YouTube is an American online video sharing platform owned by Google. (Wikipedia, n.d.a)
Channels
YouTube consist of thousands of channels, some of which are managed by Google itself, some by studios, and the vast majority by private individuals like yourself.
Some of these channels are monetized by Google AdSense, sponsorships and/or private donors.
Some of our personal favorites include 48 Hours, 60 Minutes America, 60 Minutes Australia, Biographics, Brew, China Uncensored, Coffeezilla, Daily Maverick, Double Down News, DW Documentary, Frontline PBS, Gamers Nexus, Into The Shadows, James Jani, Johnny Harris, LegalEagle, Marques Brownlee, MeidasTouch, National Geographic, OperatorDrewski, The Juice Media, The People Profiles, Thoughty2, Unbox Therapy and Zeteo.
Documentaries
Documentary channels like DW Documentary, Free Documentary, Frontline PBS, National Geographic and PBS Documentaries collectively hosts thousands of free documentaries on various subjects, including archaeology, astronomy, biographies, history, palaeontology, philosophy, etc.
Movies
YouTube also hosts thousands of full-length movies. For a detailed overview of movie channels, embedded trailers, and public domain films, please visit our dedicated post on Watching Movies via YouTube.
Series
YouTube also hosts a growing number of popular series like Deadly Women, John Doe, The FBI Files and Wentworth.
YouTube Originals
Apart from the various series, mentioned above, YouTube also produced and funded a number of series, movies, specials, events and other "YouTube Originals" (Wikipedia, n.d.d) like Impulse and Lifeline.
Music
YouTube and YouTube Music also host thousands of music videos from prominent artists like Billy Currington, Blake Shelton, The Dead South, Kiesza, Roxette, Sofi Tukker, Taylor Swift, Toto and Weird Al Yankovic; as well as hundreds of AI music channels like Breaking Rust, RoboBlues and ThemRedneckVibes; and the hilarious There I Ruined It.
Audiobooks
YouTube also hosts hundreds of audiobook channels like Chillbooks and LibriVox Audiobooks, collectively carrying thousands of free audiobooks by popular authors like Arthur Conan Doyle, Carl Sagan, Charles Dickens, Daniel Defoe, H.G. Wells, Homer, Marcus Aurelius and Sun Tzu.
Radio
Apart from documentaries, movies, series, and music, YouTube also hosts a large number of live radio broadcasts (some of which we also mentioned in our post on Streaming Radio).
News
Apart from prominent news channels like Al Jazeera English, Bellingcat, Carte Blanche, Daily Maverick, Double Down News, MeidasTouch, Middle East Eye and Zeteo, YouTube also hosts a number of live broadcasts from agencies like Al Jazeera and Sky News.
In addition to the various news channels and live news broadcasts, YouTube also hosts political commentators like Adam Mockler, AJ+, Arthur Rehi, CJ Werleman, China Uncensored, Dan Corder, David Pakman, Guard The Leaf, John Oliver, Robert Reich and The Juice Media.
Controversies
Despite all the good, YouTube are no stranger to controversy.
Censorship
YouTube's widespread censorship (Wikipedia, n.d.a, n.d.g; Web Desk, 2025), includes arbitrarily demonetizing videos (Boyle, 2026), geo-locking videos [despite their accuracy or truthfulness] at the request of both domestic and foreign courts (2026, May 30), and irretrievably wiping out thousands of videos highlighting human rights violations (Web Desk, 2025).
Privacy Concerns
And finally, like all other U.S.-based tech companies under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, YouTube are compelled to hand over user data at the request of either the President [no court order required] or any U.S. intelligence service [with a court order].
Please Review Us
If you appreciate our content and tutorials, please review SOHO Systems on Google Search and Facebook.
References
Boyle, P. (2026, January 4) YouTube Censorship: The Video They Didn't Want You to See! [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJP6K2_rr90
Mrwhosetheboss (2026, May 30) I Investigated India's Biggest Smartphone Controversy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7aOJYueEtI
Web Desk (2025, November 6) YouTube wipes out 700 videos depicting Israeli genocide during Gaza war [News article]. Geo News. https://www.geo.tv/latest/632383-youtube-wipes-out-700-videos-depicting-israeli-genocide-during-gaza-war
Wikipedia (n.d.a) YouTube [Wikipedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube
Wikipedia (n.d.b) YouTube (YouTube channel) [Wikipedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube_(YouTube_channel)
Wikipedia (n.d.c) History of YouTube [Wikipedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_YouTube
Wikipedia (n.d.d) List of YouTube Premium original programming [Wikipedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_YouTube_Premium_original_programming
Wikipedia (n.d.e) YouTube Premium [Wikipedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube_Premium
Wikipedia (n.d.f) Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [Wikipedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act
Wikipedia (n.d.g) Censorship of YouTube [Wikipedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_YouTube
For more information, please visit our YouTube archives; the official YouTube website; the YouTube archives at 9to5Google; or run a Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google or YouTube search for "YouTube". You may also enjoy YouTube Kids.
📅 May 16, 2026
🔃
🖨️
