WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- YouTube is planning to offer a paid subscription plan -- with no ads.
The web-streaming video service owned by Google says it is aiming to give its content creators the opportunity to gain more income -- through a revenue share -- and give visitors a chance to enjoy their favorite videos without ads.
A letter to content creators on the site disclosed the changes and asked them to agree to new terms that would allow their videos to be included in the subscription plan.
YouTube, which has more than 1 billion monthly viewers, had previously introduced subscriptions for some features. Last year, it launched a monthly subscription of $10 for "Music Key Beta" that offers music without ads. Likewise, through YouTube, users can rent newly released movies and some other paid channels show premium content.
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"We're increasingly moving into an age where costumers are learning to avoid advertising," analyst Rich Greenfield told Bloomberg. "We're increasingly learning to lead an ad-free life."
Under the plan, YouTube would offer all the same videos for a monthly fee, but without ads. Paid channels would be made available in 10 foreign countries.
The paid subscriptions will mainly consist of videos on demand so consumers can access to their favorite TV shows, music videos or movies, like on Netflix, Hulu and other online streaming sites.
Still, advertising is expected to remain the principal part of YouTube's revenue, The New York Times reported. In a recent report by Pivotal Research, YouTube's revenue for ads was about $1.3 billion per year and is diagnosed to increase to $2 billion this year.
