Youtube Joins the Original content producers Club
Since its start in 2005, YouTube has had a business model similar to that of old-school broadcast networks. Viewers have access to free content that is essentially paid for through advertisement revenue. This strategy has been very successful thus far, especially considering YouTube’s large viewership of over 1.5 billion users globally. However, the company is now making a push into the subscription based business, taking a shot at well established rivals such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.
This move comes through YouTube’ Red, the company’s premium service. It is a $10 monthly based subscription service that allows users to skip all advertisement and listen to music in the background on their smartphones.
The success of premium service has been limited to around one million subscribers globally, and its availability has been limited to the United States, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. In 2016, YouTube started offering original content, but the viewership has been limited to Youtube’s own base. But that was due to the programs’ design being built around existing YouTube starts.
Recently, the company announced it would attempt a new distribution strategy for its upcoming original movie, Vulture Club, which includes releasing the movie in theatres. The movie stars academy award winner Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco and Matt Bomer. This is YouTube’s attempt to increase its credibility and compete with existing streaming giants, Netflix and Amazon, who have already done theatrical releases for their original films. Manchester by the Sea, an Amazon original was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in 2016, and Netflix’s Icarus, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
YouTube has also been working on a few other original projects such as Cobra Kai, a Karate Kid spin off, which has the potential to attract new subscribers who are fans of the Karate Kid franchise. Another project is Impulse, a new teleportation thriller original series which YouTube has recently released the trailer for.
Aside from also being a music streaming service, YouTube’s main asset to compete with the streaming giant is the incredibly wide array of data provided by its giant user base of over 1.5 billion people globally. Such data can predict success of new projects and inform the company’s investments. In the case of Cobra Kai, Susanne Daniels, YouTube’s global content chief who oversees programming for Red, said “Karate Kid–related content has been watched over one billion times on our platform.” This helps the company make decisions.
The future of YouTube Red is still ambiguous, but it is evident that the company is willing to take risk and push hard against its rivals. With the amount of data that YouTube has and its large and strong viewership, YouTube Red might have a shot at rivaling established services.
Read also: Make your Own Music using only your iPhone with these Apps
