YouTube has started offering millions in compensation to some of the platform’s most popular channels, on the condition that they publish their videos exclusively for a fixed period. The objective, according to people familiar with the matter, is to stem the offensive by Netflix, which in recent months has intensified its attempts to attract the most followed stars of online video.
The negotiations, still ongoing and not finalized, provide for two forms of compensation: direct financing of some programs and the possibility for creators to obtain a share of important advertising agreements negotiated by the platform. YouTube is already close to signing several partners.
Anyone who decides to accept Netflix’s proposals risks being penalised. According to sources, YouTube has made it known that creators who publish simultaneously on the two platforms will be excluded from marketing campaigns and events organized by the company, as well as from the sharing of proceeds from some important advertising collaborations.
Netflix, for its part, is in talks with dozens of creators, channels and flagship programs, including the talk show Hot Ones. The company has already reached agreements with personalities such as Alan Chikin Chow and Nick DiGiovanni, who publish their content simultaneously on both platforms. For creators, Netflix’s proposal is attractive: it allows them to earn considerable additional amounts for content that they produce anyway, and to reach a new audience, considering that the service has over 325 million subscribers.
However, there is no shortage of resistance. Several creators have chosen not to collaborate with Netflix, which requires the delivery of videos days in advance, a timing that is not compatible with the way many channels work, and has asked in some cases for the removal of sponsorships already present in the contents.
For twenty years, YouTube and Netflix have been friendly competitors, operating in distinct markets: the latter concentrated on Hollywood-style productions offered by subscription, the former the undisputed leader of user-generated content, consumed mainly via mobile. YouTube’s attempts to produce its own original content have never yielded particularly significant results: one of these projects, Cobra Kai, later became a great success for Netflix.
In recent years, however, the boundaries between the two companies have become more blurred. YouTube has firmly focused on television viewing, becoming the most viewed service on this type of screen today, and has acquired the rights to events such as the Academy Awards and National Football League games. Netflix, which has long promoted its titles on YouTube, has acquired the licenses of popular children’s shows such as CoComelon and Ms. Rachel, seeing YouTubers as an effective way to attract a younger audience and increase time spent on the platform.