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TechYouTube

YouTube wants you to pay for premium video content

By
Michal Addady
Michal Addady
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By
Michal Addady
Michal Addady
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October 18, 2015, 11:51 AM ET
YouTube "Dear White People" Reception - 2014 Park City
PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 19: A general view of atmosphere at the YouTube "Dear White People" Reception on January 20, 2014 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for YouTube)Photograph by Andrew H. Walker — Getty Images

YouTube will soon offer a subscription service that will give you access to exclusive programming, Recode reports.

This has been in the works for a while now. The company said over a year ago that it would “fund new content from some of [its] top creators,” and an email that was sent to producers of top video content over the summer confirmed plans for an ad-free subscription service.

The Google-owned (GOOG) video site plans to announce some of the content that will be made available to subscribers at an event on October 21. The price of the subscription service is currently unknown and a release date has yet to be arranged. The service was originally expected to be available by the end of October, but has been pushed back and may not launch until next year.

YouTube attempted something similar back in 2011. The company invested over $100 million to fund content from performers, including Jay Z and Ashton Kutcher, in a venture that was considered to be a failure. Investing in stars who became popular through YouTube is likely to be a better bet.

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