YouTube Red: Ad-Free YouTube Subscription to Be Launched for $10 a Month

By Lorraine Caballero, Christian Post Contributor Friday, October 23, 2015

Google will reportedly launch a new subscription service called YouTube Red, which will be an ad-free service for the video-sharing site.

YouTube Red is a $9.99 monthly subscription service that lets customers do away with online advertisements. The new service will feature more homegrown content that viewers want to see, according to The Inquirer.

The launching of YouTube Red is a stark contrast to the usual practice of the video-sharing site's other rivals that support online ads such as Facebook. The move also gives paid streaming services, like Netflix and Hulu, a new rival in the industry, Tech News Today reports.

YouTube has been receiving a lot of complaints from record firms and other content partners about the ads that do not serve as a good source of revenue for them. Since some of the licensing rights will end next year, Google is set to renew its contract with the record firms, and YouTube Red is a move that will be positive for its content partners, the report explains.

YouTube Red will be officially launched by the end of October and will first be available to U.S. subscribers. American customers will get to enjoy one month free use of the service as part of its promotion. With the new subscription service, viewers will be able to gain access to long-form special videos from famous YouTubers.

"Last year, we announced an initiative to invest in the creativity of our top YouTube stars…," The Inquirer quotes YouTube senior product manager Matt Leske's statement. "Today, we're announcing some of the original series and movies we'll be debuting with YouTube Red."

For a monthly fee of $9.99, YouTube Red subscribers will be able to watch YouTube videos without the annoying adverts. They can also save videos that they want to watch later offline, the report details.

YouTube knows paid services will not be an easy feat for the company. On Wednesday, Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl explained during a press conference that paid membership is a tough industry to penetrate, but YouTube Red will focus more on exclusive content and offline services that will appeal to its users so that they can compete with their older rivals.