YouTube Red

Taken from Forbes article
YouTube Red's Streaming Could Be A Game-Changer, Unless ...

Michael Humphrey

It did not surprise longtime observers of YouTube to read the company is in talks with Hollywood to prepare a “robust” lineup of shows for its new subscription service, YouTube Red. From its earliest days, YouTube has been in a dance with traditional studios and broadcasters, sometimes leaving core creators wanting for attention. There was that time YouTube tangoed with CBS, back in what now feels like primordial days. Or the time they waltzed with all kinds of Hollywood creators to make “quality entertainment.” Other times YouTube followed big studios’ leads and tapped and then stomped around copyright infringement.

While you might think of YouTube’s “DNA” as cats and toddlers, it is much more complex than that. Yes, they have always wanted you to post your own videos. They have also wanted you to devotedly follow PewDiePie and Michelle Phan. But they have also wanted Hollywood to come play in the video sandbox. In the past, it did not go well. Hollywood content usually does not work well on YouTube and, it seems, the reverse might usually be true too.

But YouTube Red offers a new kind of opportunity, a merging of two forms. We’re already seeing it emerge, but YouTube Red could be the special place for it.

As the entertainment planets slowly align on any screen you want, “streaming” can mean anything from watching Elf to Empire to Epic Rap Battles of History. What constitutes “premium” viewing among those choices does not really matter as much as what makes you, the viewer, willing hit ”pay” instead of just “play.” We pay for Netflix, a font of binge-watching everything from movies, to TV series and its own original programming. We may pay for Hulu, cord-cutters’ entry into traditional TV, with its own original programming and now an easy way to get Showtime. We might pay for Amazon Prime for the same reasons, plus free shipping on some stuff.

YouTube Red, in comparison, is a set of features so far. No ads, download videos, play music in the background. Features are not enough (though early returns are positive) and YouTube knows it. Content was part of the plan from the outset and the company has a promising set of originals coming from its own platform’s biggest stars. But those originals come witht a risk. What quality or content enhancement must be met for YouTube followers not to feel bait-and-switched? At the same time, just how “robust” must a Hollywood line-up be to get Red competing with Netflix and Hulu?

A hybrid form of entertainment might answer these questions best and right now we are watching its potential play out on another platform. “Master of None” has been an unquestionable hit for Netflix.

Connection, what I think of “mass friendships,” is YouTube’s most important entertainment asset and the industry’s most radical new reality. Many YouTube stars have already proven they can significantly improve their production quality without losing that connection.

This could make YouTube Red true 21st Century entertainment. Unless … Google continues to mistake YouTube for a mere platform dancing with the stars. It must instead be a new kind of producer, that worries less about minutiae and more about the big picture.