YouTube ventures into live event webcasting

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES, Nov 10 (Reuters) - YouTube will venture into webcasting later this month, in an effort to take the video sharing Web site's popularity to a new level by showcasing the talent behind its most viewed videos.

The site, owned by search giant Google Inc. (GOOG.O), has matured from Web start-up and video fad to a site with loyal fans. But as any good TV industry executive will say, it needs to begin producing new and fresh content to keep its audience.

So, on Nov. 22 in San Francisco, it is launching "YouTube Live," a show featuring well-known stars such as rapper Will.i.Am and singer Katy Perry and YouTube sensations like 20-year-old Esmee Denters, who posted video of herself covering popular songs and became a star on the World Wide Web.

YouTube executives said the show will feature performers who are popular with the site's users, a community that has already held unofficial events and whom the company wants to reach by streaming a live show for the first time.

"The value of YouTube is we've created this platform that's been driven by the community, so this is in reaction to that," said YouTube spokesman Chris Di Cesare "Having a community event that the community values benefits all involved."

Since its inception in 2005, YouTube has been a repository for all kinds of Internet videos, from snippets of TV shows to off-beat demonstrations of skills such as cup-stacking to serious campaign ads in the recent U.S. presidential election.

But as other sites have found, Web surfers can be a fickle bunch of fans and keeping them on your site -- which is what advertisers pay for -- is a daunting task.

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