• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, November 7, 2011

Further bolstering its premium content strategy, YouTube has entered into a significant partnership with the Walt Disney Company.

Calling the deal “small on its surface,” The New York Times writes: “Disney Interactive Media and YouTube … will spend a combined $10 million to $15 million on original video series … But the alliance is striking because of what it tacitly acknowledges about each company’s weaknesses.”

“This could be the start of something big,” Gizmodo suggests.

“It will be the first time the media conglomerate would take advantage of the YouTube phenomenon, which they’ve been ignoring successfully in favor of their own online assets,” writes 9to5Google.

Successful? “Disney Interactive lost a cool $300 million in the last four quarters and a comScore-measured traffic to Disney.com dropped from 17.9 million in June to 12.7 million in September,” 9to5Google adds.

The shorts are set to be produced by Disney, and distributed on a co-branded channel on Disney.com and YouTube. The channel will also apparently include amateur video harvested from YouTube.

“The news comes several days after Google announced dozens of new, original content channels coming to YouTube this November,” PCMag reminds us. “YouTube, however, is still embroiled in a legal tussle with Viacom, owner of Nickelodeon, one of Disney's main competitors.”

“For YouTube, the tie-up continues its push to gain greater credibility among audiences, in this instance parents who are concerned about the site’s suitability for their children, given its mixed bag of content,” writes The Next Web. What’s more, “New and exclusive content also has value with advertisers.”

Meanwhile, “This apparently is just one step in Disney's plan to increase its exposure on the Internet,” CNet writes. “The company recently renewed a licensing agreement with Netflix and inked a new deal with Amazon that will give both a crack at much of the same content.”