News has come out that Google+ hangout video streams are being discontinued as a product and won't be available after September 12th.

From this article: Google is discontinuing Google+ Hangouts On Air on September 12, pushes users to YouTube Live (http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/15/google-is-discontinuing-google-hangouts-on-air-on-september-12-pushes-users-to-youtube-live/)

"Google first debuted the livestreaming feature for its Hangouts group video chat on Google+ back in September 2011, though it was only available to select performers and celebrities. Google started making Hangouts On Air available to all its users in May 2012, and completed the rollout a month later. But then in May 2013, Google debuted YouTube Live, which also gradually became available to more and more users."

Andrew

I am a big fan of YouTube Live.

While I have not tried any other CDNs, I have successfully live streamed 130+ hours of live sport. That has given me tremendous faith in the product as a live stream producer.

From the perspective of viewership/audience, You Tube Live is extremely accessible. No brainer IMO.

But in regards to a user-pays model, that is a story I don't know anything about...yet :-)

My understanding is it's not going away at all. It's being moved from a part of Hangouts to a feature directly inside the YouTube streaming functions.

YouTube to swallow up Google's Hangouts on Air
Google decides that YouTube will be the new home for Hangouts on Air.
YouTube to swallow up Google's Hangouts on Air - CNET (http://www.cnet.com/news/youtube-to-swallow-up-googles-hangouts-on-air/)
"Google is pulling the feature from Google Plus and a new version will head to YouTube Live."

Google+ Hangouts On Air to go off the air in September - CNET (http://www.cnet.com/news/google-hangouts-on-air-to-go-off-the-air-in-september/)
"Google+ Hangouts On Air is going away, but its broadcast feature isn't going far."

Hangouts On Air moving from Google+ to YouTube Live
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7083786

So not going away. Being moved.

Looks like a change of technology platform for the streaming service. The "Google+ hangout video" is dying, but only technically. It will live on as a YouTube Live platform product.

I'm certainly open to correction on this one.

Andrew

My guess is that found few people were using it to replace Skype group calling but most people were using it for live streaming guest interviews. That seems to be where the change is taking place. As a result, rather than using Google + to initiate a Hangout and then going through additional rigamarole to go live, they simplified it and you create the Hangout On Air directly in YouTube Live for ease of use.