YouTube Tests Cheaper 'Premium Lite' Subscription for Ad-Free Viewing

[MacRumors]

YouTube is piloting a new cheaper subscription tier in Europe called "Premium Lite," which offers ad-free viewing minus YouTube Premium's other features.

First spotted by a user on ResetEra and subsequently confirmed by Google, the "Lite" plan means users who aren't interested in offline downloads or background playback can still enjoy YouTube videos on web and mobile app without being interrupted by ads.

A YouTube spokesperson told The Verge:

"In Nordics and Benelux (except for Iceland), we're testing a new offering to give users even more choice: Premium Lite costs €6.99/month (or local equivalent per month) and it includes ad-free videos on YouTube."

A standard YouTube Premium plan costs around €11.99/£11.99 a month in Europe and $11.99 in the United States, and includes ad-free viewing on web, mobile app, smart TVs and consoles, as well as ad-free YouTube Music listening, background playback, and offline downloads.

As The Verge notes, the "Lite" option costs around 60% of the price of a Premium plan but only offers a quarter of the features. However, YouTube says that the subscription plan is still in an experimental phase, and that it could still roll out more plans to gauge user feedback.

Article Link: YouTube Tests Cheaper 'Premium Lite' Subscription for Ad-Free Viewing

 

[George Dawes]

Definitely be interested , 11.99 a month is a tad high imo

Watch YouTube all day long now I’ve got premium, it’s great !

 

[leon44]

I'd rather have the ads and pay this for the offline playback

 

[contacos]

Or you just „fly“ to Turkey and pay less than a cheese burger for the premium subscription ?.
Premium Lite. What a stupid name.

by the way, how does Google still get away with a more expensive subscription price via Apple IAP? I thought this wasn’t allowed and that’s why Netflix stopped signing up from iOS all together

 

[adammusic]

Just make YouTube premium cheaper.
Or make offline downloads cost additional.
I don’t want ads and i want background playback.
Don’t use offline downloads at all.

 

[Zmmyt]

this can't come soon enough. I do enjoy Premium a lot an the money i'd safe I could put towards a channel's Patreon account. I like the idea supporting content creators in such a direct way.

 

[Kiaeldan]

Fly to India is good too

 

[xyz01]

This is interesting.

Ad-free viewing of videos is what I'm interested in, but the "normal" price includes Youtube Music. I also have music streaming elsewhere, I have no need for that from Youtube - so getting rid of that to reduce the price would be my first pick.

 

[cheesygrin]

Is it just me that really has an issue with YouTube charging extra for background playback, which is essentially an operating system feature, not an app feature?

£12 per month for this and no ads is too high. I trialled it and then cancelled. I would pay £6 pm, but only if background playback was also added.

 

[djcerla]

Premium is expensive but 100% worth it.
I download a lot, for mixtapes it’s perfect.

 

[michaelsviews]

All of this tech, Youtube, ISP's Cell Carriers is way over priced for what you get. After 10PM where we are if you watch Youtube it'll time out or sometimes won't even open a video/movie. Spectrum says its Youtube. If I tether off my iPhone XR with AT&T I don't have the problems. Way way too much GREED. Use other browsers with plugins to remove the ad's.

 

[Le0M]

They should stop asking to go premium every few minutes. That would be good news.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Ad-free viewing of videos is what I'm interested in, but the "normal" price includes Youtube Music. I also have music streaming elsewhere, I have no need for that from Youtube - so getting rid of that to reduce the price would be my first pick.

I was just typing this same comment!

Yeah I wonder how much of that $12 a month went towards the music service... and how much went to the ad-free video experience?

Like you... I already have a music streaming solution... so it felt silly to pay for another one.

All I want is ad-free Youtube. That will suit me just fine. I personally don't care about offline and background playback.

Now if they can do a yearly plan for $80... I'll sign up immediately.

I hate little monthly charges!

 

[Deadguy]

Fly to India is good too

Or to Argentina ?

 

[Tres]

I still feel that's too expensive for ad free, even though I watch much more YouTube than any other streaming service. I'd pay around 4 euros, but no more.

 

[Villarrealadrian]

Or you can just download Brave Browser and never see an ad again for free!

 

[Matt Leaf]

If they could do ad-free plus background play for this price, I’d probably be a permanent subscriber.

 

[Kylo83]

I pay for premium since day one and they gave me Picture in Picture few weeks ago and now taken it away Whats google playing at, I’m in the U.K. and it’s twice I had it and they removed it, also give us dark mode system wide I’ve had enough of google

 

[hagar]

If Google makes decent iOS and ATV apps, it could be worth considering at a lower price point. But definitely not with their current buggy apps that don’t follow iOS paradigms.

I’m perfectly happy with watching YT in Safari in combination with an adblocker and free PiP.

 

[Jackorias]

Yeah that still isn't a price worth paying for me. uBlock Origin works just fine for the features I need. If I was consuming YouTube on my phone or on something like an iPad then I can see £4 a month or so being worth it to me.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Or you could just use AdBlock Pro/Hush and skip them?

Honestly the only thing I'd pay for is the ability to lock my phone during playback.

 

[iDento]

Or you can just download Brave Browser and never see an ad again for free!

Unfortunately, you can’t put Brave browser on a smart TV, not even an Apple TV.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Umm I never see ads on YouTube. UBlock Origin and others easily block all ads for free……for years now.

On my iOS devices I use Safari and Wipr to access YouTube and not the app to NOT see ads.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Unfortunately, you can’t put Brave browser on a smart TV, not even an Apple TV.

Sure but I am going to bet that YouTube viewing via Apple TV represents .03 % of YouTube viewing. AirPlay you Mac or iOS device that blocks the ads.

 

[JonBOY26]

The price of YouTube premium is absurd. I'd consider it if it was ~AUD$7 p/m, like Prime Video, but AUD$19.99 p/m, get outta here! And since Premium's pricing puts it out of contention, YouTube Vanced and YouTube Smart TV (for Android TV) are the way to go for an ad-free experience.