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What do you get when you combine world-famous comedians with the world’s biggest video-sharing site? OK, you guessed it: YouTube Comedy Week. But Comedy Week is about a lot more than simply bringing together comedy’s best and brightest for an online celebration of funny.

This week we also connected with YouTube’s biggest comedy fans. We decided to shine our spotlight on seven "Super Fans": Zach, Christine, Mavis, Lo, Jesse, Mike and Jack (the 14-year-old "Britain’s Got Talent" comedian whose first YouTube video got more than 3 million views).























To thank these loyal YouTubers for being so awesome, we brought them to L.A. to be part of the Big Live Comedy Show on Sunday, May 19. We gave them a special VIP experience that included a glamorous walk down the Red Carpet, a backstage tour, and tickets to the Big Live Comedy Show and the after party.


















The Super Seven dropped everything and flew in from all over the country (and world) to attend: the U.K., New Jersey, South and North Carolina, and Washington state. They came together for their love of YouTube comedy, and they were not disappointed. The day was full of smiles, vines, tweets and videos as they met their favorite comedians, including (but not limited to!) Smosh, Hannibal Buress, Reggie Watts, JASH, Tim and Eric, Skrillex and "Workaholics." At the end of the night, they tore up the dance floor with countless Comedy Week performers.

Wish you could’ve been there too? Don’t get us wrong, we love ALL our comedy fans, and we’re still looking for more YouTubers to show us just how much they love laughing … from the comfort of their own home. Want to be involved with Comedy Week? Here’s how:

1. Create a Top 10 list of your favorite YouTube Comedy Week videos and tweet it out to us @YouTube #ComedyWeek.
2. Show us your best spit take, and post the video to #SpitTake. We’ll highlight the funniest and most creative renditions.

There’s a world of amazing comedy out there, and it’s all coming together for one side-splitting week. Be sure to keep laughing--and keep us laughing.

Marion Dickson Waelchli, YouTube Global Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Lead, recently watched "DJ Play My Song (Now Leave Me Alone)" by The Gregory Brothers, ft. PSY.

Social media has dramatically changed the way we get to interact with our favorite musicians, actors, artists and athletes, so it makes sense that any awards ceremony celebrating social media also needs to flip the standard red carpet affair on its head. Tonight’s first-ever Social Star Awards in Singapore is attempting such a feat—running an awards program for a full 24 hours via social media. Forget a few dozen statues going out to some lucky winners. How about a whopping 288 awards, one awarded every five minutes, recognizing everything from top actors and athletes to favorite songs and sports teams. And all that ends with a splash: a live two-hour show full of musical performances and celebrity drop-ins.

For those who can’t be there live to watch at Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel, YouTube is partnering with Starcount to exclusively live stream the whole show on www.youtube.com/starcount. The broadcast will kick off on May 23 at 9 p.m. Singapore Time (6 a.m. PST) with a red carpet awards ceremony where Aerosmith, Cee Lo Green, Carly Rae Jepsen and PSY come on stage to play their hit tunes. From there, you can expect appearances and award presentations from some of YouTube’s most famous faces, including Ryan Higa, HIKAKIN, PewDiePie, and Natalie Tran.

With so many awards being handed out, you may be asking, what does it take for me to win a Social Star Award? Check out this video to see some of YouTube’s top talent like Epic Meal Time and DeStorm give a one-of-kind training on how to become a social star.



Whether you’re tuning in for the whole show or just dropping by to check out your personal favorites on stage, we look forward to seeing you soon over at www.youtube.com/starcount.

Benjamin Grubbs, Asia Pacific Head of Partner Marketing, YouTube, recently watched David Choi & HIKAKIN’s "You Were My Friend (Original) Unplugged."

When YouTube’s site first launched in May 2005, we never could have imagined the endless ways in which you would inspire, inform and entertain us every day.

Today, more than 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s more than four days of video uploaded each minute! Every month, more than 1 billion people come to YouTube to access news, answer questions and have a little fun. That’s almost one out of every two people on the Internet.

Millions of partners are creating content for YouTube and more than 1,000 companies worldwide have mandated a one-hour mid-day break to watch nothing but funny YouTube videos. Well, we made that last stat up, but that would be cool (the other stats are true).

