Last week saw YouTube unveil its paid subscription channels, letting users watch content such as National Geographic and Sesame Street episodes online for a monthly channel fee as low as $0.99. Alistair Dent, head of PPC, Periscopix, sees the move as YouTube’s next step towards becoming the ‘first choice’ platform for content creators- both large and small.
YouTube is proud of the fact that content on the platform is different from content on TV, and that success can come from formats that TV would never support. Short films, reviews, clips, episodic material, and more that neither you nor I have ever thought of; all these can find a home and an audience there.
But the strength of YouTube is in variety: whoever you are and whatever you like, there is going to be a lot of content on YouTube you’ll enjoy. That needs to include the traditional TV format. That’s what people are familiar with, and what will continue to draw in huge audiences.
No single part of this strategy is going to be enough for YouTube; it wants more. In particular it wants to be the default platform by the time we all realise what the new content consumption paradigm is. Once we’ve heard of it, it’s too late to jump on the bandwagon and YouTube needs to already be involved.
New subscription-based channels obviously offer content creators another way to monetise their material, but more importantly it provides another way to build and measure committed, engaged audiences. YouTube needs content creators to consider it first and treat it as a channel that isn’t just an alternative indie setup. Although it’s proud of being the place that TV rogues go to have huge success, it wants and needs to be more. This provides more weight to YouTube as a “first choice” platform for digital distribution.
Advertisers will find different kinds of content, varying levels of quality, and very different amounts of engagement. YouTube is yet to announce what ad formats (if any) will be in these channels on launch. A lot of consumers are used to a situation where paying for content on the internet removes ads. But that’s not the prevailing model on paid television, so we might find ads just as important on the new channels as anywhere else.
By Alistair Dent
head of PPC
Periscopix
www.periscopix.com