- YouTube (GOOG -0.6%, GOOGL -0.6%) is pulling back from scripted content output, a reversal of a strategy that pushed a premium subscription tier, The Hollywood Reporter says.
- The video platform will cut back starting in 2020, and executive will double down on the ad-supported video by making all its originals free to all users, not just those paying $12/month for YouTube Premium.
- That means a "serious budget reduction," if not a total pullback from what has been hot competition among distributors for bigger-budget content.
- The platform might release a show week-to-week for free while giving Premium subscriber the option to binge.
- YouTube's originals budget (said to be hundreds of millions of dollars a year) is still overshadowed by the billions annually at Netflix (NFLX +1.7%) and Amazon.com (AMZN -0.1%).
- Also a player here: Hulu, co-owned by Comcast (CMCSA +1.6%), Disney (DIS +1.3%), Fox (FOX +0.6%, FOXA +0.5%) and WarnerMedia (T +1.5%).
- Now read: Netflix Stock May Be On The Verge Of A Break Out
Original article