Spain's Cuatro launches YouTube web portal

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish television channel Cuatro is launching a portal on Google's YouTube, showing clips of the broadcaster's most popular programs to try and build a young audience in and outside Spain.

The move by Cuatro, a free-to-air channel launched by Spanish TV group Sogecable in November 2005, follows a similar move by the BBC earlier this month.

"With a community of millions of young users on line, YouTube is a perfect platform to reach new viewers," Cuatro's director of content Elena Sanchez said in a statement on Thursday.

YouTube, bought by Google last November, first gained popularity for short, comic sketches that were created and posted on the site by users.

It has also faced increasing legal threats from big media companies, including a $1 billion lawsuit from media conglomerate Viacom Inc, angry that the site has become a popular means of pirating their television shows.

Cuatro is Spain's sixth most popular free-to-air channel, with an audience share of 6.4 percent in 2006.