YouTube on September 29 said it is expanding its low-cost "Premium Lite" subscription tier pilot to users in India as the Google-owned video platform looks to ramp up subscriber base in the country.
How much does Premium Lite cost and what does it offer?
Priced at Rs 89 a month, Premium Lite will enable viewers to watch ad-free videos in categories such as gaming, comedy, cooking or learning.
Subscribers, however, see ads on music content, music videos and Shorts. Consumers will also not be able to play videos in the background or download them for offline viewing.
The subscription tier is expected to be available across the country in the coming weeks.
Why did YouTube launch Premium Lite?
YouTube introduced Premium Lite in March and has been piloting the low-cost subscription tier in markets such as the United States. It is part of YouTube's efforts to diversify its offerings as subscriptions become a significant growth driver for the platform.
In May, Moneycontrol reported that YouTube is also piloting a new subscription tier with select users in India, France, Taiwan, and Hong Kong that lets them share their Premium or Music Premium membership with another household member.
The two-person YouTube Premium subscription tier is being offered in India at a monthly price of Rs 219, while the Music Premium is available at Rs 149 during the pilot.
In India, standard YouTube Premium plans start at Rs 89 for students, Rs 149 for individuals, and Rs 299 for families. Music Premium plans begin at Rs 59 for students, Rs 119 for individuals, and Rs 179 for families. The company hiked the prices of all its subscription tiers in August 2024 by 12 to 58 percent.
How many premium subscribers does YouTube have?
In March, YouTube announced it crossed over 125 million subscribers globally across Music and Premium services. Overall, Alphabet has surpassed 270 million paid subscriptions, with YouTube and Google One as key drivers, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said during the earnings call in April.
Google does not report overall revenues of YouTube each quarter and instead provided the platform's advertising sales figures. But in October 2024, Pichai said YouTube's revenue surpassed $50 billion for the first time over the past four quarters.
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