After much delay, millions on YouTube finally watched Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner parachute from a balloon capsule at 128,000 feet and break a world record this past Sunday. Not only did Baumgartner celebrate his achievement, YouTube also had a reason to celebrate. At more than 8 million views, YouTube’s livestream of the event was the most watched ever, beating the previous record-holder, the 2012 Olympic games, by 7.5 million views.
Expect More and More Livestreams, But Few Records
I predict that with Baumgartner’s jump, more creators will find live streams useful to promote an event like a Q&A or a live concert. This will create hype for their own brand and keep their fan base tuned in. The downside is that with many creators likely jumping on the live stream bandwagon, they shouldn’t hold their breath on getting millions of views, which brings me to my next point.
It Won’t Change People’s YouTube Habits Overnight
Since YouTube is designed for people to watch what they want, whenever they want, people who miss the live stream can always watch a replay. Realistically, it’s hard for a creator to get millions of views simultaneously on a live stream unless they’re breaking a world record. Still, it’s shouldn’t be hard for creators to have realistic goals and heavily promote their event through social media and other channels. It’s also important for creators to offer either a recap or a full recording of the live stream for their viewers as soon as the event is finished. Just because they’re not watching the live stream doesn’t mean they don’t want to watch it at all.
A Potential Money Tree
After Baumgartner’s stunt proved that the impossible can be possible, advertisers may become more interested in putting ads on future YouTube live streams, especially concerts or sporting events. Expect advertisers to either sponsor live streams or have live streams with commercial breaks in the future.
[…] through crafting events rather than just pre-recorded videos. Take Red Bull’s live stream of the Felix Baumgartner supersonic freefall for example. The event shattered live stream records and set the standard for the viral status a […]
[…] Share on TumblrRed Bull may be known for its energy drinks and and sponsorship of daredevils like Felix Baumgartner in breaking world records, but they’ve also branched into online video by launching the first […]
[…] Angeles TimesSpace Freefall Breaks YouTube Live Streaming RecordsWorld Internet TV on PC (blog)What Baumgartner's Record-Breaking Jump Means For YouTube's Live …NewMediaRockstarsAll Things Digital -BBC Newsall 6,946 news […]
[…] Felix Baumgartner Jump Shows YouTube's Live Video StrengthAll Things DigitalSo it doesn't take much imagination to envision YouTube doing this kind of stuff, at this scale, on a regular basis. Which would mean the Web finally has a chance to rival TV when it comes to serving up live events with huge audiences — one of TV's …Felix Baumgartner jump: record 8m watch live on YouTubeThe GuardianWhat Baumgartner's Record-Breaking Jump Means For YouTube's …NewMediaRockstars […]
[…] Share on TumblrYouTube will be giving creators more flexibility with their annotations in the future, according to YouTube […]