or browse around the web on your phone, all while the video plays on TV. You can even connect multiple devices to the TV to have your friends add to the playlist.

Stay tuned to see this feature coming to more devices and screens in the future. The next evolution of TV is in your hands.

Timbo Drayson, Product Manager, recently watched all of H+ The Digital Series on his TV.

Vote first, and watch the results on YouTube tonight

Today is the big day! For those of you in the U.S., today means any number of things -- the end of "I approve this message", an hour off from work to vote, or simply the day when the country chooses its leader for the next four years. Regardless, it’s a day we’ve all been waiting for and the suspense is almost over.

After you’ve come back from your local polling place, settle in with YouTube and watch the results come in. We’ll have live coverage on the YouTube Elections Hub starting at 7 p.m. ET, when the first polls close on the East Coast. Follow along as the votes are counted, and watch live-stream coverage from ABC News, Al Jazeera, Larry King, the New York Times, Phil DeFranco, Univision, and the Wall Street Journal until the next President is named.

We’ll also have a live results map featuring real-time updates from the Associated Press -- you’ll be able to visualize and interact with the Electoral College map, as well keep track of the popular vote breakdown throughout the evening. 

Ward Bullard, YouTube Elections Team, recently watched Robot Video Game Presidents?!

Documenting your vote: send us your videos

Tomorrow, voters across the United States will head to the polls to cast their ballot in the 2012 election. Regardless of whether you’re a veteran or first-time voter, taking part in the electoral process is a powerful experience, and one that we know many of you will document in some way, just like you did in 2008.

We want to see and hear from you tomorrow. Whether you’re vlogging about which candidate you support, capturing footage of the long line at your polling place, or encouraging your friends to get out of the house and go vote, we’re inviting you to send us your Election Day videos. You can either tweet them to @YouTubePolitics or include #YouTubePolitics in the video title, and a selection will be featured on the YouTube Elections Hub.

Be sure to check your state law for guidelines about what polling place activities are allowed where you live, and consult the Citizen Media Law Project’s Documenting Your Vote project before bringing your camera to your voting location.

Looking for a place to watch the returns come in? The YouTube Elections Hub will feature live coverage from ABC News, Al Jazeera, Larry King, New York Times and BuzzFeed, Phil DeFranco, Univision, and the Wall Street Journal. So you won’t have to go anywhere else to watch all different perspectives, all in one place.

Olivia Ma, YouTube News & Politics, recently watched “Political Kombat ‘12: Obama vs Romney”

RichardGaleFilms is October’s YouTube Partner On The Rise!

Congrats to Richard Gale from RichardGaleFilms, which is YouTube’s “On The Rise” spotlight partner this October. Richard’s channel is featured today on the YouTube homepage, thanks to your support and his strong channel optimization efforts.

A three-time Emmy award winner, Richard has been writing, directing, and producing films and TV shows for decades. His work spans a variety of genres including documentaries, suspense thrillers, parodies and comedy, as well as horror. Richard’s most recent project, the comedic horror short film, ‘The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon,’ has received multiple film festival awards and driven his YouTube viewership as well. The short film’s legacy lives on in a YouTube mini-series about the main character, Jack, and you'll just have to check out the channel to see how the story evolves.



Here are a few words from Richard himself:

I became a YouTube partner almost by accident--as a filmmaker making shorts for film festivals, I had a 10-minute comedy about a killer with a spoon (Horribly Slow Murderer) that had completed its festival run, and I uploaded it to hopefully give it some additional exposure. To my astonishment, the short went viral, and was seen by more people in one day than in a year of film festivals. So we expanded the story into a series, and it continues to develop a dedicated following. We are extremely grateful to all of our awesome fans and supporters, who voted for our channel and continue to enjoy our films. Thank you!!!!! We've got exciting things on the horizon, so stay spooned!

If you’ve enjoyed this monthly On The Rise blog series and want to see more rising YouTube partners, check out our On The Rise channel. Keep an eye out for next month’s blog post, as your channel may be the next one On The Rise!

Christine Wang and Devon Storbeck, YouTube Content Partnerships, recently watched “Please Move The Deer Crossing.”

