Now, publishers can decide whether to make their money from ads or charge viewers a monthly flat rate for access to the videos.
YouTube is starting out with a few partners, and the feature is not available to most channels yet. Channels that do get the subscription option can charge anything starting from $0.99 per month.
There is a 14-day trial per channel, so viewers can determine whether they want to pay or not and the possibility to pay a yearly rate.
"For example, Sesame Street will be offering full episodes on their paid channel when it launches. And UFC fans can see classic fights, like a full version of their first event from UFC’s new channel," YouTube explains.
There are over one million channels making money on YouTube now, the site boasts, but all of them do it from ads. Many had requested other options and this is YouTube's answer. It remains to be seen though whether people will actually start paying for stuff on YouTube.
