YouTube Channels Taking Flight On Virgin America

Ever been on a flight with a TV in the headrest? Sadly, too few planes still have these, but those fortunate enough to see one may have seen some fairly compelling content of late. But evidently, more of that is to come. YouTube has reportedly signed a deal with Virgin America that would see an airline offering YouTube channels for the first time ever. Google's video portal has been striving to turn into a more serious outlet for serious content in the past few years, and this would certainly cement that effort. According to Variety, the airline will make programming on five YouTube channels -- Warner Bros.' "H+ The Digital Series," produced by Bryan Singer; WIGS' "Blue," starring Julia Stiles; Geek & Sundry's "Written by a Kid"; "Crash Course"; and Barely Political's "The Key of Awesome" -- available through its inflight entertainment system on December 15th.


All of that material will be free to view for all flights within the U.S. and Mexico, and for YouTube, it'll be a huge win to get its content into the faces of perhaps older and more sophisticated travelers who would have skipped right over those cat videos in the past. Does this mark the early stages of an all-out content assault from YouTube? Hard to say, but it's certainly a notable initiative.