Video-sharing website YouTube has teamed with DreamWorks Animation to create YouTube Nation, a daily highlight reel of new, trending and yet-to-be-discovered content.

It will serve as a handy sampler, according to DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. “In a sea of the infinite, this is a lighthouse,” he said.

Every minute, some 100 hours of new video content is uploaded to YouTube. Now a task force of YouTube Nation curators will be ploughing through this cache to identify what’s popular and what’s poised to go viral with YouTube consumers.

“Our choices aren’t driven purely by algorithms and analytics,” Katzenberg said. “You don’t want to just know what’s the most seen. What you really want to know is: What’s GOING to be the most seen?”

The five-minute YouTube Nation program will post weekdays at 9pm Eastern Time (0200 GMT) starting Tuesday.

Each episode will come equipped with links and playlists that enable the user to delve into the video being recommended.

“For every five minutes of our show, we’ll have an hour or more of content,” Mr Katzenberg said.

The advertiser-supported YouTube Nation is the first daily series produced by DreamWorks Animation and marks the first use of the YouTube brand for a daily series. The project, an equal partnership of the two companies, has been in the works for a year, with a current staff totalling 50.

Within two months, a second daily edition of the show will be added to the mix. Then, mid-year, specialisation will be introduced with a dozen or so “vertical” guides such as “YTN Sports”, “YTN News” and “YTN Music” – more than a dozen in all, Mr Katzenberg said.