Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) YouTube announced on Monday that it will, in the coming months, be unveiling original shows for children and families. This will expand the portfolio of content that is currently available on YouTube Red, the monthly prescription service which was unveiled back in October.
The dominant video platform on the internet will start rolling out original shows in April. Their premiere dates will be spaced out, though. Executives of YouTube did not reveal the amount of investment they are pouring into original shows for children, however.
Amateur videos
The development has been motivated by the fact that as competition for online audiences heats up, the streaming giant cannot depend on user-generated content and amateur videos to drive traffic and generate advertising dollars. YouTube’s strategy has therefore been to invest in and distribute original shows whose target audience are the young viewers since this is the segment that has embraced online streaming most warmly as they are bypassing traditional ways of watching video content.
The new shows targeted at pre-teens will be available through a mobile app known as YouTube Kids which was launched about two years ago. One condition is that the children or their parents have to be YouTube Red subscribers.
Family and Learning
“We’re now in a place where it really makes a lot of sense to have even more inspired and creative content to reach our audience. It’s been a storied evolution, and we’re happy it’s one of our next phases,” said YouTube’s head of Family and Learning Malik Ducard.
While the move is a logical step for YouTube, the one hurdle the dominant online video platform can expect is managing to convince the young viewers to pay for content when they have been getting it for free. But one advantage the Google-owned video platform has is that it is popular with young audiences. A research study conducted by Smarty Pants on the digital behavior of kids shows that in the 6-12 age bracket, 81 percent of them regularly use YouTube.
In Tuesday’s trading session, shares of Alphabet Inc rose by 0.13 percent to close the day at $840.03.
