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YouTube could make users pay for top content

Lauren Kate Rawlins
By Lauren Kate Rawlins, ITWeb digital and innovation contributor.
Johannesburg, 19 Oct 2015

The biggest online video portal, YouTube, is reportedly working on a subscription service. Users will have to pay to see top content created by top YouTubers.

According to a Re/Code report, YouTube has been funding top YouTubers to create content for the site. Viewers will only be able to access this content by paying a subscription fee. The subscription will more than likely be a premium service, with no adverts attached to the videos shown.

In April, it was reported YouTube had paid YouTube stars The Fine Brothers, Prank vs Prank, Smosh and Joey Graceffa to produce content such as series and full-length films. This content has yet to be revealed and is seemingly part of the subscription service.

Last week, Facebook announced it would start testing its own video hub, mirroring several YouTube features.

YouTube will continue to be the leading video platform, as it has been for the past 10 years, said local YouTuber Liron Segev. "But it will soon have to do something to differentiate itself within the video space. Other social networks are all moving in that direction."

The announcement is said to take place on Wednesday at an event in Los Angeles.

According to YouTube statistics, more than a billion people worldwide make use of the video platform, 300 hours of video are uploaded every minute, and the number of hours people spend on YouTube each month goes up by 50% every year.

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