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YouTube, Disney cut video deal, report says

Disney will produce original videos that will be distributed on YouTube and a co-branded Disney.com channel, The New York Times reports.

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Google and Disney are partnering on an effort to bring more attention to their respective brands.

Disney and Google's YouTube are expected to announce a partnership tomorrow in which the two will spend $10 million to $15 million on original series, according to a report in The New York Times. Disney will produce the shorts, which will be distributed on a co-branded channel on Disney.com and YouTube, the newspaper reported. It will also reportedly feature amateur video uploaded to YouTube.

YouTube representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

News of the partnership comes as competition heats up for consumers' entertainment dollars. Google itself recently announced a $100 million investment to develop original content for dozens of new YouTube channels.

But the Web giant isn't the only looking for more exposure from the deal; Disney is tapping a proven Internet video brand to attract more children searching for video online.

"It's imperative to go where our audience is," James A. Pitaro, co-president of Disney Interactive, told the newspaper. The goal is to "bring Disney's legacy of storytelling to a new generation of families and Disney enthusiasts on the platforms they prefer."

This apparently is just one step in Disney's plan to increase its exposure on the Internet. The company recently renewed a licensing agreement with Netflix and inked a new deal with Amazon that will give both a crack at much of the same content.