Google Just Announced a Major Netflix Rival

It's a Netflix world, and we're just living in it — until now. Google just announced a rival called YouTube Red, a subscription movie service. Our friends at Business Insider have a preview of what YouTube Red will look like.

Business Insider

YouTube finally unveiled its ad-free subscription video service on Tuesday: it's called YouTube Red.

YouTube Red costs $9.99 per month for desktop, Android, and $12.99 per month on iOS, and will also be available offline with a handy "save" feature. Eventually, YouTube plans to launch exclusive content on YouTube Red that you won't be able to see on the traditional YouTube site.

The push for original content includes new original shows with popular YouTube stars including PewDiePie, Joey Graceffa, Toby Turner, and MatPat, among others. The original YouTube Red shows and movies will debut "early next year."

The subscription service will launch on October 28th, and you'll be able to try it for free thanks to the 30-day free trial.

YouTube's move to offer paid content comes as the world's largest video website faces competition from streaming video service Netflix, which has garnered 69 million paying customers thanks to a number of popular original video series, and from social network Facebook, which is making a big push to promote videos inside its newsfeed.

Sharing the revenue

YouTube is paying its video partners the "vast, vast majority of revenue to our partners," Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl said, speaking to reporters from a livestream in LA.

He noted that the revenue will be pooled together and paid to content creators based on their amount of "watch time."

PewDiePie's new series will be called "ScarePewDiePie," and YouTube describes the show as "a reality-adventure series from the creator and executive producers of The Walking Dead" where viewers can "experience thrills, chills and laughter as PewDiePie encounters terrifying situations inspired by his favorite video games."

A YouTube Red membership is also good across Gmail, YouTube's Music app, and YouTube's Twitch competitor, YouTube Gaming, ensuring that you'll receive the same ad-free experience across all platforms.

Here's a look at the YouTube Red app:

Business Insider
Business Insider

YouTube Red will launch first in the US, with plans to launch in other major markets "over the course of the next year."

— Steven Tweedie

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