In part four of How YouTube Ate TV, Fast Company’s oral history of YouTube, insiders describe how the company’s Partner Program began sharing ad revenue with creators, kicking off the age of the professional YouTuber. As monetization transformed the platform, creators faced the newfangled challenges of managing fame in the viral video age. YouTube, meanwhile, wrestled with hate speech and other unsavory content.
With YouTube increasingly competing with TV in its classic form, it also spent billions to bring one of broadcasting’s most iconic offerings—the NFL—on board.
Comments have been edited for length and clarity.
Part one: YouTube failed as a dating site. This one change altered its fortunes forever
Part two: Pit bulls, rats, and 2 circling sharks: The inside story of Google buying