YouTube may start charging for certain premium channels as early as this week, according to USA Today.
The video giant won't immediately start profiting from all its videos, so all your favorite music, baby and cat videos are safe, for now.
While YouTube has not publicly announced the possible subscription charges, they have been spending money on enhancing their offerings, more than $100 million, according to USA Today.
If the video site does begin to assign fees to certain channels, video producers may receive kick backs. Up until the change, the site's financial gain was predominantly centered around advertising fees.The site's proposed changes are in following with their intended commitment to add more original content.
"We're looking into creating a subscription platform that could bring even more great content to YouTube for our users to enjoy and provide our partners with another vehicle to generate revenue from their content, beyond the rental and ad-supported models we offer," YouTube said in a statement, according to USA Today.
The expansion due to the change could include 50 additional family, music and entertainment-oriented channels. The monthly subscription fee is expected to cost approximately $1.99 per month.
YouTube's channels now include Howcast, World Wrestling Entertainment and The Onion, but it has not yet been announced which channels would be affected by the change. Some of the most popular channels on the YouTube network have more than 1 million, and some even 1 billion followers. The popular movie subscription platform Netlix has more than 30 million paid subscribers.
