Last year we introduced Hangouts On Air to a limited number of broadcasters, enabling them to go live with friends and fans, for all the world to see. Since then, this small community has grown the feature in lots of creative ways. And they’ve made one thing crystal clear: when groups of passionate individuals can broadcast live, together, the results are truly remarkable:
Today we're excited to launch Hangouts On Air to Google+ users in Australia and around the world. So if you have something to say—as an aspiring artist, a global celebrity, or a concerned citizen—you can now go live in front of a global audience. With just a few clicks, you’ll be able to:
- Broadcast publicly. By checking "Enable Hangouts On Air," you can broadcast your live hangout—from the Google+ stream, your YouTube channel or your website—to the entire world.
- See how many viewers you’ve got. During your broadcast, you can look inside the hangout to see how many people are watching live.
- Record and re-share. Once you're off the air, we’ll upload a public recording to your YouTube channel, and to your original Google+ post. This way it's easy to share and discuss your broadcast after it's over.
In Australia, we’ve already seeing some great uses of Hangouts. Radio station Nova FM recently launched the Digital Red Room, which connects the hottest stars like Canadian songbird Carly Rae Jepsen with fans across the country via Hangouts. And viewers of hit TV show Bondi Rescue can also connect face-to-face with their favourite lifeguard after each show.
Of course, launching millions of live stations takes some doing, so we're rolling out Hangouts On Air gradually, over the next few weeks. In the meantime you can save the date for an upcoming hangout...
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… sign in to Google+ to see what’s live right now, or find inspiration in the many broadcasts that have already aired.
 A peek at the ocean floor via Underwater Hangouts with the Aussie based +Catlin Seaview Survey. They hope to show the world the Great Barrier Reef in order to draw awareness to the issues arising from warmer sea temperatures. |  Town halls with today’s leaders. President +Barack Obama, Governor +Mitt Romney, UN Secretary-General +Ban Ki-Moon, and many others have connected with citizens via hangout. |
 **Live concerts from your living room. Musical artists like +Suite 709 and +Daria Musk perform live for those inside the hangout, and for everyone else tuning in. |  Classes anyone can attend. Chef +Larry Fournillier, Professor +Noah Diffenbaugh, and +FAWN share their cooking, climate change and fashion expertise, respectively, via hangout. |
 Roundtables about any topic. Photographer +Trey Ratcliff, football enthusiast +Sabotage Times and celebrity trend spotter +Young Hollywood talk about the issues they find interesting. |  Face-to-face meetups with all of your favorites. +David Beckham, +Tyra Banks and +Geek & Sundry have all enjoyed meet-and-greets with their fans. |
