YouTube sees Korean mobile traffic surge

The range of content consumed by local subscribers is also shifting from entertainment to broader areas, Anand said.

“YouTube has contributed to the global spread of the ‘Korean wave’ over the past three years,” he said at a conference to celebrate the California-based firm’s third anniversary in Seoul. “We’ve also successfully formed partnerships with various content providers. Now you’re seeing many governments are setting up channels.”

Major talent agencies and record labels such as SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment have been active in internationally promoting their artists on the website. It greatly helped girl group Girls’ Generation hit the No.1 spot in the Japanese market last year, an SM official said.

In 2008, the Presidential Council on Nation Branding created a channel on YouTube to promote Korean culture. Cheong Wa Dae has been uploading President Lee Myung-bak’s weekly address on YouTube since 2009.

“It’s about political empowerment in dialogue but also about education and learning,” he said. “YouTube’s backbone has a lot of content beyond entertainment, which covers education, culture and personal empowerment.”

According to website-monitoring.com, YouTube’s global daily views crossed the 2 billion mark in May. Around 70 percent of its traffic comes from outside of the U.S., and the average visitor spends 15 minutes a day on the site.

As the number of smartphone and tablet owners grows exponentially in line with its audience base, YouTube plans to further diversify content and step up live-streaming capacity, Anand said, for which it has been testing a new, full-fledged platform since September.

“We want to provide our users with an infinite choice in content,” he said. “What we hope is that we’ll be able to bring more premium programming for our Korean users to consume. In the second part of the year, you’ll see a lot more streaming.”

With affiliate Google Inc., it will strive to keep up with new multimedia trends such as social networking and 3-D technology, Anand added.

“We are building a social layer with Google,” he said. “And Google TV is really a software platform. With the Chrome browser, we hope we will lead the trend and create the best user experiences.”

Google acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 million. The global web giant launched an Android-based smart TV platform in October and is gearing up to break into the global market.

As for 3-D technology, YouTube is working with Korea’s LG Electronics to bring full 3-D images and videos onto mobile devices, the two firms announced last week. LG’s Optimus 3-D smartphone with Android operating system will enable users to not only capture and view videos in 3-D without glasses, but also instantly upload and share videos via YouTube.

“The Optimus 3-D is the new flagship of LG and our answer to two problems in the current 3-D experience ― limited mobility and special lenses,” said Park Jong-seok, president and chief executive of LG’s mobile communications unit. “Our partnership with YouTube will ensure that our customers can create and easily access a wide range of 3-D content.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)