YouTube takes original programming venture abroad

LONDON (AP) - YouTube is extending its original programming initiative into Europe, with at least 60 new video channels from media companies including Britain's BBC, London-based FreemantleMedia and the Netherlands' Endemol.

The Google-owned video site said on Monday the new channels, with content from Britain, Germany, France, and the United States, will be in addition to the 100 channels launched in the United States (US) last year. Like the pre-existing American offerings, the European channels will have a mix of celebrity-oriented, niche, and established programs.

"Some of the channels are personality-driven, others are from partners who are totally passionate about a subject," Mr Ben McOwen Wilson, who manages YouTube's northern European partnerships, said in a telephone interview ahead of the announcement.

He said the goal was to let content producers come up with something they couldn't deliver on TV.