Are YouTube subscription fees almost upon us? A recent report suggests that the oft rumored feature is soon to be announced.
The Daily Mail reports that Google will introduce a YouTube subscription fee this week. The new initiative will allow channels to monetize their content with direct contributions from fans, instead of relying upon ad revenue.
The current report suggests that Google will add 25 to 50 channels to the initial rollout of its subscription service. It will also reportedly cost as little as $2 a month per channel, and doing so will provide a few perks to the subscribers. The biggest, of course, is exclusive content only available to subscribers. The videos will also reportedly be ad-free.
The current rumors, however, don’t address what YouTube intends to offer to non-subscribers. Will subscriber content only be available to those who pay? Or will YouTube allow non-subscribers to watch some content with the support of advertising?
Alongside channel subscriptions, previous rumors also suggested that YouTube would begin monetizing live events. In other words, users could pay a small fee to watch major live events, like the Red Bull Stratos Jump from last year.
There’s still too many variables to even think about with a platform as big as YouTube. The announcement is expected to come sometime this week though. We’ll continue to keep an eye for any such announcement, and bring you all the details as soon as it happens.
