Social Media

What will YouTube Red be used to stream; how will it succeed?

What are the prospects for YouTube Red – who will use it and what content will be popular? Will it take off as expected?

John Linneman

Published

November 2, 2015

youtube red

YouTube Red is live; now what?

YouTube, a name that is ubiquitous with free video service and streaming ads rolled out their new Youtube Red, a paid service that Youtube is experimenting with. For only $9.99 a month you can now watch the whole array of YouTube videos ad-free.

Read also: New subscription service lets you live-stream Broadway shows

No more 15 second car commercials before watching Shakey Graves, no more congenial soft advertising while you wait for your content! You will also be able to watch videos in the background while you are working on creating a new startup to disrupt the economy even more. This is a giant leap for multi-tasking!

This new avenue YouTube is experimenting with might be a risky endeavor. According to a new Global Index survey, 75% of American internet users visit YouTube each month, which leaves a wide open niche in the market, but they do so because it’s a free service. YouTube Red is a change in their brand identity, but that’s what great companies do – innovate and take risks.

What will attract paying customers?

So what are the implications going to be with Youtube Red? Will YouTube users fork over the dough for premium content, or will they revolt and burn Youtube Red to the ground, or just not use the service? Who Youtube is competing with are Netflix, Amazon Live, Hulu – they are the heavy hitters, and already have their firm corporate foot planted in the premium paid service market.

Fully 3 in 10 US YouTube users already use a paid service, so how is YouTube going to convince them to switch? YouTube will have to reach deep into their bag of marketing tricks to pull this one off. It will be interesting to watch a decade-old company offering a free product launch a paid service, and as the contentious issue of paying content creators (is YouTube Red good or bad for them) and adblocking gets sorted out, we will watch and report. Stay tuned.

John Linneman is a Portland, Oregon native who owns and operates small digital marketing business. He went to school at Portland State where he studied business, and writing. He majored in writing and theater at PSU, and still holds these things true, but has since moved on and transferred his talents to the business, and marketing world. Connect with him on Twitter or on his blog.

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