YouTube Originals Will Be Free to Watch (With Ads) Starting September 24th
- YouTube Originals will make all channel content accessible to non-paying users starting in September 2019.
- Paying members will continue to enjoy several perks like downloading videos and not getting served with ads.
- YouTube is also experimenting with a new crowdfunding platform for special events aimed at creators and their audience.
YouTube has announced its intention to make the YouTube Originals channel freely available for all viewers, beginning on September 24th, 2019. Right now, the channel’s content is only available to those who have a YouTube Premium membership, enjoying series, movies, and other content that is exclusively available on “Originals”. This category of subscribers will continue to enjoy a set of perks like no ads, ability to download videos for offline viewing, and access to bonus content, whereas the “free” users will just be able to access the channel’s content and watch anything they like.
Another difference will be that paying members will be able to access whole seasons of series as they are published in their entirety at the premiere, while non-paying users will have to follow a sequential release schedule, watching one episode per week or so. One thing to note is that some of the content is not available in specific regions in the world, and this geo-filtering will remain unchanged. That said, some movies or series, or even some episodes may not be available for viewing in your country or region. If this is a problem for you, remember that there's a way to watch YouTube Premium outside the US, which is done by using a VPN application.
YouTube Originals offers original content of all kinds, from drama to comedy, and from documentaries to animation. Although it operates on a much tighter budget than Netflix, Amazon, and Disney channels, it has offered content that has found great success like “Cobra Kai”, “Step Up: High Water”, “Kedi”, “Rhett and Link’s Buddy System”, “Lifeline”, and “Mind Field”. Google had already solidified the plan to go “free and ad-supported” since last year, so this announcement is in line with what we have been expecting.
One more thing that goes on for the world’s most popular video hosting platform is a new experiment that will check the users’ response to a new events-focused crowdfunding service. Called Fundo, the new platform will enable YouTube creators to set up online meetings and events with their fans, with the latter paying an amount for the "private time" with the former. These events could involve live conversations, exclusive demonstration of some form, training and advice sessions, or even the taking of photos together. There has been some testing already, with creators charging $4, $10, and $40 for a ticker to their private events, and so far it went pretty well.
Are you excited with what’s about to come on YouTube Originals? Let us know what you think in the comments down below, or on our socials, on Facebook and Twitter.