Live streaming broadcasts are nothing new, but when the largest purveyor of online video throws its hat in the ring, it’s time to take a fresh look. YouTube announced today that it has officially launched its live streaming video service, called YouTube Live.

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Thus far, the live streaming opportunity is limited to a select group of YouTube stars and popular shows including Revision3‘s, The Totally Rad Show, Dan 3.0 and Destructoid. It doesn’t appear as though any brands were invited to participate as part of the program launch, though an EA Sports Shift 2 Test Video was appearing in the upcoming shows list earlier in the day.

In addition, YouTube is kicking off a six-week national ‘DigiTour’ featuring famed YouTube musicians. The DigiTour kicks off at Googles headquarters tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern.

According to an official statement on YouTube’s blog, “The goal is to provide thousands of partners with the capability to live stream from their channels in the months ahead. In order to ensure a great live stream viewing experience, we’ll roll this offering out incrementally over time.”

For marketers looking to take advantage of live event coverage, YouTube Live will be yet another important consideration among a host of choices including: Ustream, Kyte, LiveCast, Qik, LiveStream and Justin.TV. What makes YouTube Live a standout for marketers is the unprecedented access to a worldwide audience that now consumes 2 billion videos per day on the website. YouTube is a familiar interface for both users and brands and, if and when this rolls out mainstream, it may end up being easier to use than competing platforms.

-Nicholas Cavet, Social Strategist, 360i with Orli LeWinter and Michelle Reed