Ali Hussein, Head (Entertainment Partnerships) at YouTube, has left the company, MediaNama had heard from reliable, industry sources. YouTube has confirmed Hussein's departure from the company, saying that he left about a month ago, and that no replacement has been appointed as yet in his place. Hussein had been with YouTube for about two and a half years, according to his LinkedIn profile, he was responsible for business development and content partnerships with media companies. YouTube has a fairly small team when it comes to business development in India, so Hussein's role was a significant one. There's a separate content team which looks into helping original creators work with YouTube. Prior to joining YouTube, Hussein was an Assistant Vice President (Digital) at Viacom18, looking at Nickelodeon, MTV and Colors, over a three and a half year period. Before that, Hussein was an Assistant General Manager at Hungama Mobile. This is a critical year for YouTube in India: over the past couple of years, it has built a substantial viewership (it claims over 55 million monthly viewers) in India, and a noticeable increase in advertising. The company is pushing for more and more original content, and the setting up for more multi-channel networks to increase the amount of content available. The virtuous cycle of content getting viewers getting content, and advertising to back this growth is already in motion. In early March, the company hosted a YouTube Fan Fest in Mumbai, bringing together original YouTube content creators and their fans. We've contacted…
