YouTube Hires Former MTV Executive to Create Original Content

Daniels will manage the YouTube Originals development pipeline and oversee production, the video-sharing website said.

She will join as vice president, YouTube Originals and report to Robert Kyncl, head of content & business operations at YouTube.

YouTube's competitors Netflix and Amazon are getting aggressive toward producing original online series and independent low-budget films as traditional media outlets suffer from dwindling audience numbers and falling advertising revenue.

Earlier this year, Amazon announced its plans to produce close to 12 movies a year with budgets of between $5 million (roughly Rs. 31 crores) and $25 million (roughly Rs. 159 crores). This was announced shortly after the e-commerce company signed director Woody Allen to create a TV series.

Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion (roughly Rs. 10,507 crores) in a stock-for-stock transaction.

YouTube earlier this week started rolling out an updated version of the YouTube app for Android, which fits vertical videos. Earlier this month, Google brought the 60 frames per second (fps) video playback feature to its Android and iOS apps. The feature was first rolled out for desktop users and was initially supported by Chrome and Safari browsers.

With the rollout of 60fps live-streaming, any live stream on YouTube at 60fps was transcoded into stream of 720p60 and 1080p60, which showed up smooth playback for gaming and fast-paced video. Last month, Google launched the YouTube Newswire. The initiative will draw on user-contributed videos on YouTube such as those which have been important sources for events such as the Arab Spring uprisings and protests in Ferguson, Missouri.

Written with inputs from Reuters