YouTube is planning to make original content free from 2020, according to a report.
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YouTube will reportedly make all its upcoming original programing free and ad-supported from 2020.
That’ll mean you won’t need a YouTube Premium subscription to watch the Google-owned video sharing site’s original shows and movies, but you’ll have to sit through ads, Reuters reported Tuesday.
YouTube said it’s making all Originals free with ads, though Reuters reported that previously released shows like Origin and Cobra Kai will still require a subscription.
Watch this: Google replaces YouTube Red with YouTube Premium
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Premium — which launched as YouTube Red in 2015 — costs $11.99 (AU$14.99, £11.99) per month, and the company just started offering a student discount that cuts the price in half. The company didn’t reveal how many subscribers it has.
“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,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
“This 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.”
First published at 4:12 a.m. PT.
Updated at 6:03 a.m. PT: Adds details from YouTube.