Report: YouTube begins experimenting with long-form video

Short clips have always been YouTube's bread and butter, but with the company struggling to generate revenue, the Web's No. 1 video-sharing site is experimenting with long-form videos.

YouTube has for a long time allowed several videographers with a YouTube director's account to post videos longer than the standard 10-minute maximum allowed on the site.

But the company now seems more serious about offering long-form videos more widely. During the Los Angeles Film Festival this week, YouTube began pitching independent directors about showcasing their work on the site, according to a story published Wednesday at the Web site of Fortune magazine.

Examples of clips available on the site that already surpass the 10-minute limit are an entire episode from Showtime Network's The Tudors, a series about Elizabethan England, and a 90-minute comedy called Howard Buttelman, Daredevil Stuntman. YouTube was not immediately available for comment

The experiments with longer videos come as YouTube struggles to cash in on its huge audience. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said this several times this year, and lifting the length of videos means that YouTube may get a crack at full-length TV shows and films.

[geek20]

with seetoo.com there are NO limits and the videos are shared immediately.

[eBob1]

I thought that YouTube originally allowed people to upload any length of video that they wanted. They limited videos to ten minutes in an attempt to keep people from posting entire episodes of television shows. Of course, people got around that by posting shows in several parts.

[kieranmullen]

Could you please cite the source where you found out they were "struggling?" Many of google's ventures have yet to make any money for the company, yet this one has.
KieranMullen
360Oregon.com

[markforstneger]

I know of a YouTube video that's 54 minutes long. It was posted almost two years ago. When did the 10-minute rule go into effect?

[smokified]

They are going to nullify any revenue increase due to the added costs in infrasturcture that will be necessary to store and provide that kind of data.

[inachu]

I've been trying to post a video of mine and only been able to post 1 video that was under 2 minutes and using the same file type youtube refuses to host a file that IS rated G and is just a video of some things I did while in china. Why one moment the file type is ok then the same file type later is denied? They do not post clear info on the exact video file info on what is allwed so I can do a succeful upload so it can play.

WHY WHY WHY? Its been 1 year since I tried posting any other video because of this issue.

[tekwiz4u]

YouTube is filled with videos of kids spewing out milk from their nose, copied 'Jackass' tricks, and brawls. I dont know what made Yahoo think it'll make money for them. No one is going to sit thru a 2 minute video of utter stupidity unless you're going to brag about it to classmates.