YouTube in fresh push to providers

YouTube will on Monday reveal that it serves up more than 2bn videos a day as it tries to persuade the world's content providers that it can offer "TV-size audiences" to the very companies that had once lined up to denounce or even sue the video-sharing site.

As the site starts to celebrate its fifth birthday, the explosion of content on YouTube has raised questions about how the costs of serving up so much video would affect its chances of making a profit. Although 24 hours of video are uploaded to the site each minute, and more than 46 years worth of YouTube videos are watched daily via Facebook alone, the average user spends just 15 minutes a day on YouTube. That compares with US households' typical daily television consumption of more than five hours, Mr Walk noted: "People look at YouTube as the largest video site and say 'How much larger can you get?' That multiple tells you." YouTube is becoming more aggressive in pitching itself to advertisers and content owners as an alternative to television, arguing that it can replace TV deals for content owners seeking overseas audiences.