YouTube wrapped up its week by making YouTube Live a permanent fixture of its service. The once test-only service will now always be available and both show whichever shows are live now as well as allow marking events on the calendar to watch later. Subscriptions notify viewers of streams that are coming up, not just once they’ve been posted.
The introduction was matched by a beta platform for live video recording. Its test version will let some YouTube partners with accounts “in good standing” broadcast live on their own. Its expansion would widen to cover “thousands” of partners in the months ahead to make sure the streaming was smooth.
YouTube’s entry into the category comes relatively late versus services like Justin.tv, Qik, and Ustream that have made their businesses on live streaming.