Over the years, you’ve continued to surprise and delight us. And the past year was no exception. Who would have guessed that a tux-rocking K-pop star would shatter records left and right or that Sesame Street would go global with 1 billion views? That’s one of our favorite things about our global audience: you’re as unpredictable as you are creative and irreverent. Keeping that in mind (and in theme with our first-ever Comedy Week), we have a video to share celebrating funny moments in YouTube history:


And so, this Monday, on our eighth birthday, we’d like to thank you for making YouTube the special place that it is. For showing us how video can create connections, transcend borders and make a difference. For clicking these links even if you aren’t sure what they’ll be, but you trust us. In short, thanks for making us better in big ways and small ones, too. We can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

The YouTube Team, recently watched “Super Pastry Cake - Epic Meal Time.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Lonely Island guys, and a cat called Lil Bub all walk into a bar. Know what happens next?

OK, neither do we. Luckily, we’ve enlisted more than 150 of the biggest names in comedy to join us for the first-ever YouTube Comedy Week. From May 19-25, YouTube will bring comedy creators and fans together for a series of live shows, new episodes from popular channels, curated lists from a range of stars and more.

Some YouTubers collaborated on videos that give you a sneak peek of what’s in store for YouTube Comedy Week, brought to you by the Governator himself. Someone also known as the most muscular man in the world, the man who kills bad guys and predators, and most importantly, a comedy connoisseur.



And there’s more where that came from. On Sunday, May 19, at 6 p.m. PT, we’ll kick things off with “The Big Live Comedy Show,” a global live stream in which featured comedians will do a mix of stand-up, sketches and musical performances. During the live event, and throughout the rest of Comedy Week, you’ll see videos from stars including Rainn Wilson, Ryan Higa, Smosh, The Lonely Island, Vince Vaughn, The Fine Bros, The Gregory Brothers, The Onion, CollegeHumor, Daily Grace, Epic Meal Time, Epic Rap Battles of History, Tobuscus, Sarah Silverman and Michael Cera of JASH and many more.

So check out the YouTube Comedy Week channel to watch tons of stuff that will make you laugh. This better be funny.

The YouTube Comedy Week Team recently watched “Between Two Ferns / Spring Break Anthem.”

We’ve been building a YouTube partner program since 2007 that enables content creators to earn revenue for their creativity. We’ve watched them build amazing channels that have made YouTube into a news, education and entertainment destination 1 billion people around the world cannot do without.

Today, there are more than 1 million channels generating revenue on YouTube, and one of the most frequent requests we hear from these creators behind them is for more flexibility in monetizing and distributing content. We’ve been working on that and wanted to fill you in on what to expect.

Starting today, we’re launching a pilot program for a small group of partners that will offer paid channels on YouTube with subscription fees starting at $0.99 per month. Every channel has a 14-day free trial, and many offer discounted yearly rates. For example, Sesame Street will be offering full episodes on their paid channel when it launches. And UFC fans can see classic fights, like a full version of their first event from UFC’s new channel. You might run into more of these channels across YouTube, or look here for a list of pilot channels. Once you subscribe from a computer, you’ll be able to watch paid channels on your computer, phone, tablet and TV, and soon you’ll be able to subscribe to them from more devices.



This is just the beginning. We’ll be rolling paid channels out more broadly in the coming weeks as a self-service feature for qualifying partners. And as new channels appear, we'll be making sure you can discover them, just as we've been helping you find and subscribe to all the channels you love across YouTube. Just as the partner program empowered creators to take their channels to the next level, we look forward to seeing how this great community of creators moves ahead with a new way to reach the fan communities that made their channels a hit. You’ll be hearing more from us, and them, as we get creator and user feedback and build out this exciting offering.

If you’re a YouTube creator interested in building your own paid channel, let us know here. 

The YouTube Team

In our monthly On The Rise program, we identify four partners whose channels drive significant YouTube watch time but haven’t yet reached the 100,000 subscriber mark. Thanks to your help, we’re sharing four partners who each drive a lot of watch time on YouTube but still have a ways to go before they hit that milestone. This May, our nominees have had their viewers glued to the screen with videos about paranormal activity, the balance of baking and exercise, reptile behavior, and all kinds of creative crafting.

