YouTube launches US election hub, streaming video

YouTube launched a 2012 "elections hub" Wednesday devoted to the November vote in the United States, which will include live coverage from the two major party conventions and other political news. The Google-owned video service said this would be "a one-stop channel for key political moments from now through the upcoming US election day on November 6." Olivia Ma, YouTube's news manager, said the hub would include videos from politicians and parties, and a "diverse range of news organizations" including ABC News, Al Jazeera English, BuzzFeed, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. "You can watch all of the live speeches from the floor of the upcoming Republican and Democratic National Conventions, see Google+ Hangouts with power brokers behind the scenes, and watch a live stream of the official presidential and vice presidential debates," she said on the YouTube blog. "You won't need to go anywhere else for the must-watch moments of this election cycle... they're all happening here live." The Elections Hub is located at http://www.youtube.com/politics?feature=inp-bp-ype-01. A recent study showed YouTube has become a major platform around the world for news. The Pew Research Center report said that news related events were the most searched items on YouTube in five months of a 15-month period in 2011 and early 2012. Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. The Mountain View, California-based Internet giant has not yet announced a profit for the video-sharing site despite its massive global popularity. YouTube has been gradually adding professional content such as full-length television shows and movies to its vast trove of amateur video offerings in a bid to attract advertisers.