YouTube making future exclusive content free with ads from 2020
You'll no longer need YouTube Premium to see its original movies and shows.
YouTube is planning to make original content free from 2020.
YouTube will make all its upcoming original programming 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, as originally reported Tuesday by Reuters.
YouTube said it'll provide free "windows" to watch Originals free with ads. Typically, "windows" means content is released behind a paywall and moves outside it after a period of time. The company suggested that the windowing will depend on the type of content.
Previously released shows such as Origin and Cobra Kai (which currently require a subscription) will remain behind a paywall, however.
Premium -- which launched as YouTube Red in 2015 -- costs $12 (AU$15, £12) 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."
Originally published Nov. 28.
Update, Nov. 29: Clarifies that current Premium shows will remain behind a paywall.
Watch full movies for free on YouTube: No subscription necessary.