YouTube to offer a live 360-degree look at the Republican and Democratic conventions

By Kris Wouk July 14, 2016

A smartphone displaying YouTube on its screen as it lays on top of a laptop's keyboard.

Both the Republic National Convention and Democratic National Convention are right around the corner, and while the important news from each will circulate in a number of ways, that isn’t enough for hardcore news junkies.

YouTube has a solution to this problem, as it announced in a blog post on Thursday that it will offer live-streaming coverage of both conventions, just as it did in 2012. Of course, a lot has changed in the four years since — both in terms of technology and in the prominence of YouTube personalities — so the company has a few tricks up its sleeve.

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Creators like The Young Turks, Complex News, Seeker Daily, Ingrid Nilsen, Mark Watson, and Julie Borowski will be offering coverage at both conventions, in addition to several more traditional news organizations. Jump VR cameras will be used to offer a 360-degree look at the action, while mobile live-streaming will offer viewers a better idea of what it’s like to be there on the ground.

While YouTube is the official streaming partner of the conventions, it isn’t the only service offering coverage. Twitter plans to offer live-streaming video of both conventions, and BitTorrent, Inc. announced on Wednesday that it will launch its new live news network BitTorrent News just in time to cover the Republican National Convention.

The Republican National Convention kicks off in Cleveland, Ohio next week on July 18, while the Democratic National Convention starts July 25 in Philadelphia. For easy access, YouTube is offering dedicated channels for both the Republican and Democratic conventions.

The “gavel-to-gavel coverage” YouTube promised in its blog post isn’t all it plans to offer either. Real Time with Bill Maher will also be producing two specials per convention, and all of them will stream live on YouTube. The two specials for the RNC will air on July 20 and 21, while the DNC specials will air on July 27 and 28.

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