YouTube is about to officially launch a cheaper, “premium lite” version of its subscription service in the US, Australia, Germany and Thailand, according to Bloomberg. This new tier will “target viewers who primarily want to watch programs other than music videos,” Bloomberg says. The publication didn’t say what the price might be.
YouTube piloted a no-ads version of a tier called Premium Lite in some European countries beginning in 2021 before axing the plan in 2023. But the company confirmed to The Verge in October that it was testing a “different version” of Premium Lite, and at least one user reported that the new version had limited ads. That user saw that the price of Premium Lite was $8.99 AUD per month (vs. $16.99 AUD for regular YouTube Premium).
In a statement, YouTube spokesperson Paul Pennington tells The Verge that the company has been testing “a new YouTube Premium offering with most videos ad-free” and that “we’re hoping to expand this offering to even more users in the future with our partners’ support.” Pennington did not specifically say if the service might launch in the US or how much it might cost.
