Home-Design Videos Invade YouTube

In addition to silly clips of family pets, cult-film trailers and practically every music video ever made, YouTube users can now watch a home design show called “Your Place Is a Deal Breaker.” 

In the first episode, a woman moves into her boyfriend’s apartment, which has a Barack Obama poster in the bedroom, and enlists the help of a designer to make the space reflect both their styles. 

“Obama has to go, baby,” she tells him. 

The show is on Spaces, one of the new channels that YouTube has introduced as its push into original content. With a roster of programs — other shows include the self-explanatory “I Live With My Mom” — shown in three- to five-minute episodes, most focus on young urbanites. YouTube is selling ads that will be shown on the channel, with the revenue shared between the site and the content creator. 

Chris Young, the chief executive of DBG, the production company behind Spaces, said the channel plans to upload a new video every day. 

He and co-founder Joseph Gomes, spoke about the challenges of online programming and why they think home design shows will always be popular. 

Is YouTube the TV of tomorrow? 

Gomes: We like the idea of these barriers coming down. In traditional broadcasting, the rules are ensconced. With this, it’s the Wild West. It’s almost like an Oklahoma land grab in terms of getting in there and creating original content. 

Is it hard to produce so much content? 

Gomes: It stretches the production dollar, but we made a conscious decision to have constant programming. We wanted a glut of content to engage the viewer so there was a reason to keep coming back. 

YouTube is also like a vast ocean. I had trouble finding the Spaces channel. How will users find your shows? 

Young: When you go to the home page of YouTube, you’re going to be able to select your favorite channels. Once you select Spaces, your likes and preferences will funnel to you the type of content you’re interested in. 

How is Spaces different from what you’d see on HGTV or other networks? 

Gomes: We wanted to be urban and cosmopolitan. I don’t think that’s necessarily a target for HGTV. They’re more focused on suburban moms. 

But you dabble in mom-centric programming with ‘I Live With My Mom.’ How did you come up with that idea? 

Gomes: It was about finding eccentric characters. One lives with her mom and has dolls everywhere. Another is a hip-hop mogul in his mom’s basement. We wanted a makeover program because I think a lot of people who get into these design shows are in for the display. 

New York Times

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