YouTube’s your one stop shop for U.S. politics this week

It’s a busy week in Washington, but you don’t need to be in the nation’s capital to be a part of it. YouTube will deliver each big moment live.

Tonight at 9 p.m. ET, President Obama’s fifth State of the Union address will stream live on the White House’s YouTube channel, followed by the Republican response by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers on Speaker Boehner’s channel. Senator Mike Lee will deliver the Tea Party response and Senator Rand Paul will offer remarks as well. Several of our news partners will also share their coverage of the event on YouTube, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Young Turks, and NowThis News.

This Friday at 2 p.m. ET, President Obama will participate in the first-ever Presidential Hangout Road Trip. He’ll “travel” the country and hop into Google+ Hangouts with people from across the nation to answer their questions and hear their thoughts about the topics he addressed in tonight’s speech.

If you’d like to join the Hangout, record a 60-second video with your name, location, a bit about yourself and the question you’d like to ask the president. Then post it on YouTube with the hashtag #AskObama2014.

Tune in all week and keep up with the latest news by subscribing to youtube.com/news.

Brandon Feldman, News Content Partnerships, recently watched "Kid President's Letter to a Person on Their First Day Here."

Catch a sneak peek of the 2014 Super Bowl commercials

The wait is over, football fans: from today you can get a sneak peek of some of this year’s Big Game ads right here on YouTube. For the first time ever, the YouTube Ad Blitz pregame gallery will feature teaser commercials to watch all in one place.

This year’s Ad Blitz channel will feature:

• Teasers: Get ahead of the game--YouTube is hosting your one-stop shop to view teaser commercials. Last year some of the most iconic ads were released before the game even began--remember the cat hugging lady, purple genie chihuahua and exploding soda bottles?
• Highlights: Kick back before kickoff with FOX Sports playoff analysis for teams on the road to the championship.
• Custom content: Tune in to see custom content from some of your favorite YouTube stars.
• Postgame voting: Challenge your friends to vote for their favorite commercials. Ad Blitz puts the commercials in your hands postgame, letting you view and vote on your favorite ads from your laptop, smartphone or tablet.

It's clear how much you love watching and sharing these commercials on YouTube. In 2013, you watched Big Game ads more than 265M times for over 3.2M hours--that’s the equivalent of watching 800,000 Big Game broadcasts!

So let the 2014 ads game begin!

Leena El-omar, YouTube Sports and Auto Programs, recently watched “FOX Football Daily Recap.”

YouTube hits the slopes at Sundance

Bundle up, film fans! In an effort to introduce you to new creative talent, showcase the best of independent cinema and show our support for artists and innovative storytelling, YouTube is partnering with the Sundance Institute at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off today.

First, check out the Sundance Film Festival YouTube channel, where you’ll find the 15 short films selected for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Program. We want to celebrate the independent creator, so we’re once again collaborating with the Sundance Institute on the YouTube Audience Award. Whether you’re in Park City or Phuket, you can take part in selecting the winner! The short with the highest number of views between January 16 and 24 will receive the inaugural award at the official Sundance Awards ceremony on January 25.

Then, watch the best of the festival daily with “Live @ Sundance.” Hosted by popular YouTube personalities Shira Lazar, Casey Neistat and Jimmy Conrad, the one-hour talk show will air live daily at 11 a.m. MST from January 17-24 on the Sundance Film Festival channel, and will feature filmmaker interviews, the latest festival news, exclusive sneak peeks and more.

If you’re at the festival, keep an eye out for videos from some of our most talented creators, as we showcase a selection of shorts already entertaining audiences on YouTube prior to the official short film screenings. And, if you need a break from the cold, warm up at “YouTube on Main Street,” THE place to convene for must-see panels, happy hours, screenings and even a daily yoga class.

