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YouTube Cuts Off Funding for News Channels

Jan 22, 2013  •  Post A Comment

YouTube has cut off its funding of two news channels, PandoDaily.com reports. The channels have been run by The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

Reuters has reportedly cut positions in response to the move.

The cutbacks come after YouTube said it would reinvest in only 40% of the 160 or so channels it invested in as part of a $150 million plan to debut more than 100 premium channels, according to the report.

The Wall Street Journal’s YouTube channel attracts viewership in the 500,000 to 1 million range, while Reuters was drawing about 200,000 to 400,000 viewers. Some of the most popular channels draw between 3 million and 7 million viewers, the piece adds.

YouTube hasn’t said why it’s cutting funding to the news sites, but other networks, including those run by Vice and The Young Turks, are still being funded, the story says.

“The YouTube unit at Reuters consisted of 18 people, most of whom were freelancers and contractors,” the story reports, adding that Friday, Jan. 18, was their last day on the job. “The cutbacks follow Tuesday’s [Jan. 15] news of nine editorial layoffs at the news organization, a move attributed to the company’s need to focus attention on its ‘global cost structure.’”

 

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