The Hollywood Reporter reports that the WWE Network will be a part of You Tube’s initiative in creating 100 different channels online with the site. Although initial speculation was that the WWE Network would be on cable television, the unprecedented move allows the WWE to circumvent negotiations with cable providers.

Via the Hollywood Reporter (h/t Cageside Seats):

In a low-budget early effort to compete with satellite and cable TV providers, YouTube announced Friday that it has partnered with several entities to roll out television-style channels with professionally produced shows that will strike a sharp contrast to the short videos of crazy cats, skateboard wipeouts and other amateur content that made the site famous.

Insiders said the Google-owned property has shelled out some $150 million in advances for the creation of about 100 channels, with a maximum $5 million going to any single channel. Financial details were sketchy on Friday, though The Wall Street Journal reported that deals call for YouTube recouping its advances then giving as much as 55 percent of the ad revenue to the content creators.

The WWE began airing commercials for a network earlier this year with the start date being in 2012. The network is planned to roll out around the next Wrestlemania this spring 2012.

Payout Perspective:

For WWE fans, this is not what was expected but it is probably the best strategy for the WWE at this point. As we have seen from the Direct TV-Fox contract dispute, the task of placing its network and negotiating a contract with cable distributors would have been difficult especially with its target roll out of this spring. If given the choice, fans would likely check out the channel on YouTube rather than pay extra money on their cable bill.

The bigger story here is YouTube (a Google owned entity) and its move to compete with satellite and Cable tv. How many people will adapt to watching television on their computers? How many will know that they can hook up their computers to televisions?