On YouTube, there are no limits to creative freedom. You can experiment and push the boundaries of innovation and experiment with distribution. And because YouTube is a platform that reaches over 1 billion unique users every month, creators have an incredible opportunity to share their creative vision with the world. So, if you are inspired by this year’s short films and want to learn more about creating great content, check out the YouTube Creator Blog for tips on how to showcase your vision to a global community of passionate, engaged fans.

Alandha Scott, YouTube Creator Marketing, recently watched “The Maker.”

YouTube Nation: Discover something great, every day

One of our favorite things about YouTube is that "Oh Man!" moment when you stumble across that cool new channel you've never heard of, or that awesome video from the other side of the planet you know everyone's going to be talking about tomorrow.

Now there's a new way to connect with all those videos, people and stories. Launching today from DreamWorks Animation, YouTube Nation is a new daily web show on YouTube -- with new episodes every day at 6 p.m. PT/ 9 p.m. ET. Hosted by Jacob Soboroff, the show is made by a team of creators, producers, and video nerds who can’t wait to talk about all that amazingness with you. Check out episode one right here:


YouTube Nation is a channel focused on helping you discover great creators and channels through daily videos and playlists. And we need your help to do it, too! Jacob and the team want to hear from you with your favorite videos, top picks and recommendations on what to feature -- let us know what you’re loving right now.

We come to YouTube to laugh, to learn, and to be inspired, to discover what's new and to dive deeper into what we already know we love. People are making and sharing so many amazing things each day it blows our minds. YouTube Nation is about sharing that feeling with all of you.

Hope you come by and subscribe!

Posted by Kevin Allocca, YouTube Culture & Trends

Meet your January On The Rise nominees

In our monthly On The Rise program, we identify four partners whose channels drive significant YouTube watch time but haven’t yet reached the 100,000 subscriber mark. With your help, we’re sharing with you four dedicated partners who’d like your help to jump-start their audience development and channel growth. In January, we'e excited to introduce you to partners whose content covers the worlds of music, origami, technology and graphic novels.

Here’s where you come in--you actually have the chance to help push these partners even further on YouTube. Review their videos below, vote for your favorite here by selecting the blue checkmark next to the channel name, and one of these candidates will have the opportunity to be featured across YouTube later this month. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner we’ll feature.

In past months, featured On The Rise partners like wranglerstar and Buzz60 have gained many subscribers and seen their careers take off, in large part due to your support. This month’s poll will be open until January 13, 5 p.m. PT, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see which channel will be featured on January 31.

THINKAbouttheINK
If you are ever interested in the fast-paced and exciting world of comic books and graphic novels, THINKAbouttheINK is the channel for you. With discussions about upcoming releases and reviews on the movie versions of classic comics, THINKAbouttheINK has been featured on Bleeding Cool and puts out new videos every week so you never miss a beat.

 

happypuppytruffles
Feeling crafty? This channel will help inspire you with a new origami project every day as well as free origami paper that you can print and use to make everything from origami animals to pop-up cards and gift card envelopes.


activemelody
Brian has been playing the guitar for more than 20 years and shares his passion for music via tutorials on his channel. If you play the guitar or just like listening, go check out his channel for lessons based on the blues, jazz and country.

 

ThatSnazzyiPhoneGuy
Not sure which new smartphone to buy or if the newest laptop is really the best on the market? ThatSnazzyiPhoneGuy features all things technology-related. Quinn gives his thoughts and insights about new products, how they function and look. You can look forward to new videos every month to ensure that you are informed about everything tech.

 

If you’re interested in participating or have suggestions for partners you think should be featured, we encourage you to visit our On The Rise homepage. You can check out all of our past featured partners on the Featured Partners tab, or nominate a YouTube partner to be considered for the program on the Nominate tab. Feel free to submit nominations for your own channel, or for channels you follow that you think deserve more attention, or could be the next YouTube sensation. We’ll continue to feature promising partners who drive YouTube watch time, have fewer than 100,000 subscribers, and produce engaging content on a regular basis.

Kathryn Sahr and Christine Wang, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “Top 10 NBA Dunks of 2013.”