For context I’m in the US. The last time I used YouTube without an ad blocker, there were 2 ads back to back, and way too frequently. I tried watching on my PlayStation tonight, and not only are they more frequent, they’ve increased in quantity by 150%. It’s also very common for the last ad to last 2 minutes to over an hour long. What the actual fuck, why would anyone watch YouTube without an ad blocker at this point? It’s literally unwatchable
Edit: the amount of unsolicited advice in the comments is unreal. I don’t get ads on my phone or on desktop, I’m very aware of how to block them. I simply won’t watch YouTube on my PlayStation anymore. I’m not looking for suggestions, please stop with the recommendations.
Because Netflix/Hulu/HBO/etc hosts TV shows that are expensive to make. YouTube hosts various types of content that is produced on shoestring budgets compared to TV shows.
Just because someone would pay to watch The Boys or Game of Thrones doesn’t mean they’d pay to watch Let’s Plays.
Thats an interesting point, but I think a very, very small percentage of people are actively thinking about how much the content they are enjoying costs to make when they are factoring in if its worth paying for. Enjoyment is the number 1 metric by a country mile.
If an expensive show is shit to watch or listen to, no one is going to pay for it. You couldnt pay me to watch Battlefield Earth again for example, I dont care how expensive it was to make.
True, but no one is going to pay for content with production values barely above tiktok videos - which is what most of YouTube’s most famous content is.
There’s also the fact that YouTube is more of a social media outlet than a content creator. Its content comes from people and organisations experimenting and assuming all risks for themselves. YouTube isn’t commissioning works (bar one or two notable exceptions) and the biggest risks they assume is storage space holding dud content.
Streaming services actually create, or at least license, the content they host. That costs significant sums. Therefore it makes sense for them to be paid services. YouTube itself doesn’t create or license shit.
I don’t think of it as paying for the content, as much as just paying for an ad-free experience that doesn’t require maintenance on my end and still helps pay creators. I watch YouTube a lot, and on several devices that aren’t easy to adblock on, so I just pay for a family plan and none of my family has to see ads on any of their devices, either. I don’t think YouTube is really doing exclusive content anymore, so that’s not really a huge reason to subscribe.
YTP is one of the few “quality of life” subscriptions that I think is genuinely worth it, IMO.
Lots and lots and lots of people make bank “on youtube” because people sub to their patreons or buy their merch as a way to support the channel. I think you vastly underestimate what people are willing to spend on a creator whose community they feel apart of and whos content they like.
Is that creator YT? No?
Do they share most of premium’s revenue with said creators? I’m guessing the answer is “none”
If you want to support a relevant creator that’s your choice… but it’s highly unlikely that creator benefits from you going premium,
Thats why I added in the bit of patreon and merch. The persons argument was that no one was going to pay for content that was cheap to make, which is patently absurd given the amount of people making a living off of merch/patreon type deals
Youtube ad revenue is split 55% with the creators - presumably its the same for premium - so yes it actually is “most” depending on how you want to define that.
This is wild… seeing someone in earnest putting hollywood on the same level as some dude in their garage. This is zero chance I would ever pay 1 cent for 100 video essays because they don’t entertain me and they don’t feel worth anything. On the other hand yes it makes full sense to me to pay under $10 a month to watch unlimited productions which clearly cost a lot to make. The costumes, writing, research, and everything else that go into an actually immersive experience cannot be compared to some dude reacting to Linus TT being shitty. I will never understand not appreciating the difference here. The shocking part is that your opinion isn’t even that unpopular. Blows my fucking mind… For some of you, the only things in the world required to make video entertainment is an opinion and a cheap cell phone. 🤯
Im not saying there isnt a difference, or that I dont appreciate it personally. Im saying there are plenty of people that DO pay for video essays or LTT and find them even more entertaining than Game of Thrones or whatever show you want to watch on HBO or Netflix, at least at certain times of day and in certain scenarios
This is exactly what my head is exploding about though.