Lucozade Energy will have branding on all YouTube Big Brother pages, the broadcaster's Big Brother YouTube channels and pre-roll ads across a range of video content related to the hit Channel 4 show.
The deal gives the brand presence across all the Big Brother 10 shows on Channel 4, E4 shows including Big Brother's Big Mouth and Big Brother's Little Brother, the main Big Brother site on Channel4.com, and Channel 4's video on demand service.
In the lead up to the show, Channel 4 used YouTube to generate auditions, which it claimed was the most successful upload contest to run on YouTube. The channel attracted 2600 audition videos and 37,000 user comments.
In a seperate development, YouTube has unveiled a version of its video sharing website that is compatible with any TV with an internet connection. Called YouTube XL, the ad-free service offers a stripped down interface that can be controlled by a keyboard or remote control.
The release is an extension of YouTube TV beta, which was released in January and is only compatible with games consoles such as Nintendo Wii or Playstation 3 connected to a TV. It also offers a continuous play feature, which lets users search for a topic on YouTube and then press play once to watch all of the videos sequentially on that topic.
Google's move is the latest in a string of developments that aim to bring internet content to television screens and to allow users to interact with that content from the couch. Last month Sony announced plans to deliver movies and TV shows through the Playstation, and yesterday Microsoft announced it will offer movies through the Xbox 360.
Despite moving the service to the living room, YouTube XL does not have many full-length shows from premium partners that are available on the regular YouTube service due to rights issues.
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