Catering to a population that spends just as much time watching television as they do working, sleeping and going to school, it is no surprise that online video sites have begun to charge users to stream their favorite shows and movies.
Recently, YouTube began launching 54 pay channels ranging from children’s shows and stations dedicated to pet lovers, to LGBT entertainment and UFC fights.
These channels are supplied by YouTube partners and are priced between 99 cents and $7.99 per month. The average channel cost is $2.99. Users may purchase a subscription per channel using Google Wallet and enjoy a 14-day free-trial period. These channels are not all ad-free but at least 40 are.
“I think the prices are reasonable,” 19-year-old UF public relations sophomore Calli Rudman, who uses YouTube most often to watch music videos and Netflix for movies, said. “But I would like better to be able to hand pick a movie because it would be more specific to what I want.”
However, paying for the monthly subscription gets the viewer access to various exclusive films and episodes, depending on what the channel delivers.
In an interview with the Associated Press, filmmaker Roger Corman talked about his rejection of Hulu and how he sees promise in YouTube. Corman’s channel will begin in June, showing a rotating selection of 30 of his past movies, as well as interviews about his new ones.
“I believed for many years that the future of motion picture distribution, particularly for the independents, is on the Internet,” he said. “I think the time is now.”
