This Month in YouTube: November 2009

What *else* went down on the site, aside from people searching for "Tiger Woods"?

1. YouTube Direct: Now media orgs can easily rebroadcast UGC clips
As YouTube has become a global platform for sharing the news, media organizations have been looking for a good way to connect directly with citizen reporters on our site so they can broadcast this footage and bring it to a larger audience. Enter YouTube Direct, a new tool that allows media companies to request, review and rebroadcast YouTube clips directly from YouTube users. Built from our APIs, this open-source application lets media orgs enable customized versions of YouTube's upload platform on their own websites. Read more about it here.

2. 1080p launches
YouTube's HD mode now supports viewing videos in 720p or 1080p, depending on the resolution of the original source, up from our maximum output of 720p. For viewers with big monitors and a fast computer, try switching to 1080p to get the most out of the fullscreen experience. Compare the difference in resolution in this blog announcement.

3. Iraqi government comes to YouTube
On November 25, the Iraqi government launched a YouTube channel at youtube.com/iraqigov, joining other governments, heads of state, and leaders from around the world, including the Pope, the Royal Family, and Queen Rania, and presidents from the United States, France, South Korea and Estonia. Learn more in this video from Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

4. Auto-Tune it!
Auto-Tune is a proprietary voice processor that makes anyone sound like a smooth hip-hopper (T-Pain, to be exact) and it's become a huge phenomenon on YouTube. For the scoop on how it came to be, ROCKETBOOM recruited "Weird Al" Yankovic to provide this entertaining history of the meme. Speaking of which: subscribe to the Gregory Brother's "Auto-Tune the News" channel, a classic of the genre.

5. Gonzo et al. go gangbusters
Muppets + Queen = Viral hit. Enjoy the video already consumed 9 million times: presenting..."The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody."



Posted by Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager