YouTube is ready to peel back the curtain on a paid version of the video site that doesn’t have any ads.
The site, owned by Google, is holding a media event on Wednesday to introduce the new subscription option.
The existing free version of YouTube isn’t going away. But it’s being supplemented by a new ad-free version. Combined with YouTube’s existing music service, it is expected to cost $10 a month.
Right now almost all of YouTube’s revenues come from advertising. It is seeking to diversify its revenue streams by adding subscriptions.
The site’s executives have been exploring various subscription schemes for years.
Last fall YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said, “There’s going to be a point where people don’t want to see the ads.”
Earlier this year the company honed in on this idea and reached out to high-profile video makers for help.
An April letter to some of them previewed plans for “an ad-free version of YouTube for a monthly fee.”
The letter asked creators to sign up and said it would “generate a previously untapped, additional source of revenue for you.”
In essence, YouTube users who want to avoid ads will be able to “opt out” and pay a fee instead. Hulu, a site mainly known for full-length TV episodes, recently introduced $12-a-month ad-free subscriptions to its site.