UFC fights including “Rampage” vs. “Bones” coming to YouTube in the US with paid live stream

Mixed martial arts fans, we’ve got a new destination for you— the Ultimate Fighting Championship will begin offering paid live streaming of UFC events for viewers in the US on the UFC YouTube channel.

It all begins this Saturday, September 24 at 9p ET/6p PT with the highly anticipated light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon “Bones” Jones and challenger Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. All of the main card fights from UFC 135 will be available live for fans in the US on the UFC YouTube channel for $44.99.



UFC legend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is searching to regain the title as he faces the youngest champion in UFC history, Jon “Bones” Jones. The co-main event will pit UFC legend Matt Hughes against the fiery Josh Koshcheck. Here’s a preview of this can’t-miss event:

Seth Frank, Strategic Partner Development Manager, recently watched “UFC 135 Live Broadcast on Youtube - Jon Jones”

Grade the candidates in last night's Fox News/Google Debate

Last night’s Fox News/Google Debate brought your top-voted questions to the Republican candidates right here on YouTube. In the lively two-hour debate, over a dozen of your questions were posed to the candidates, while search trends and question data provided more information on the issues you were most interested in.

Now it’s time to grade the candidates on their answers. Did they answer the questions directly? Did they answer them well? Visit youtube.com/foxnews now to watch individual clips of each question-and-answer exchange and provide feedback on how the candidates did.

The Fox News/Google Debate was the most-watched debate of the 2011 season, averaging 6.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. If you missed it, you can also watch the full broadcast here:

In addition to voting on videos of the debate, you’ll find a “Pulse” tab on the channel that shows data visualizations of the questions you submitted. You’ll also be able to watch clips from our online show with Shannon Bream and Chris Stirewalt, where we examined your questions and issue searches in more detail.

During the debate, we also looked at what searches were spiking on Google. Of all of the candidates names, the underdog former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson’s name saw the biggest spikes.

Viewers were also interested in finding out more about Herman Cain’s “9-9-9” plan -- every time he mentioned the plan, searches for it on Google spiked.

Check out more search trends on the Google Public Sector Blog.

As the GOP primary continues to heat up, you’ll be able to find information straight from the candidates right here on YouTube. Our next scheduled debate is with PBS and the Des Moines Register on January 12th in Iowa -- stay tuned for more information on how you can participate.

Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics, YouTube, recently watched Fox News/Google Debate (Full Length)

The Fox News/Google Debate live tonight on YouTube: GOP candidates answer your questions

Cross posted from the Official Google Blog.

Since we announced the Fox News/Google Debate on September 1, people across the country have submitted more than 18,000 questions to the Fox News YouTube channel on topics ranging from immigration reform, to health care, to foreign aid to social security. Tonight, the Republican presidential candidates will answer those questions in the Fox News/Google Debate, which will be live-streamed on YouTube and broadcast on Fox News Channel starting at 9pm ET. We’ll also have an online pre-debate show starting at 8:30pm ET, featuring Fox News’s Shannon Bream and Chris Stirewalt, and Steve Grove, YouTube’s Head of News and Politics.

Even if you’re watching on TV, you can visit youtube.com/foxnews during the debate to vote on real-time polling questions and submit live commentary. Throughout the evening, we’ll share Google politics-related search trend information and public data that will provide context to the issues discussed. Fox News moderators will ask specific questions that were submitted by citizens through YouTube, and we’ll be looking at overall trends that emerge from the questions in aggregate. To give you an idea, here’s a look at the most popular words people used in their submissions (the bigger the word, the more often it was used)

Flex your democratic muscle and tune in to youtube.com/foxnews tonight at 8:30pm ET for a political debate that puts you in the driver’s seat of the discussion.

Ramya Raghavan, YouTube News and Politics Manager, recently watched “Candidate Question IRS.”

Additional Creator Tools from YouTube

As part of our ongoing goal to foster the creation of great video content, we are announcing the release of three new features we hope will empower you to become even more imaginative with your video production.

1. Convert your 2D videos into 3D with a single click. (beta!)
Creating 3D videos was pretty tough before. You had to set up two cameras, combine the footage from each, and use special software to make the effect look just right. Today we're launching 2D to 3D conversion. Once you've uploaded your 2D videos to YouTube, you can convert them to 3D with the click of a button. Converted videos will be viewable by everyone in 3D. You'll still get best results with a 3D camera, but it's a great new way to let people enjoy your finest moments. You'll find this feature by selecting "Edit Info", then "3D Video" on a video you've uploaded. (Note, you'll still need glasses to watch on most devices.)

2. All verified users in good standing can now upload long-form videos.
YouTubers are some of the most innovative, entertaining and inspirational people in the world, and their creativity often needs more than the current upload limit of 15 minutes. Today, we’re improving upon our previous launch by enabling long uploads for users with a clean track record who complete an account verification and continue to follow the copyright rules set forth in our Community Guidelines. Check out some of the original full-length videos that can now shine on YouTube, such as student-film: “Spirit’s Revenge.”

