YouTube has always been free to watch and is generally supported by ads. However in recent years, YouTube started to experiment with paywalls where they would keep original programming from various YouTubers behind a subscription program where you would need to pay to watch it, similar to other streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.However it seems that YouTube might not necessarily have found the same levels of success because according to a report from Variety, YouTube has confirmed that starting in 2019, all of its original programmings will be open to all users and become free to watch. According to a rep for the company, “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.”
“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.” This move actually doesn’t come as a complete surprise. Earlier this month it was reported that YouTube had started to make full movies available on its platform for free (supported via ads), so for them to make its original programming free seems like a logical next step.
So if there have been certain YouTube originals that you’ve been meaning to check out but have been unwilling to fork out money for the subscription, come 2019 it should be available for free.
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