You may be able to buy subscriptions to paid channels on YouTube shortly:
http://adage.com/art...tions-spring/239437/A new chapter in online video is about to begin. YouTube is prepping to launch paid subscriptions for individual channels on its video platform in its latest attempt to lure content producers, eyeballs, and advertiser dollars away from traditional TV, according to multiple people familiar with the plans.
YouTube has reached out to a small group of channel producers and asked them to submit applications to create channels that users would have to pay to access. As of now it appears that the first paid channels will cost somewhere between $1 and $5 a month, two of these people said. In addition to episodic content, YouTube is also considering charging for content libraries and access to live events, a la pay-per-view, as well as self-help or financial advice shows.
If they end up locking it down with DRM and all kinds of crap, I'll pass. I download anything over a couple minutes as watching in a browser is either painful or impossible. But we'll see what happens.
