YouTube appeals to citizen journalists

YouTube is releasing a new video platform called YouTube Direct, with the hope of leveraging YouTube's popularity to help media organisations with their video needs, reports Channel Web.

YouTube Direct invites citizen journalists to submit amateur video content to news organisations, allowing those organisations to "request, review and rebroadcast" the material.

"Built from our APIs, this open source application lets media organisations enable customised versions of YouTube's upload platform on their own Web sites," reads the official YouTube blog.

Ericsson announced its first deal with a television broadcaster in a move that highlights the accelerating pace of convergence between the media and telecommunications industries, says Financial Times.

The 10-year contract to provide television transmission services to TV4, one of the biggest broadcasters in the Nordic region, opens up a new market for Ericsson as the Swedish company faces increasing competition in its core wireless network business.

“Telecoms and media are coming much closer together so this was a natural step,” says Hans Vestberg, Ericsson's CFO and incoming chief executive. “We see broadcast providers being our next customers.”

Cable TV operator Comcast is expected to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal, reports the Associated Press.

Vivendi SA has an option to sell its 20% stake in NBC Universal. Majority owner General Electric is expected to buy the stake and then sell a 51% stake of the entire NBC Universal unit to Comcast.

By owning more content, Comcast can maintain itself as a distributor of shows in case viewers ditch their cable TV subscriptions and migrate to the Internet or mobile devices. The company could charge for the shows or sell ads wherever the viewers are.