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YouTube announces new channels with Jennifer Garner, Olympians and Tribeca

In addition to approximately 50 channels on YouTube, the video website announced it will release three new channels by the end of July with 25 more hours of new original content.

One of the new YouTube channels will spotlight US Olympians, another is from the Tribeca Film Festival and the third is about the lives of women, called WIGS, and created by filmmakers Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes, Risky Business) and Rodrigo Garcia (Albert Nobbs, Mother and Child), showing documentaries, behind-the-scenes videos and other content.

Three series will feature stars including actress Jennifer Garner, True Blood's Stephen Moyer and actor Alfred Molina. Another will star Dakota Fanning, Alison Janney, Jennifer Beals and America Ferrera.

With the US Olympic Committee, YouTube will launch the "Team USA" channel featuring past and present Olympians, instruction from coaches, and historical Olympic Games footage.

Also on the slate is "The Picture Show" channel from the organizers of the Tribeca Film Festival.

YouTube, which counts more than 800 million visitors watching three billion hours of video per month, is extending the channels initiative, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The announcements are part of Digital Newfronts, a new two-week event similar to conferences that the television industry holds to pitch to ad buyers. YouTube's event, calling "Brandcast," will present its top content along with performances by Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams and FloRida.

In an attempt to lure advertisers, YouTube commissioned a study, "Generation V," about the growth of the online video sector. The findings state that men, aged 18-34, spend more time streaming video than watching live TV, one-half subscribe to a YouTube channel and two-thirds shared YouTube videos in the past week.

For women, aged 25-49, the study reported that 40 percent subscribe to YouTube channels and one-third share online video with their kids or parents.

Armed with these results and the rapid growth of viewing online content, Robert Kyncl, vice president of global content for YouTube, predicted its top five channels would rate in the top ten channels on television.

RC