YouTube eyes broadcast sector with new product

The launch of the local domain www.youtube.co.ke, will allow Kenyans to find homegrown, local content, writes JEVANS NYABIAGE

Google has unveiled the localised version of video sharing site—YouTube in Kenya, as it moves to stamp its dominance in the Internet space.

The launch of the local domain www.youtube.co.ke, will allow Kenyans to find homegrown, local content, more easily as well as to find videos that are currently popular in Kenya.

Content uploaded by users in Kenya will show up as browse pages on the YouTube Kenya site creating a new virtual space for the national community and giving Kenyan users the opportunity to increase exposure.

"We have remarkable reserves of information in Kenya, from music, educational clips, and news," said Olga Arara-Kimani, Google Kenya country manager.

"With a localised YouTube, Kenyans will connect and use this information more easily."

YouTube is localised in 33 countries in 52 languages. In Kenya, the site is available both in English and Kiswahili.

Kenya is the fourth in Africa to have a localised YouTube after South Africa, Egypt and Tunisia.

According to Tel Sela, YouTube partnership manager for Africa and Israel, non-US traffic continues to grow, now at over 70 per cent, which has led to the need to localise the site.

"More and more Kenyans are going online, in creating a platform like this, we expect users to get content they can identify with in the near future," he said at the launch of the site on Wednesday evening at Tribe Hotel.

However, YouTube will have to battle it out with local techies who are also testing waters in the social media business.

One such, www.naibase.com is a local video-sharing site competing for the same business with YouTube. The site allows users to upload any number of videos for free. It targets advertisement on the site to generate its income.

"What we are going through is a revolution," Information PS Dr Bitange Ndemo said, "There is huge hunger for content in Africa, and there is room for everyone. Through social media, every citizen of the world is being empowered," Ndemo said.

"Governments must realise this...we have seen this happen in North Africa," he said, adding that once the government puts up the super-fast fourth-generation (4G) networks, Kenya will be among the best-networked countries in the world.

Google, the tech giant that revolutionised the Internet web search and changed the mobile phone landscape with its Android operating system, literally controls lives.

From news on Google News, email on Gmail, calls on Google Android phone to directions on Google Maps, watching videos on YouTube and organising documents of Google documents, Google wants to own your every waking minute online.

It has done well in pushing its web and mobile applications agenda in Africa, aggressively recruiting for the African unit and scouting for local talent through boot camps, universities and fairs.

In the past week, the focus shifted to videos/live stream content, a move that is expected to give television stations a run for their advertising pie.

In April, YouTube streamed live Britain’s royal wedding, marking the beginning of the end for traditional broadcast.

The search engine giant streamed the wedding live on YouTube to millions of viewers across the world. It’s estimated that as many as 400 million people logged onto YouTube to watch the royal wedding.

Live streaming

What Google proved was that hundreds of millions of people could log onto the service at the same time and watch live streaming with only a few hiccups.

Other recent live-streamed events are Austin City limits, Copa America and Space shuttle astronaut interview.

Local top users of YouTube channels are KTN, NTV, Citizen TV, Homeboyz Entertainment and many others.

There are also rumours Google wants to offer streamed on-demand Hollywood flicks directly to consumers for a fee.

This means that the firm is getting its hands stuck firmly into the broadcasting space. Broadcasters could soon have a serious new rival chasing after the limited pool of advertising dollars.

That’s Google for you. The firm, which a few years ago, a pair of students at Stanford University invented and but the likes of AltaVista, Excite, Yahoo and the other big players of cyberspace, refused to buy.

Thirteen years later, the company is valued at tens of billions of dollars and employs thousands worldwide, and it has overtaken those firms that refused to acquire it.

Back in Nairobi, Google is on a new mission: it wants more Kenyans to watch or upload more video content online on YouTube, in its bid to drive up advertising revenues.

Three former PayPal employees — Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jewed Karim —created YouTube in February 2005.

In November 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion, and now operates as a subsidiary of Google.

Since Jawed Karim uploaded the first YouTube video — Me at the Zoo, at 8:27 pm on Saturday, April 23, 2005, the Google subsidiary has recorded exponential growth. As the first video, it went into books of history in its role in changing how people consumed media and helped usher in a new era in video sharing.

The site has grown rapidly, with more than 3 billion views per day, the equivalent of nearly half of the world’s population watching YouTube video daily.

There are more than 400 million mobile views a day using mobile phones. About 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month.

YouTube is available on 350 million devices (PCs, tablets, mobile phones, smart televisions).

Just from the recent All-Africa Games in Mozambique, Julius Yego won a surprise gold medal in the javelin, having perfected his art by watching YouTube.

Having traveled to the Mozambican capital without a coach, 24-year old policeman Julius Yego hurled the javelin at 78.34m to strike gold ahead of the more experienced pair of South Africa’s silver medalist Bernard Crous (72.68m) and Nigeria’s bronze medal winner Friday Osanyade (71.01m).

"There is nobody who can coach us in Kenya," lamented the self-taught thrower who nearly missed selection for the national squad. "I go on to YouTube to see what people are doing."

Global reach

Yego relied on watching the likes of Norwegian star and Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen on YouTube to perfect his art of the throw, and found his mobile phone handy before competitions, logging onto YouTube to get "coaching" ahead of competition.

Also during Wednesday’s launch, there was another unique group — the Tofo Tofo dancers from Mozambique. Their success is attributed to YouTube to some extent.

The three-member dance troupe had uploaded in YouTube a performance from a wedding ceremony in Mozambique.

Beyonce, an international superstar was impressed with the men. It took Beyonce almost two months as well as the assistance of the embassy in order to track down the dancers since the area they live in is very remote.

She flew them to US in order for them to teach her some of their moves. They went ahead to perform in Beyonce’s new video for Run the World (Girls), putting Africa once again in the spotlight.

In Kenya, Mike Rybar of HomeBoyz Entertainment, who has been in the music business for more than a decade, starting as a DJ, previously, he says he had to wait for videos to be shipped in. These days, videos are available online as they launch.

"It is a total change...we can stream straight into our studios," Rybar said, with Daniel Muli, of Just a Band adding, "YouTube has changed the situation...in the old-school days, it was very tedious." Just a Band was behind the viral Makmende.

"We now reach the Diaspora market very easily. YouTube is big to us," said Clement Rapudo of Calif Records.

"YouTube opens up endless possibilities and gives people the power to broadcast themselves," said Amani, a Kenyan artiste.

"It has helped me link with partners, sponsors and most importantly local and international fans. It is also a great way to see what other artistes are doing."