YouTube creators who list their videos can now easily create shows.
Announced Thursday, the platform will now allow anyone who is part of the YouTube Partner Program to organize their playlists into seasons of episodes, or create a new schedule using the tool.
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According to YouTube’s support site, shows are defined here as “a collection of high-quality episodes with clear connections across episodes.” The platform offered best practices for creators, including ensuring that the program has a “consistent story or title” featuring the same hosts whenever possible, a “consistent look” with the same presentation art style and icon, and high-quality video and audio.
Shows must be visual (not just audio) and can be serial or non-serial, meaning they don’t have to run chronologically. YouTube will automatically create a running order by publishing date, but you can set this up in YouTube Studio.
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YouTube noted that creating a program may help creators show up in local search, saying “shows may be eligible to appear in search and under ‘Recommended Shows’ and ‘Keep watching.’
Want to make a show with your existing pieces? It’s very simple.
How to make a YouTube playlist of videos
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A YouTube account
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YouTube Studio
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existing YouTube playlists
Step 2: Click “Content” on the left side menu.
Credit: Shannon Connelan / YouTube
Step 3: Click “Playlist.”
Credit: Shannon Connelan / YouTube
Step 4: Scroll up to your chosen playlist and tap the three dots “Options.”
Credit: Shannon Connelan / YouTube
Step 5: Tap “Add show features” and set the season number, then enjoy playing with show tools.
According to YouTube, “All videos in a selected playlist are added as ‘Season 1’ episodes of your show. If you manually set the order of videos in your playlist, episode numbers are assigned based on the order you specified. Otherwise, episode numbers are assigned based on oldest to newest order by publication date.”
Step 6: Add artwork for the show.
You will need to add poster art with text and you can optionally add background art and a title. YouTube has resolution and file size specifications for this on its help page.
Step 7: Select “Done” when done.
If you want to add a new program, in the upper right corner of the YouTube Studio lobby, click “Create a new program.” After adding all the information such as description and art, you can save the show, and manage to add new episodes in the menu “Content” in the lobby of YouTube Studio — click “Add content” to start.
If you want to edit the episode schedule (the default for YouTube publishing), go to “Episodes” in your schedule and hover over the season or episode number, then tap the down arrow to move things around.
If you’re not sure where to start, check out Mashable’s In My Bag series for the gear you’ll need to become a content creator. You can also visit our VidCon hub for inspiration, and meet Mashable 101, the creators who are shaping digital culture right now.
