YouTube Announces New Ad-Supported Original Content

YouTube announced a slate of free-to-view programmes Thursday. It unveiled new shows as part of its YouTube Originals project.

New Shows Celebrating YouTube Community

New shows include  Dude Perfect, a documentary following a group of friends completing challenges. Another show, Markiplier, features YouTuber Mark Fischbach and viewers control the storyline (via Reuters). There will also be a “top secret” project with Justin Bieber. Meanwhile, “Kevin Hart: What the Fit” and “Liza on Demand” will return.

The company said that “the slate celebrates the diversity, authenticity and spirit characteristic of the YouTube community.”

Contrasting Strategy to Apple

Chief business officer Robert Kyncl told AdWeek that the focus was not on driving subscriptions:

One of the changes that we’ve gone through is to align our originals with the way YouTube works, which is everything is available free, and everything is available behind a paywall if there are certain features that you value in order to pay for a [YouTube Premium] subscription.

This appears to be a different strategy to the one being pursued by Apple with its forthcoming Apple TV+ offering. There, is on growing the subscriber base.

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