https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/01/google-kills-youtube-originals-its-original-video-content-group/

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Pivoting to the graveyard --

Google kills YouTube Originals, its original video content group

YouTube content group produced exclusive shows like Scare PewDiePie
and Cobra Kai.

Ron Amadeo - Jan 18, 2022 10:42 pm UTC

Google kills YouTube Originals, its original video content group
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Variety reports that Google's original video content group, YouTube
Originals, is dead. The YouTube division was founded six years ago to
make exclusive, original content for the pay-per-month YouTube
Premium service. Now, the group is being shuttered, and YouTube's
global head of original content, Susanne Daniels, is leaving the
company in March.

Just after the news broke, YouTube Chief Business Officer Robert
Kyncl posted a statement on Twitter:

    An update on YouTube Originals: pic.twitter.com/PixhgZ2yhU

    -- Robert Kyncl (@rkyncl) January 18, 2022

YouTube is the web's de facto video site, but Google still tends to
chase any hot new web video trend that appears. YouTube Shorts is a
clone of TikTok. YouTube Gaming is a clone of Twitch. YouTube Stories
was meant to be an answer to Snapchat. YouTube Originals was a swipe
at Netflix, which, in 2016, was turning heads with award-winning
shows like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black. Back then, the
$12-per-month YouTube Premium started life as "YouTube Red," and its
offerings were called YouTube Red Originals.

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View more stories At first, YouTube put a decidedly YouTube spin on
original content and threw big budgets at the platform's star content
creators, resulting in shows like Scare PewDiePie, created by the
executive producers of The Walking Dead. YouTube Originals eventually
pivoted to produce more Hollywood-style content and saw some success
in 2018 with The Karate Kid sequel Cobra Kai.

We've seen this story about a million times from Google--after a new
initiative does not achieve immediate, incredible success, the
company starts scaling back its plans after about two years. By the
end of 2018, reports surfaced that YouTube was shifting focus and
that YouTube Originals would be ad-supported, just like normal
YouTube videos. YouTube Originals' more successful projects moved on
to other video services, with Netflix picking up Cobra Kai for
seasons 3 and 4.

Today, YouTube Premium is still around for $12 per month. The main
perks are ad-free YouTube and YouTube Music, while the mobile app
gets background playback and the ability to download content for
offline use.

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Ron Amadeo Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he
specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the
hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they
work. Email ron@arstechnica.com // Twitter @RonAmadeo
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