YouTube Goes Hollywood

Move over politicians and everyday citizens, YouTube has gone to the stars.

The popular video site known for turning nobodies into money-making machines, will now do the opposite too – bring A-List television stars to the common folk through its newly launched “TV Preview Channel.”

The specialized site, created in partnership with Hollywood-insider magazine EntertainmentWeekly, will give viewers a sneak peek at the fall television season, including “bite-sized previews of programs, reality TV, comedies, dramas and more.”

The new YouTube channel arrives just ahead of the magazine’s popular Fall TV Preview issue, looked to by industry insiders and viewers alike as a reliable forecast of how the new lineup of cable and broadcast shows will succeed, or fail. This strategy of using a popular digital medium to supplement its print coverage is the latest in EW’s ongoing embrace of digital initiatives, from iPhone and iPad apps to experimenting with video-in-print ads.

EntertainmentWeekly editor Jess Cagle introduced the new channel in a post on the YouTube blog, describing it as a guide to help viewers “through the slate of new and returning shows from major broadcast and cable networks.”

The channel will also feature exclusive interviews with the actors and producers behind the season’s biggest shows.

To capitalize on peak audience interest in the fall TV season, the site will run live only through September 13.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.