YouTube
on Thursday launched a pilot program of paid channels for its online
video service, calling it part of an effort “that enables content
creators to earn revenue for their creativity.”
The
Google-owned video-sharing service said the launch with “a small group
of partners” starts Thursday with subscription fees starting at 99 cents
per month.
“Every
channel has a 14-day free trial, and many offer discounted yearly
rates,” a YouTube blog post said.“This is just the beginning.
We’ll
be rolling paid channels out more broadly in the coming weeks as a
self-service feature for qualifying partners.And as new channels appear,
we’ll be making sure you can discover them, just as we’ve been helping
you find and subscribe to all the channels you love across
YouTube.”Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion.
The
service is believed to generate a small amount of revenue from
advertising, but the content has been free.YouTube has gradually added
professional content, such as full-length television shows and movies to
its vast trove of amateur video offerings in a bid to attract
advertisers.
The
new paid channels include Acorn TV, which offers British TV programs at
$4.99 per month; National Geographic Kids, at $2.99 a month or $30 a
year; and PrimeZone Sports, at $2.99 per month.Earlier this year Google
said more than a billion people use YouTube each month, with viewing on
smartphones helping drive growth.
“If
YouTube were a country, we’d be the third largest in the world after
China and India,” the team said in March.YouTube confirmed early this
year that its evolution as an Internet stage for video may include
subscriptions to content that creators expect people would pay to watch.
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