YouTube rolls out paid subscription channels

Not everything on YouTube is free any more. The video-sharing website will now charge users a monthly fee to view certain content offered through subscription channels, the Google-owned site announced Thursday.

More than a million channels already generate revenue on YouTube through advertising, "and one of the most frequent requests we hear from these creators behind them is for more flexibility in monetizing and distributing content," the site said.

"We've been working on that and wanted to fill you in on what to expect," YouTube said Thursday in a blog post.

A pilot program includes several dozen paid channels, with others to follow. The list is diverse. It includes "Sesame Street," the UFC martial arts and fighting channel, Comedy.TV, Baby First PLUS, GayDirect for LGBT programming, Jim Henson Family TV, National Geographic Kids and the Woodworkers Guild of America. Full episodes of "Sesame Street," for example, or classic fights aired on UFC will be available via subscription.

The fees start at US$0.99 a month. Every channel will offer a 14-day free trial, and many will offer discounted yearly rates, YouTube said. The site will roll out paid channels "more broadly in the coming weeks as a self-service feature for qualifying partners," YouTube said, adding, "this is just the beginning."