YouTube Adds Full-Length Television Shows 197
thefickler writes "YouTube has moved to put full-length television shows on its site for the first time. Historically, YouTube has hosted a bewildering and attractive variety of video clips, the vast majority of which have been under ten minutes in length. YouTube has announced that it had finalized a deal with CBS to offer shows such as Star Trek, MacGyver, Beverly Hills 90210, and The Young and the Restless. I can't wait to watch The Young and the Restless!"
Still using Flash (Score:5, Interesting)
What Next? (Score:5, Interesting)
Censorship Sucks. (Score:2, Interesting)
Please no (Score:4, Interesting)
With short clips the YouTube UI is bad enough. For full-length TV shows I want:
- a UI that can be controlled from arbitrary input devices, e.g. an IR remote and rotary controller (Griffin Powermate). Sitting at your computer doesn't cut it, I want control from my comfy chair.
- a full-featured UI with controls for skip forward/reverse (at short/long intervals), aspect ratio, mute, etc.
Basically, I want the VLC UI.
Re:As a non-american... (Score:2, Interesting)
I was totally agreeing with until I saw my young niece watch some children serie through youtube without even bothering to put it full screen...not that she's technologically impaired but it's only that she was instant messaging around, browsing and "studying" in the meantime.
I don't think that's the point here... (Score:3, Interesting)
But that's not the point here : the important thing is that they're streaming full episodes, legally, on youtube. That's a change in policy, it sets a good precedent, and it could even help to make the average consumer think about so-called piracy ("why can't I download it off mininova if I can watch it on youtube?").
So while the low res might make it less appealing to the average nerd, it's still a Good Thing. (although the region locking is rubbish)
Re:As a non-american... (Score:3, Interesting)
The videos are still encoded to 480x360 at the most. That's hardly "better than TV".
-uso.
It's at a point where with most shows it really doesn't matter. It's not like TV was the lowest point you could possibly go to make out what's going on.
This conversation is academic anyway. If YouTube is going to compete with Hulu AND with its users, chances are the quality will be higher than what they have right now. You're better off waiting-and-seeing than saying you don't like the numbers and never checking it out.
Re:As a non-american... (Score:3, Interesting)
Your "nearly perfect" solution seems way more complicated than necessary but to each his own.
As for my "bet" maybe you need to practice on google searching, I did a single search and found this
http://www.freeproxy.info/en/free_proxy/cgi-proxy.htm [freeproxy.info]
The few I tried worked right off the bat.
I suppose doing something like TOR might work too.. though you might not get a US proxy I suppose. Maybe their are config options? I've never even downloaded it or seen it in use.
Re:Region-locking is an abomination. (Score:3, Interesting)
Ya know, it's only been three years since ABC first started putting television shows online. And it was only a "limited test" because they were afraid it would hurt their Nielsen Ratings for over-the-air television. They thought the internet might cause financial losses.
We've come a long way since those dark days when networks were afraid of the internet.
Re:Still using Flash (Score:3, Interesting)