In the age of increasing digital media, you knew this was coming: ESPN is dark on YouTube...

... and the reason why is the shit finally has hit the fan on YouTube.

YouTube, for a long time, has been the haven for mostly-legal, some semi-legal, and mucho illegal materials (via copyright) being disseminated to the general public on the Internet the last several years.

Google finally wants it's cut.

Deadspin's Gizmodo site has the details.

YouTube, for some time now, has been asking ordering it's major content providers to sign contracts in which their materials could only be accessed on YouTube through a new PAID service called "YouTube Red".

Failure to do so, according to the Adam Clark Estes article, would mean that YouTube would mark all videos from these providers as private, rendering them inaccessible to the general public. And, on top of that, YouTube basically tells the content providers that, if they did not do this, then subscribers would then be unable to get the videos they paid subscriptions to see, while non-subscribers would.

If I'm reading this right, the gravy train which has been YouTube has finally been ground to a halt -- and, for anyone to realistically use YouTube anymore, it's $10/month.

Basically, YouTube is finished.  Those making money off of YouTube now either have to go to the paid service, losing a large portion of their money (because those who have paid them directly through donations or the like now have to pay YouTube $10/month just to realistically use the service!), or leave YouTube entirely.

To put it another way, it's a poison pill and probably led by content providers like video game companies and movie/TV people who've been trying, unsuccessfully, for years to remove content which either is infringing or is believed to be infringing from the site.

YouTube/Google CLAIMS over 99% of it's relevant content providers have signed on.

Apparently, one of those who has not, according to Deadspin, is ESPN!

Reason?  It can't.  Contracts with the various sports leagues -- which would make sense, given the recent Twitter kerfluffles between the NFL and Deadspin and SB Nation.

So, as of at least tonight, most of the major ESPN subchannels, including Grantland's, are private.