YouTube Subscription Service To Be Launched; YouTube Red Is Ad-Free With New Features
YouTube Red is a paid subscription service for YouTube; Set to launch at the end of this month in the United States, according to THE VERGE.
Going live on Oct. 28, for $9.99 YouTube Red users will be able to watch ad-free videos. It also lets subscribers save and watch videos offline. The ability to keep playing videos in the background, while the screen is off, or while other apps are in use on mobile phones is part of this new service as well.
Exclusive subscribers-only content is also offered. Some of the biggest names include CollegeHumor, Pewdiepie, and Roster Teeth. Viewers in the United States can try YouTube Red for free for one month, cited by WSJ.
"It's great to see YouTube offer an alternative to an ad-only model," said Brian Blau, an analyst with Gartner. "Consumers want choice and options. But pay walls haven't always done well and uptake depends on how users balance the attractiveness of the exclusive content and the pain of sitting through lots of ads."
Ian Maude from Enders Analysis, also skeptical about the size of the audience it would attract. "You are not going to see 50% buying this. It's going to be relatively small numbers." he says. "But, they might be able to hoover up some more money and from Google's perspective it gets them into the high-quality, high-production value game." according to BBC.
"We're working to bring YouTube Red and our YouTube Music, Gaming and Kids apps to more countries soon," a post on YouTube's official blog said, also assuring fanst that that the ad-supported version of YouTube is still here to stay.
Despite that, the company is still enouraging viewers to use the new service, saying, "[But] with YouTube Red, you'll be able to support the people who make your favorite videos while watching what you want, when you want, on any device you want, uninterrupted."
YouTube is part of Google, a division of the newly created holding company Alphabet Inc.
