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YouTube to launch subscription service

22 October 2015

By Lauren E. White

The latest capitalisation in the online video world is YouTube, with its plans to launch a subscription service, YouTube Red, in the US.

YouTube Red will only initially be available in the US and will cost $9.99 (£6.50) a month and have no adverts, unlike the current version of the site now.

However, analysts have suggested that it is going to be difficult trying to convert fans who turn up to watch free videos online to now paying for a subscription. Famous ‘YouTuber’ PewDiePie is among the list of well-known stars who will be unique to the service. Brian Blau, an analyst with Gartner, said: “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 took a sceptical approach to the YouTube Red, claiming that “you are not going to see 50% buying this,” and that those who do will be in “relatively small numbers.”

So is YouTube Red going to be a huge competitor with other similar sites like Amazon Prime? It looks unlikely. However, stranger things have happened…

 

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