The First YouTube Original Channel Is In Spanish, And Confusing

YouTube introduced its first original channel this weekend, the Spanish-language ClevverTeVe, which has three shows dedicated to entertainment and/or fashion.  It comes from Clevver Media, which already has a channel on YouTube, ClevverTV.  The first original channel is rather symbolic, as YouTube tries to appeal to a global audience, and one of the most sought-after demographics in advertising is Hispanics.  But I'm a bit perplexed.  Clevver Media's Spanish-language channel is being considered a YouTube original, while their other channel is not?

Introducing CleverTeVe, The First YouTube Original Channel

Those of you who don't know Spanish will recognize the words, "Latin Grammys:"

That's Radar Latino, for news about Latin celebrities.  There's also TeVe Moda, which focuses on fashion, and then TeVe Hollywood, a general entertainment news show.  Each show runs near or slightly over a minute.

Why it's confusing is that CleverTeVe doesn't look any different from any other channel, and it's no easier to find.  Plus, it's owned by a company that already has a channel on the site, so how does the Spanish-language version separate itself from the other channel?  It sounds almost like a ploy, so that YouTube can claim the first original channel was in Spanish and show their dedication to reaching a wider audience.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with doing that.  If I was trying to appeal globally I would find the first excuse to make a non-English brand my calling card as well.   It's just that taking a look at the layout, I'm not seeing anything that distinguishes itself, or where YouTube's home page is making a special mention of this new channel.  That could be the point, but we'll see what happens next year when the first big wave of launches occurs.

We talked about Beep.TV's Lucas Watson interview earlier today.  In this YouTube interview from two months ago he makes it clear at the 1:15 mark that Hispanic audiences are highly attractive to brands looking to advertise:

That entire interview is pretty illuminating (hat tip, zennie62) for those wanting to create content for YouTube, and something we've talked about here before.  If you can make content that appeals to a wider audience than just English speakers, you have a potential increase in audience, and 60 percent of YouTube users pick another language other than English on the site.  There's no doubt ClevverTeVe is a step towards that direction.