Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- YouTube lets subscribe to premium content through its Primetime Channels add-ons.
- So far, Primetime Channels have not featured prominently in YouTube’s interface, limiting their success.
- YouTube is reportedly planning to redesign its home screen to heavily promote Primetime Channels.
YouTube is easily one of the most popular ways to access video around the world — chances are, you’ve probably already watched a YouTube video today. When you go to use YouTube, what kind of content are you looking for? The service is home to countless creators, whose original works have transformed the media landscape, producing a seemingly endless well of videos to consume. But YouTube’s long been trying to pivot to become a destination not just for this content, but also a hub for streaming services from other media giants. So far, that effort has yet to make much headway, but a new report suggests that YouTube’s about to double down with this reinvention.
A couple years back, YouTube introduced a feature dubbed Primetime Channels, which gave viewers the option to sign up for subscriptions to services like Max or Paramount Plus right through the app. This is exactly the sort of thing we see implemented much more prominently on Amazon’s Prime Video, with invitations for add-on subscriptions sprinkled liberally across its interface. But on YouTube, promotional efforts for Primetime Channels have been much more subdued, forcing interested viewers to intentionally seek them out.
According to The Information, that may be about to change. YouTube is reportedly looking to secure new non-advertising income streams, and a Primetime Channels expansion could be the perfect way to do just that. The big problem the company has been trying to solve is apparently how to feature these subscription add-ons, making them visible to casual users, but presumably also not so ubiquitous as to make browsing YouTube feel like a constant up-sell.
We haven’t yet seen exactly what it will look like, but a redesign of the YouTube home screen is reportedly core to this change, integrating more of this paid content. Alongside that, we could see YouTube embrace some other changes that would make it feel more in line with other streaming services, like auto-playing previews, and allowing creators to start organizing their videos into seasons and episodes.
Right now, we’re hearing about all this in the context of the YouTube app on TVs, but changes this sweeping sound like they’ll inevitably be embraced on mobile and desktop, alike. We haven’t heard a specific ETA for when this effort might start going live, but this expansion is supposedly going to be a big focus at YouTube through the end of next year.
