YouTube Premium previously known as YouTube Red is an ad free service includes that includes everything in a YouTube Music subscription i.e. downloadable content, background playback, etc. Along with an ad-free YouTube experience and access to YouTube Original content one also gains the ability to download YouTube videos for offline viewing.
The question that arises is that with the launch of YouTube Premium how it is going to affect the likes of Amazon Prime etc?
With the advent of internet and technology, the cable industry has been under threat. Now with YouTube Premium on the horizon what is it like for them? According to Hollywood Reporter, the TV executives aren’t worried, as they write that
“recent developments have indeed wiped away some fears. For example, when executives found that a star’s Twitter (or other social media) followers didn’t translate to viewers; or when popular YouTube personalities failed to become actual TV stars. That made nights less sleepless for many TV execs.”
Although YouTube Premium in order to tempt viewers is offering three month free trial so that users subscribe to their $12 per month plan. The subscription plan is twice as much as that of Netflix, and according to The Gaurdian the YouTube Premium subscription includes access to their new music streaming service, YouTube Music which is their music video library with an audio-oriented app not significantly different from those offered by Spotify or Apple Music. However if one already has access to those services, the only selling point of YouTube Premium i.e. an ad-free access to their regular service is a bonus but hardly a prize along with their new catalogue of original film and television content.
YouTube Premium certainly is no threat to Netflix yet for it targets a much younger audience and features content such as comedies built around existing YouTube stars, a fan documentary on pop singer Demi Lovato, and a series spin-off from the Step Up dance film franchise. Although new in the market, YouTube Premium has already started signing a bigger remit such as Kedi, a Turkish film-maker Ceyda Torun’s beguiling, cult-fostering documentary ode to Turkey’s street cats, to which YouTube acquired exclusive streaming rights. The slick, Doug Liman-produced sci-fi series Impulse and the Get Out director Jordan Peele’s upcoming fantasy-comedy series Weird City are also to land on YouTube Premium next year.
In sort, there isn’t much other streaming apps or cable have to worried about yet with regards to YouTube Premium as it doesn’t offer something out of the ordinary as yet.
