Designed As an Alternative to Ad Revenue, Slate Draws on YouTube-Famous Talent Pool
YouTube Red took its line-up of original programming live today, launching three feature-length titles — A Trip to Unicorn Island, about a global tour by YouTuber Lilly Singh; Lazer Team, a sci-fi comedy from Rooster Teeth and Fullscreen Films; and Dance Camp from YouTube channel AwesomenessTV — as well as Scare PewDiePie, a new "reality-adventure series" from videogaming superstar PewDiePie (pictured, top).
In addition, the online video giant announced a forthcoming documentary from two-time Oscar-winning director Barbara Kopple (Harlan County U.S.A.). Untitled Gigi Gorgeous Project will be a filmed biography of transgender celebrity YouTuber Gigi Gorgeous. Also coming later this year is Foursome, a "Gen Z" oriented AwesomenessTV series starring YouTube personality JennxPenn.
Launched last fall, YouTube Red is a paid tier of YouTube membership that offers users who pay $10/month a commercial-free experience along with exclusive access to original content. It's obviously the same kind of content play that has been made by other digital providers, including Netflix and Amazon, but with an added dimension — according to PewDiePie himself, YouTube Red was launched largely in an effort to help YouTube's highest-earning content channels offset the losses they're experiencing from YouTube users watching videos with ad blocking software turned on.
YouTube says the majority of revenue generated by YouTube Red will go to creators. If you have a YouTube channel and want to see if you're earning any revenue through YouTube Red, go to your Estimated Earnings page in YouTube Analytics and look for the field marked YouTube Red Earnings.
