It’s been a busy week for YouTube. Not only did the company recently release YouTube Trends Map, but it also started rolling out paid subscription channels offering premium video content. Besides providing a potential new revenue stream for YouTube, these paid subscription channels could attract a different type of audience who is concerned with the quality of the videos he or she watches rather than the quantity of videos available. The premium subscription is planned to compete with other premium video services such as Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix. With as many as 50 subscription-based channels at the time of launch and fees as low as $1.99 a month, this could be a great alternative revenue stream for YouTube.
What marketers should know is that this new move will open up a number of advertising opportunities for companies looking to place ads in higher quality content. Even though its user-generated videos have been an effective way of serving ads, some marketers are looking to pay for TV–like quality. The new premium subscription channels could open up a whole new demographic of users for marketers to target with higher quality ads on higher quality videos.