YouTube has been making fiction series such as Cobra Kai and On Becoming A God In Central Florida since 2016, but later sold its own content to video services and television channels. Since 2018, the production of these drama series has been gradually phased out.
Instead, YouTube Originals decided to focus on educational content and reality series from YouTube content creators, musicians and celebrities such as Alicia Keys and Will Smith. But these productions too are now largely coming to an end: YouTube prefers to put the money into “initiatives like the Creator Shorts Fund, Black Voices Fund, and Live Shopping”. writes YouTube CEO Robert Kynci on Twitter.
Only Originals productions associated with the Black Content Creators Fund and the YouTube Kids Fund will receive funding going forward. “And we will keep our promises to shows we still have contracts with.”
The Black Voices fund was closed at the end of 2020 brought into being. The intention is that until 2023 it will produce about 100 million dollars worth of series in which the voices of black makers are central.
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’26 billion euros went to video makers’
Susanne Daniels, who headed this original content division, is leaving in March. According to Kynci, Daniels and YouTube Originals played a “significant role in developing YouTube’s maker economy”. In this period, according to Kynci, YouTube is said to have invested about $30 billion (26 billion euros) in material from creators on the platform.
There are now said to be more than two million participants in YouTube’s affiliate program. To become part of that, a channel must have at least 1,000 followers and be watched for at least 4,000 hours in a year. YouTube Partners can monetize advertising and receive further support from the video platform.
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