Daytime TV show host Ellen DeGeneres is expanding her media empire in a new direction — video hosting.
ELLEN DEGENERES VIA WARNER BROS.: "What makes our site different than any other place is if you accidentally type in a wrong word, you're not going to stumble upon something that's bad. ... Everything on the site is fun, and there's nothing mean-spirited."
The service is called ellentube, and it's a curated video site which will host exclusive clips from Ellen's daytime talk show, as well as select videos uploaded by users. It's clear the site will mostly be hosting light-hearted content; video topics include cats, kids, and camera pranks.
Ellentube will be yet another way for DeGeneres to increase her already titanic digital presence — she boasts 10 million YouTube subscribers, 33 million Twitter followers, a record-breaking selfie, and she's behind one of the most popular iOS paid games, Heads Up!
It's also the first major product from Ellen Digital Ventures, a new partnership between DeGeneres and Warner Bros. TV. The executive producers on The Ellen DeGeneres Show — who will also be managing the website — said in a statement, "ellentube seems like the next obvious evolution of our show."
DeGeneres has been leveraging Internet content on her daytime show for some time now, often scriptingsegments of her show around videos and social media posts.
And USA Today notesellentube could end up being a more lucrative outlet for her online videos. "Advertising revenue won't be shared with YouTube, and certain advertisers might embrace the more family-friendly environment."
The platform itself uses a video player from New York company Kaltura, and is supported by preroll ads.
This video includes images from Getty Images.
