YouTube says the battle with TV is already over

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt gestures during an interactive session with group of students at a technical university in Yangon, Myanmar in March. AP

NEW YORK—YouTube vs. TV? YouTube says the battle — if there ever was one — is over.

In a flashy presentation to advertisers Wednesday night, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt declined to forecast that Internet video will displace television watching. Instead he declared: “That’s already happened.”

Schmidt says “the future is now” for YouTube, which recently passed the milestone of one billion unique visitors every month. But, he adds, if you think that’s a large number, “wait until you get to six or seven billion.”

YouTube billed the event, which was part of a week of digital media “NewFronts,” as a “brandcast.” YouTube presented itself as a new video entity unlike TV, one with global reach, community engagement and more 18- to 34-year-olds than any cable network.