I hate to say it. I even hate to type it. Pretty soon, we’ll have to pay for some of YouTube’s videos.
As I write this, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and other You Tube leaders are preparing the way for paid subscription only programming. On October 21, they will announce some of this programming at their studio in Los Angeles. They really are going Hollywood with this one. Don’t think you can slap some mediocre video of your backyard wrestling or singing really bad karaoke and expect to make it on their You Tube subscription page. They’re looking for new content from top creators. They may not use major A-list celebrities like they tried to back in 2011. They invested $100 million on that venture, which turned out to be a miserable failure. Some sources say YouTube will use their own stars who attract a young audience. Don’t worry! YouTube will still offer it’s free advertising backed service. Nonetheless, all videos on the free site will be available on the paid site. And video makers need to listen good to this one. You Tube wants all video producers making money from ads to participate in subscription services. Nobody knows when the You Tube pay service will be available, but the best guess sometime in 2016.
First and foremost, we should all be breathing collective sighs of relief that the free YouTube service will still be going strong. Never again will I take for granted ads before YouTube videos, no matter how pesky they may get. But I anticipate what will be offered on their pay site. If they want to compete with Netflix and Hulu, they better make it good. I’d say they should try to get some TV shows to stream. But don’t get too crazy with that. They should still stick to their bread and butter, which is everyday people creating quality videos for everyone to enjoy. How do they walk that fine line?