And they could use your help! You can help these nominees jumpstart their audience development and channel growth. Review their videos below, vote for your favorite here, and one of these candidates will have the opportunity to be featured across YouTube later this month. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner we’ll feature.

In past months, featured On The Rise partners like manjulaskitchen and psychosoprano have gained many subscribers and seen their careers take off, in large part due to your support. This month’s poll will be open until May 15, 5 p.m. PT, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see which channel will be featured on May 28.

hauntedsunshinegirl
Sunshine has been documenting paranormal activity at her house for several years, sharing her haunted videos on YouTube. If you’re into mysteries, ghosts or demons, this is the channel for you.

 

CupcakesandCardio
You’ll find some cardio tips and hiking trip videos along with baking and cupcake decorating tutorials on Jenn’s channel. She also hosts a Backpack Baking series where she bakes sweet treats in the great outdoors with her backpacking oven.

 

ojatro
“The hunt is on” over at Heiko Kiera’s YouTube channel, which features all kinds of reptiles. A wildlife videographer both by trade and by passion, Heiko creates videos he hopes will dispel rumors and misunderstanding about fascinating animals like snakes, alligators and crocodiles.

 

mommycraftsalot
Linda is a mom of four who has a knack for crafting. You’ll find tutorials on making hair bows for different occasions, jewelry, and other creative projects from everyday items. Her kids even make a guest appearance in a few of her videos!

 

If you’re interested in participating or have suggestions for partners you think should be featured, you can nominate a YouTube partner to be considered for the “On The Rise” program. You can also check out some of our Google Hangouts with past featured partners on the YouTube Creators channel. 

Devon Storbeck and Christine Wang, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “Maker vs Marker.”

It has been an exciting year of growth for YouTube and its partners.

We recently announced that YouTube hit an incredible milestone of 1 billion unique monthly visitors, connecting 15 percent of the planet to the videos they love. And those global fan communities are watching more than 6 billion hours of video each month on YouTube; almost an hour a month for every person on Earth and 50 percent more this year than last.

In addition, media companies like Time Warner, The Chernin Group, Bertelsman, Discovery Communications and Comcast have all made significant investments in companies that create, aggregate or service content for YouTube in the last 12 months. And tonight at our Brandcast event for advertisers in New York, another major media company continued that momentum. DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that his company acquired AwesomenessTV, one of the most subscribed-to, teen-focused networks on YouTube. This acquisition gives DreamWorks an opportunity to align itself with Brian Robbins’ powerful, next-generation, online video powerhouse. By partnering with more than 55,000 YouTube channels that collectively represent more than 14 million subscribers and almost 800 million video views, Brian successfully created a YouTube network comprised of one of the most valuable consumer groups--Generation C. This audience is defined by its desire to be constantly connected, and at the center of creating and curating content for social communities.

DreamWorks Animation’s major announcement underscores a shift in consumer behavior, and now, Nielsen has further amplified this point by concluding that YouTube reaches more U.S. adults ages 18-34 than any cable network. And history--from the transition to radio, then TV, from network to cable--tells us that advertisers always follow the audience. In line with that trend, we also unveiled this evening that the ANA Alliance for Family Entertainment (AFE)--a group of nearly 40 national advertisers, whose combined ad spend represents 37 percent of all U.S. television advertising dollars--will buy media across 32 channels of family-friendly content on YouTube.

Much like our content creators, we find that brands on YouTube--like T-Mobile, Samsung, Dove and Pepsi--all share a common objective: to cultivate a direct relationship with their consumers--one built on engagement and authenticity. These companies know that on YouTube, it isn’t just about rallying behind one show; it is about reaching the passionate fan communities of Gen C, an audience that influences more than $500 billion in annual consumer spending. As a result, we’re seeing a myriad of brands increasing their media spend, building channels, and discovering first-hand that the interactions they have with their fans on YouTube drive engagement.

Content creators have long recognized the power of YouTube’s platform to connect with an audience. Advertisers are increasingly doing the same. Together we’ll continue to build YouTube as a global destination for the next generation of entertainment.



Robert Kyncl, Vice President, Global Head of Content Partnerships for YouTube recently watched "Brent and Johnson - Equality Street."
To learn more about how brands can reach key audiences on YouTube, please visit our AdWords Agency Blog.