Ads Worth Spreading

I’m often asked what makes an ad great. For anyone managing a business, they will often tell me a great ad is one that drives sales for the brand.  And while driving sales is usually the business objective, I think many of us would agree as consumers, that a lot of the ads we see are effective but they are not truly great and worth spreading. At times, we discover an ad that helps build the brand, helps drive sales and inspires something deeper and more meaningful in the world in which we live. One of my favorite examples right now is this ad from Coca-Cola.

Clearly, something deeper than just sales must be considered.  How can you get people to truly take notice your brand?  Rally a community around your ideas?  How can you shape a movement that is both commercially successful and adds value to the world?  In the words of TED curator Chris Anderson, how do you create ads so good that people choose to watch and share?

TED Ads Worth Spreading exists to bring clarity to these questions, and award those that transcend typical advertising by developing content with a greater purpose - ads that can spark change, raise awareness or create new ways of thinking.

For the third year, YouTube has teamed up with TED to support their Ads Worth Spreading initiative, a global search for the 10 most compelling ad campaigns of the year.  The challenge reinforces TED’s overall mission of “ideas worth spreading” and YouTube’s belief in connecting brand’s ads with the people that will love them the most.

To help answer the question of what makes ads great, today TED released a report summarizing the findings from Ads Worth Spreading to date.  

For some great examples of what ads can be, check out this playlist  of the 10 of the winning ads from last year’s program, as well as interviews with the winners.  We are very excited to be part of this program again, and look forward to sharing the 2013 winners when they are announced at the annual TED conference in February.

Lucas Watson, VP Video Sales, recently watched “The Donation Army”.

The election seen around the world on YouTube

Throughout the 2012 election, we’ve been bringing the most important events of the political calendar to you on YouTube, no matter where you are in the world or how you’re accessing the internet. As we enter the final days of this election, people across the U.S. -- and the world -- are watching.

Live streamed on YouTube for the first time in 2012, the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates of the past month were viewed live by people in 215 countries and territories around the world. In total, the four debates drew 24 million views on YouTube.

While the U.S. was the clear leader in live stream views, people from Portugal to Paraguay, Australia to Austria watched Obama and Romney go head to head live on YouTube. Below is the breakdown of countries with the most viewership of the debate live streams: 

1. United States
2. Canada
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
5. United Kingdom
6. Mexico
7. Brazil
8. Singapore
9. Japan
10. France

The worldwide interest didn’t stop with the live streams. The New York Times’ uploads of the first three debates have seen close to 13 million views, making them the most-viewed videos on their channel ever. Outside the United States, these videos have been viewed most heavily in the U.K, Canada, India, Germany, Australia and France -- with almost half the views coming from outside the U.S.

From the beginning of the 2012 election, we’ve seen people from all corners of the world watch and comment on the race. Now, as the final moments tick by, it’s becoming even clearer that no matter where you live, you can access the most important moments of the election on the YouTube Elections Hub. Tune in on Election Night (November 6) during primetime for real-time results and full live coverage from eight different partners including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Phil DeFranco, Al Jazeera, Univision, ABC News and Larry King.

Ramya Raghavan, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched “Complete Third Presidential Debate.”

Watch the final debate moments unfold live on YouTube

Tonight, President Obama and Governor Romney will square off in their final presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, and once again, you can watch all the action live on the YouTube Elections Hub starting at 9 p.m. ET.

CBS News anchor Bob Schieffer will moderate the debate, which will have a special emphasis on foreign policy. Curious about what to watch for? This segment from ABC News’ “This Week” offers a preview of tonight’s event:



But that’s not all. Tomorrow night, Larry King will host a special debate between several of the the third-party candidates running for President -- Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode, and Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party. The debate will be streamed live at 9:00 pm ET on the Ora TV YouTube channel. Al Jazeera English will also carry the debate live on their YouTube channel, and coverage from both partners will be available on youtube.com/politics.

As we head into the homestretch of the 2012 election, tune into these important debate moments live on YouTube to yourself about the issues and find out how all of the candidates stack up against each other.

Ramya Raghavan, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched “President Gaga.”