Starting today, YouTube is launching a pilot program for a small group of partners that will offer paid channels on YouTube with subscription fees starting at $0.99 per month. Every channel has a 14-day free trial, and many offer discounted yearly rates.
The Google owned company is starting the pilot program with 53 channels which include National Geographic Kids, Acorn and Fix My Hog Premium, which is aimed at Harley Davidson motorcycle enthusiasts.
The company said the launch was part of an effort to enable “content creators to earn revenue for their creativity”.
According to the company in a blog post,
“This is just the beginning. We’ll be rolling paid channels out more broadly in the coming weeks as a self-service feature for qualifying partners. And as new channels appear, we’ll be making sure you can discover them, just as we’ve been helping you find and subscribe to all the channels you love across YouTube. Just as the partner program empowered creators to take their channels to the next level, we look forward to seeing how this great community of creators moves ahead with a new way to reach the fan communities that made their channels a hit. You’ll be hearing more from us, and them, as we get creator and user feedback and build out this exciting offering.”
