fiercevideo | January 23, 2019
Google’s streaming TV service YouTube TV is undertaking a major nationwide expansion today by adding another 95 markets and growing its coverage to 98% of the U.S.The newly added markets include Anchorage, Boise, Columbus-Tupelo, Duluth-Superior, Erie, Fargo, Gainesville, Jonesboro, Lafayette, IN; Missoula, Palm Springs, Reno, Sioux City, Topeka, Utica, Wichita Falls and Yuma-El Centro.YouTube TV is priced at $40 per month and includes more than 60 live TV channels, cloud DVR and support for up to six accounts. Channels include ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC along with local affiliate broadcast television from those networks in 90% of markets where YouTube TV is available. The lineup also includes AMC, Cartoon Network, CNN, ESPN, Fox News, FS1, FX, TBS, TNT and several regional sports networks.“Since YouTube TV’s early days, it’s been important for us to create an experience that brings you the best of your favorite TV content. As part of that effort, we've offered local feeds from broadcasters, allowing you to catch up with the content that matters to you,” YouTube wrote in a blog post.
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variety | January 16, 2019
YouTube has long had a policy banning harmful and dangerous content. But now it has explicitly told users that prank or challenge videos that could lead to death or serious physical injury are off-limits.On Tuesday, the video platform issued an update explaining that the prohibition applies to challenges like the Tide Pod challenge, in which people have eaten the detergent, or the so-called “fire challenge,” in which someone is shown setting themselves aflame. The revised policy also comes after the #BirdBoxChallenge went viral, in which people emulate the characters in Netflix’s original movie “Bird Box” by performing tasks while wearing a blindfold — a trend that police said resulted in a Utah teenager crashing her car while blindfolded last week.“Challenges that present an apparent risk of death are not allowed on YouTube,” the Google-owned video service says in an update to its guidelines on “harmful or dangerous content.” That ban extends to pranks that “lead victims to believe they are in physical danger or that can cause real physical harm,” like a home-invasion prank or one simulating a drive-by shooting.
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Digital Trends | January 14, 2019
A simple swipe will soon take users in an endless full-screen YouTube binge. Google recently shared an upcoming update to the YouTube mobile app that allows a swipe gesture to move to the next video, or a swipe to the left to head back. The feature, which has been under development for two years, according to Popular Science, joins gestures like double tapping to skip forward inside the mobile app.The swipe takes users to the next recommended video and works in both full-screen horizontal mode and on the vertical video page — where users can see what video is next before swiping. Swiping back will go to the previous video and resume play at the last spot instead of restarting the video.
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