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YouTube page via Shutterstock

YouTube reveals new plan to charge for watching some videos

A small number of videos will cost from 99 cent a month for people to subscribe to watch.

YOUTUBE HAS UNVEILED its much-speculated-upon plan to charge viewers to subscribe to watch some videos on the site.

A small number of channels have begun offering paid channels for subscribers only, starting at $0.99 per month. As the service launches today, there are 53 such channels, including National Geographic Kids and the company behind Sesame Street.

For this money, YouTube said viewers will be able to watch live fights on a UFC channel, for example, or full episodes of children’s television programmes on the Sesame Street channel.

YouTube said many channels will offer yearly rates at a discount, and every channel will offer a 14-day trial.

Irish users who try to click into any of the channels get a message saying “This paid channel is unavailable in your country”.

The service moves YouTube closer to services such as Netflix, and a step away from its beginnings as a way to showcase amateur homemade videos.

In a blogpost, YouTube said the move was an extension of its partner programme which has been running since 2007 to “enable content creators to earn revenue for their creativity.”

Users have to subscribe from a computer, but YouTube said viewers will be able to watch the channels across a range of devices and will soon be able to subscribe from these devices.

“This is just the beginning,” YouTube said on its blog. The Google-owned site said it will be rolling out more paid channels in the coming weeks.

YouTube said there are more than one million channels which are making money on the site.

Read: YouTube has won its battle with TV… according to YouTube >

Read: 11 internet firsts you probably never heard of >

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55 Comments
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    Mute Mac Mock
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    Nov 24th 2013, 8:18 AM

    I’d kill for a Nobel peace prize

    81
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    Mute Frank McDonald
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    Nov 24th 2013, 8:27 AM

    Ah now Sinead, you have to learn the difference between Heads of State and Heads of Government!

    22
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    Mute Dennis Collins
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    Nov 24th 2013, 10:37 AM

    Ah now, Frank, you’ll have to learn that while you’re half right, so is Sinéad. There are some Heads of State (e.g. France and Lithuania) who attend these EU events instead of Heads of Government, depending on the particular country’s laws.

    15
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    Mute Frank McDonald
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    Nov 24th 2013, 12:25 PM

    So they should be referred to as “heads of state or government”. The Queen of England has never been at an EU summit. Our Head of State is Michael D Higgins and he hasn’t been to one either. My point is about accuracy

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    Mute Donal O'Brien
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    Nov 24th 2013, 4:54 PM

    I do recall her sitting next to Bertie Ahern at the knees-up following an eu summit.

    1
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    Mute Derek Richardson
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    Nov 24th 2013, 8:31 AM

    While their gesture is to be commended their economic policicies in other regions and countries are killing and starving other citizens of the world hypocrisy at it.s best

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    Mute Ricky Spanish
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    Nov 24th 2013, 10:03 AM

    Name an EU policy that actively kills non-EU citizens?

    Cos that would be quite a news story!

    25
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    Mute Derek Richardson
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    Nov 24th 2013, 1:05 PM

    Austerity is a killer for many now when you find out find out your own identity I will converse with you not some psyeudnym

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    Mute Kugel Berg
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    Nov 24th 2013, 4:04 PM

    I don’t think anybody is starving to death…

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    Mute Derek Richardson
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    Nov 24th 2013, 5:06 PM

    Ivory tower comments lives on

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    Mute Ricky Spanish
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    Nov 24th 2013, 6:38 PM

    Governments spending within their means is murdering people?

    Hyperbole at best… in truth just a moronic rant that belongs better on a barstool.

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    Mute Derek Richardson
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    Nov 24th 2013, 8:00 PM

    There not spending with in their means their spending everybody elses means to keep them in over inflated wage packets and if nobody is starving why are there soup kitchens popping up all over the place st vincent de paul.innundated with request cappuchin centre over ran with people looking hand outs and as for your hyperbole stick it where the sun dont shine as for bar room rhetoric very seldom frequent them so stick your assumption also where the sun dont shine

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    Mute Mitch Cumstein
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    Nov 24th 2013, 9:02 AM

    How touching. Meanwhile they wage war on their own citizens. Hitting the blind and handicapped through austerity in their own backyard. You would think it was their own money being put to a good use. Oh no they’re far to clever for that they’ve always someone else’s money for good causes.

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    Mute Ricky Spanish
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    Nov 24th 2013, 10:05 AM

    The EU wage war on the blind?

    Finally…. a war the French stand a chance of winning!

    21
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