YouTube to refocus on Channels?

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is planning on refocusing YouTube on specific channels, to make it into something more resembling an online TV or Cable network. The reason is simply that while YouTube’s total traffic dwarfs all other video services, sites like Netflix and Hulu receive substantially more time spent viewing. The new YouTube will feature a home page that highlights a set of channels around various topics.

Presumably, these channels will end up being stickier than the current YouTube all-things-to-all-people design. Currently, YouTube is caught between its UGC free-for-all and professionally produced content. So far, Google has been reluctant to structure any kind of subscription service, thus they’ve not entered into the kinds of deals that Netflix has done with its recent acquisition of Madmen. The changes to YouTube are expected to be rolled out slowly this year.