At five years, two billion views per day and counting

Five years ago, after months of late nights, testing and preparation, YouTube’s founders launched the first beta version of YouTube.com in May, with a simple mission: give anyone a place to easily upload their videos and share them with the world. Whether you were an aspiring filmmaker, a politician, a proud parent, or someone who just wanted to connect with something bigger, YouTube became the place where you could broadcast yourself.

Over time, these aspirations have created a vibrant and inspiring community that helped transform a murmur of interest into something far greater than any of us ever could have imagined. Today, thanks to you, our site has crossed another milestone: YouTube exceeds over two billion views a day. That’s nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major U.S. television networks combined.

What started as a site for bedroom vloggers and viral videos has evolved into a global platform that supports HD and 3D, broadcasts entire sports seasons live to 200+ countries. We bring feature films from Hollywood studios and independent filmmakers to far-flung audiences. Activists document social unrest seeking to transform societies, and leading civic and political figures stream interviews to the world.



To celebrate our birthday, today we’re launching the YouTube Five Year channel. There, you’ll find the “My YouTube Story” project which features people from all over describing how YouTube has changed or shaped their lives.



Please add your own story to the mix! You can upload your video here -- and it may be selected to appear on the channel’s video wall or map.

The channel also hosts an interactive timeline containing some of the most important moments and memes in our short history. It was tough to pick -- and just scratches the surface of all the amazing things that have happened on YouTube over the years. What else? We’ve asked a handful of luminaries like Conan O’Brien, Vint Cerf and Katie Couric to curate playlists showcasing their favorite videos on the subjects they know best. You can also check out our Infographic here; it contains lots of neat facts and figures.

Since we never could have predicted all that happened in YouTube’s first five years, we certainly can’t imagine what the future will look like. But we do know there’s a lot more to be done. For instance, we want to make it even easier for you to sort through and find the videos that matter to you. Although the average user spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube, that’s tiny compared to the five hours a day people spend watching TV. Clearly, we need to give you more reason to watch more videos! And we want to give you all the tools and support to make YouTube both your career and your community. After all, this is only the beginning of the video revolution. We’re just getting started.

The YouTube Team

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YouTube @ The Streamy Awards in Los Angeles

This Sunday, April 11, a handful of us here at YouTube will head to Los Angeles for the second annual Streamy Awards. The Streamy Awards are presented by the International Academy of Web Television to honor great original Web programming and visionaries in online entertainment.

As part of the ceremony, our CEO and co-founder, Chad Hurley, will be presented with the Streamy Visionary Award that recognizes “leaders and innovators who have made a significant contribution to the digital entertainment community.” On behalf of the whole team at YouTube, we are honored to be part of this event and have you to thank for it.

The greatest honors, however, belong to the creators of content, many of whom we are privileged to have as partners nominated for their own Streamy Awards. NextNewNetworks, Rocketboom, Phil DeFranco, and so many others: YouTube applauds you, your boundless creativity, and your independent drive to move the digital entertainment industry forward. You are all already much more than winners; you are reinventing the game itself.

The costs for filming and sharing original content are lower than ever. Today, anyone can record a video, add complex and sophisticated special effects and share it in 1080p Full HD with translatable subtitles to the world -- all at the fraction of the cost incurred 10 years ago. And as this market matures, the rewards for these original content creators and distributors will increase.

In the future, you will play an even bigger role in inspiring and shaping the world through video. Viewership of original Web content grows larger and stronger every day, and the producers of those videos are ever more successful, as they continually hone and elevate their digital craft. Never before has talent possessed so much creative power and freedom. And never before has there been such an eager audience awaiting your vision.

Thank you and keep creating, uploading and playing.

Kevin Yen, Director of Strategic Partnerships, recently watched ”2010 Streamy Awards Official Nominees Announcement.”

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YouTube & the Online Video Revolution

When we registered the YouTube domain on February 14, 2005, we set out to create a place where anyone with a video camera and an Internet connection could share a story with the world. Five years into it, we're as committed as ever to the core beliefs and principles that guided YouTube's creation:

Video gives people a voice – From classrooms to war-torn countries, the Queen of England to the King of Pop, the Pope to the President of the United States, and the hillsides of Port au Prince to the streets of Tehran, video has the power to give rise to the most diverse set of faces and voices ever seen or heard in human history.

We succeed when our partners succeed – Our content partners run the gamut, from major Hollywood studios to aspiring filmmakers and vloggers who can turn the ordinary into something extraordinary on the turn of a dime. Content creation isn't our business; it's theirs. But breaking open access to media and distribution means delivering the world's largest global audience and the revenue models they need to succeed, as well as the tools they need to control their content.

Video evolves fast, YouTube must evolve faster – The Internet evolves at break-neck speed. We launch products quickly and constantly iterate to stay one step ahead of it. Our goal? To set the standard in online video delivery. Fast loading, high quality videos need to be able to play on any device, anywhere, anytime. And whether we're supporting 1080p, 3D, or deploying auto-speech recognition technology, we innovate with an eye toward providing the best possible experience for all of you.

Thanks for being part of the YouTube community and for shaping what the site is today. We're looking forward to celebrating our fifth anniversary throughout the year and hope you'll keep watching, keep uploading, keep sharing, keep informing, keep entertaining, and keep discovering the world through video.

Chad Hurley, Co-Founder & CEO, YouTube

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