YouTube’s original content will soon be available for users who don’t have a subscription to the service.<\/b>
\nYouTube is shifting from subscription-based original content to an ad-supported strategy and will make all of its original productions available for free in the coming years, TheWrap has confirmed.
Since 2015, YouTube\u2019s original content was only available to consumers willing to subscribe to the company\u2019s streaming service, YouTube Premium. However, those originals, including its most popular series, \u201cKarate Kid\u201d-spinoff \u201cCobra Kai,\u201d will soon be available to view for free.
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\u201cBy any measure, 2018 was a breakout year for YouTube Premium and YouTube Originals. We expanded YouTube Premium to 29 countries, launched over 50 scripted and unscripted shows, and collected eight Emmy nominations and over 30 industry awards. As we look to 2019, we will continue to invest in scripted programming and shift to make our YouTube Originals ad-supported to meet the growing demand of a more global fanbase,\u201d a YouTube Spokesperson told TheWrap. \u201cThis next phase of our Originals strategy will expand the audience of our YouTube Original creators and provide advertisers with incredible content that reaches the YouTube Generation. \u201c
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YouTube first began experimenting with ad-supported content in 2017 with shows like \u201cEllen\u2019s Show Me More Show,\u201d and continued in 2018 with \u201cKevin Hart: What The Fit?\u201d and \u201cI AM: Demi Lovato.\u201d The company has also recently expanded its ad-supported programming to India where it recently launched the singing competition show \u201cARRived,\u201d which is hosted by award-winning Indian composer A. R. Rahman.
By making all of its original programming available for no charge, the site is providing its more than 2 billion users a better opportunity to experience and engage with its original content. YouTube Premium, which includes access to thousands of songs, will now be reserved for those who want to binge watch content without ads.<\/p>\n