According to Bloomberg, citing its informants, YouTube has canceled the production of two of its highest-budget exclusive series and has stopped accepting applications for new scripts. The sci-fi series “Origin” and the comedy “Exaggeration with Kat and June” have been closed. YouTube reportedly no longer plans to compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime (and soon Apple) to attract users to paid subscriptions through original shows.
The news couldn't come at a better time: Apple announced the launch of its own streaming service with original materials. This year, the Cupertino company plans to spend up to $2 billion on original content from such famous Hollywood figures as Oprah Winfrey and Chris Evans.
At one point, Google had very different plans for its streaming service, which it hoped would offer original content exclusively to paying subscribers. However, late last year there were reports that the company would be shifting its focus away from subscriptions and instead focus on advertising.
It is expected that the YouTube Premium subscription (originally called YouTube Red) will still be available, but the focus will be on music rather than original quality video content. The subscription offers along with music features such as background playback, no ads, and other benefits. While original video content will remain, it will increasingly be created in collaboration with existing YouTube channels rather than with Hollywood stars and studios.
Source: 3dnews.ru