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To help you get those longer videos online, we also recently launched resumable uploads, which ensures that you won’t lose any of the minutes you’ve uploaded if your internet fails or your computer dies during the upload process. You can resume uploading right where you left off once you’re back online. (Note: Advanced uploader is no longer required to upload large files.)

3. Shoot, edit and share your videos easily with vlix and Magisto, now on youtube.com/create.
We’re adding two additional video creation platforms for you to make your videos even better: Vlix and Magisto. Vlix lets you spice up your videos by adding cool effects and text to the video intro and closing. Magisto takes your unedited video and automatically edits it into short, fun clips.

With so many tools at your fingertips, what are you waiting for? Get Ready...Set...Create!

Shenaz Zack Mistry, Product Manager, recently watched "Home."

Rock in Rio 2011 live on YouTube

With live streams of concerts like Coachella and Lollapalooza, and performances from bands like U2, YouTube is no stranger to hosting the planet’s big rock fests. So we’re adding another to the list: Rock in Rio 2011.

From September 23 to October 2, some of the biggest bands in the world will be live on YouTube performing at the world’s next mega-concert, Rock in Rio 2011 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Rock in Rio YouTube channel already has an early look at some of the bands in the lineup, including Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Katy Perry, Elton John, Rihanna and more.



We’ll be live around the world in 24 different languages, so if you can’t attend in Brazil, clear your schedule and get ready to rock!

Flavia Simon, Marketing Manager, recently watched “Cidade do rock 3D.”

YouTube.com/Teachers: Helping teachers use YouTube to engage and educate their students

We’re excited to welcome James Sanders, middle school history teacher at KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy, to the YouTube blog. In his classroom, James uses technology to engage and educate his students more effectively. Today James shares the impact YouTube has had on his students and helps us announce an exciting new resource for educators worldwide.

When I started teaching in Los Angeles five years ago I was surprised by how little the classroom experience had changed since I was a middle schooler myself eighteen years prior. The world around us had gone through a dramatic technological boom but classrooms had stayed nearly the same. In my classroom, I made a commitment to incorporate technology. I started a class blog and participated in an experiment with Chromebooks. What was the one tool I found most useful as a teacher and most engaging for my students? YouTube.

I’ve used YouTube in my classroom in countless different ways. I use videos to spark classroom discussions, increase instructional time by assigning videos as homework, and create playlists for each lesson so students can dive deeper into specific areas that interest them. I also found countless educational videos on YouTube that energize and excite my students about a number of topics, such as medieval history.

This summer I was delighted to join the YouTube team to help develop resources for teachers. This past July we organized the first-ever YouTube Teacher’s Studio, a workshop for teachers from around the world to train them on using YouTube in the classroom. Award-winning teacher trainers Jim Sill and Ramsey Musallam led workshops on “Finding your inner Spielberg” and “FlipTeaching,” and I taught about using YouTube as a powerful educational tool.

While it was an amazing experience for those gathered, YouTube is all about its global reach and universal access to great content. In that vein, we’ve worked to build these trainings (and more) into a site we’re launching today: YouTube.com/Teachers.

This site is a resource for educators everywhere to learn how to use YouTube as an educational tool. There are lesson plan suggestions, highlights of great educational content on YouTube, and training on how to film your own educational videos.

This site was written by teachers for teachers, and we want to continue that spirit of community-involvement. We’re creating a new YouTube newsletter for teachers (sign up here!) and are asking teachers to submit their favorite YouTube playlists for us to highlight on YouTube EDU.

Finally, I know that not every teacher is lucky enough to have access to YouTube in their school. The YouTube EDU team is hard at work on a solution that will make educational content more easily discoverable for teachers and the site more easily integrated within schools, so stay tuned!

James Sanders, a middle school history teacher at KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy, recently watched “A Brief History of Techonology in Classrooms,” and can be found posting tips and tricks on Google+. Will Houghteling, YouTube EDU, recently watched “Monster Foam Science Experiment."

ESPN’s SportsNation is on the recruiting trail

Sports fanatics have taken to YouTube to voice their opinions as part of ESPN SportsNation Fanalyst campaign, where you have the chance to be on SportsNation every Friday. We have this week’s question and invite your feedback, as you could be selected as the Fanalyst of the Week online and on-air.

This week's playbook calls for your well-informed, 15-second analysis on if Tom Brady is a lock to win the NFL’s MVP award. That's right: we're two weeks into the 2011 NFL season and already the New England Patriots QB seems like everyone’s runaway favorite for the NFL’s top honor. Only the most original take on the Brady Bandwagon will win Fanalyst of the Week honors, so let’s see what you’ve got.



The Sports Nation Fanalyst Contest presented by Toyota (contest rules here) will continue throughout the year, so return every Monday to SportsNationESPN to get the weekly topic from hosts Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd, and grab your 15 Seconds of Fanalyst Fame!

Brendan McGovern, Interactive Producer, recently watched “Could Tony Romo Lead Dallas To The Superbowl?”