YouTube has pitched advertisers to fund big-budget web shows to the tune of millions of dollars. The concepts include Kobe Bryant fulfilling the wish of a lucky child, a series of shows about entrepreneurs making their ideas real, and a live Lady Gaga concert.

The pitches are part of YouTube’s foray into Hollywood for polished, TV-style web video that can attract the kind of advertisers that devote most of their ad budgets on TV, writes Michael Learmonth. The concepts were pitched as branded entertainment, shows created for or in conjunction with advertisers. YouTube is separately trying to seed the market for professional web video by funding as much as $5 million in start-up costs for producers to create YouTube content channels around advertiser-friendly categories like food, fashion, sports and comedy.

Some of these ideas, like Chief Household Officer, pitched by YouTube as a 10-week series for $2.8 million, are running on YouTube with a sponsorship deal from HP. Unlike the channel strategy, these shows are pitched as branded entertainment that are only green-lit with a big-ticket advertiser attached.

YouTube has been in the branded entertainment business for some time, but its involvement in selling the shows and working with Hollywood studios signal new ambition to win major marketing budgets. Indeed the price tags suggest YouTube is seeking higher ad rates than seen typically on TV, said Learmonth. Assuming YouTube can deliver a hefty 100 million views to a series for $3.5 million in six months, that’s still a cost-per-thousand viewers of $35, higher than a typical TV ad rate of $20, and more in a league with Hulu, which sells TV spots on the web for $40.

This is all part of YouTube’s larger plan to be the cable TV of the Internet and these sorts of deals might change the playing field in the online video market. “Every time you see a YouTube or Hulu or Netflix move into original content creation, it’s more opportunity for brands,” said one agency exec. “It’s a bigger playing field and more ways to reach an audience.”

Source: AdAge.com