YouTube

YouTube is the latest streaming service hoping to be more like traditional TV.

Google’s massive video site is working on a paid virtual television service called Unplugged that bundles cable TV channels, and is aiming for launch next year, according to a report by Bloomberg, which cites unnamed people familiar with the plan. Although YouTube has no deals in place yet for programming, Bloomberg says it has discussed the plans with most big media companies including Comcast’s NBCUniversal, 21st Century Fox, Viacom, and CBS.

A YouTube spokesperson told TheWrap that the company doesn’t comment on rumor or speculation.

Both Fox and NBCU are part owners in Hulu, which confirmed reports about its own plans for a similar service earlier on Wednesday.

Also Read: Hulu Is Slowing, Hits 12 Million Subscribers Versus Netflix's 81 Million

YouTube launched its first paid tier last year, called Red, which unlocks exclusive content that mostly features the kind of digital stars who rose to prominence on its platform. By launching live channels delivered online, it would move Google’s site into direct competition with the likes of Dish’s Sling TV and Sony’s Playstation Vue, and would add top-shelf content from the media giants that have had an ambivalent relationship with YouTube since it’s beginning.

Bloomberg’s report added that Google has been working on such a service since as far back as 2012 and that it has overhauled its technological infrastructure to accommodate it.

Like many companies angling to launch virtual TV services, YouTube struggled to get programmers on board with the low price it wants to be able to offer. The company would like to sell a package of channels for less than $35 a month, but big media companies expect new entrants to pay higher rates than its traditional distributors like cable and satellite companies.

Also Read: YouTube's Robert Kyncl: TV Is Dying, But Not TV Networks

Earlier this year, YouTube business chief Robert Kyncl predicted digital video would displace TV as the single biggest way people spend their free time by the end of this decade, but he was careful to distinguish video distributors from TV programmers as he predicted television’s demise.

“When I say that 75 percent of all video will be transmitted through the Internet, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s video made for the Internet,” he said in an exclusive interview with TheWrap in January. “It will also be content from ABC, NBC — people who have honed their craft … I don’t think they should feel threatened — this is positive for the content industry.”

10 'Game of Thrones' Characters Most and Least Likely to Die, According to Science (Photos)

So, did Jon Snow really die in "Game of Thrones" season finale? Did Sansa survive her leap from Winterfell's wall? Before Sunday's return of the series starts unraveling those mysteries, researchers at a German university say their algorithm knows the answers. A student team at the Technical University of Munich analyzed data on all the "Game of Thrones" characters and built a machine-learning program that gives each one a percentage chance of survival or doom. Who is the most and least likely to die next?
HBO
This boy king is virtually dead already. Tommen Baratheon has a 97 percent likelihood of dying, according to the algorithm. Considering his grandfather, father, older brother and sister have all been murdered, and basically every person with any power in Westeros is vying to steal his seat on the Iron Throne, this doom may not be the biggest surprise.

Also Read: ‘Game of Thrones': Most Upsetting, Shocking and Disturbing Deaths So Far (Photos)
HBO
Tommen's uncle, Stannis, is a close runner-up in the algorithm's ranking of who's next to die. He has a 96 percent chance of being offed. Of course, our last glimpse of Stannis was of him lying defenseless on the ground as Brienne of Tarth swung her sword at him for the kill, so...

Also Read: All 47 ‘Game of Thrones’ Main Characters, Ranked Worst to Best (Photos)
HBO
It doesn't look good for fan favorite Khaleesi. Daenerys Targaryen has a 95 percent of dying, putting her at No. 3 in the close race to the grave.
HBO
Davos Seaworth, Stannis Baratheon's once right-hand deputy, has a 91 percent chance of doom. After barely surviving the battle at King's Landing in Season 2, this Onion Knight may not have long left.
HBO
Petyr Baelish's cunning vaulted him to money and power, and it's saved him from more than one dire scrape. But he has a 91 percent likelihood of dying, according to the algorithm, so his wiles may not get him much farther.
HBO
Among those most likely to survive, Roose Bolton is No. 5 on the "might just make it" list. And even though he makes it into that elusive top 5, he still has a 28 percent likelihood of dying.
HBO
Margaery Tyrell's fate is rosier than her young husband, Tommen, at a 64 percent likelihood of dying. Her father, though, has the best chances in the Tyrell family, at only 18 percent doomed.
HBO
Most people love to hate Cersei Lannister, but her conniving ways earn her a solid chance of surviving. She is only 16 percent likely to die, putting her at No. 3 on the list of survivors.
HBO
Bless the all-knowing algorithm! Jon Snow is alive! At least, there's only an 11 percent chance that the Night's Watch mutiny that left him bleeding in the snow actually killed him. Only one other character has a better likelihood of survival.
HBO
Place your bets now. Although she jumped from the heights of Winterfell's high wall in the finale of the last season, machine learning assures us Sansa is the most likely character of all to survive the "Song of Ice and Fire." She her likelihood of death is only 3 percent.
HBO

1 of 11

Is Jon Snow dead or alive? A machine-learning algorithm pegs the percentage chance of every “Game of Thrones” character surviving or perishing

So, did Jon Snow really die in "Game of Thrones" season finale? Did Sansa survive her leap from Winterfell's wall? Before Sunday's return of the series starts unraveling those mysteries, researchers at a German university say their algorithm knows the answers. A student team at the Technical University of Munich analyzed data on all the "Game of Thrones" characters and built a machine-learning program that gives each one a percentage chance of survival or doom. Who is the most and least likely to die next?

View In Gallery