YouTube has finally brought the paid channel service to India, after the pilot launch at May 2013 in limited regions. The service allow users to subscribe to channels for a fixed monthly subscription, that offers exclusive access to certain video contents.
YouTube paid subscription based service empowers creators to take their channels to the next level, opening up a bigger revenue stream other than usual video ads. Channel partners can create high quality video contents specifically for its paid customers making a more flexible monetizing and distributing platform.
Every paid channel has a 14-day free trial, and many channel owners offer discounted yearly rates making it more attractive. Once subscribed users will able to watch paid channels on their computer, phone, tablet and TV, taking it anywhere anytime. Currently YouTube has listed 26 paid channels for Indian users, but we found only one paid channel Bhakti Times to have some Indian content. Paid channel subscription starts as low as Rs 5 per month and go up to more than Rs 3,500 per month. Here is the complete list of available paid channel to Indians.
YouTube is expected to roll out more paid channels for Indian users in the coming weeks and also to offer a self-service feature for qualifying partners. If you want to create a YouTube paid channel, you should meet the eligibility criteria which include –
- Own an active channel with at least 10,000 active subscribers
- Good standing: the YouTube account should not have faced any copyright strikes, no breach of community guidelines, and not more than one video blocked worldwide
- Meet the general criteria for YouTube Partner Program
- You have verified your account by phone.
- You have an approved AdSense account linked to your YouTube account.