YouTube Gets 40 New Original Shows YouTube to take on the likes of Netflix and Amazon.
By tbreak
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YouTube has announced that it will be producing upto 40 new shows for online streaming, thus making a stand against established streaming giants Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu.
The new shows pack a whole lot of impressive talents, such as Kevin Hart helming a fitness show, Ellen DeGeneres helming a behind-the-scenes celebrity show, and Ludacris presenting a talent show produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions. It will also give its own creators opportunities to grow with a long-form version of its most popular daily show Good Mythical Morning from Rhett & Link, and giving The Slow Mo Guys their own show to explore the world of technology.
The best part is, these shows will be free to watch and YouTube will drive revenue from advertisements. Adverts are already a common occurrence on YouTube, so this shouldn't be too painful, but obviously we'll have to wait and see how many adverts there are. Advertisers target successful YouTube videos using Google Preferred, Google's algorithms to give each channel a "Preference score' based on the popularity of the channel and how passionate people are about it. This helps YouTube to classify which channels are "like prime-time television" as Google puts it in its explanation video.
If you dont want adverts, you could always sign up for YouTube Red, where all videos are ad-free. The monthly subscription service also allows you to download videos, which could prove invaluable if you want to watch one of the new shows on your daily commute. Or you could just use an adblock instead.