• March 3, 2008

YouTube is reportedly planning to launch a live video service before the end of the year. Industry blogs TechCrunch and NewTeeVee reported late last week that YouTube co-founder Steve Chen admitted as much during a conversation with Pop17 videoblogger Sarah Meyers.

"We are constantly working to introduce features to delight our users and partners," but "we have nothing further to announce at this time," said a YouTube spokesperson.

The move--if and when it does occur--represents a threat to a long list of live video service providers, including blogTV, Justin.TV, LiveUniverse, Mogulus, and Ustream, to name a few. In early February, Yahoo launched its own live video-streaming service, Yahoo Live.

--Gavin O'Malley