Another thing that used to be free can now start charging money.
YouTube now offers a way for people to require payments before viewers can access a live video stream. But that doesn’t mean Joe Schmo stands to start profiting by posting live video blogs.
The streaming site is joining up with professional content partners that plan on treating the new service as another channel for pay-per-view events. Imagine one day being able to pay for a live Wrestlemania game… without needing a cable or satellite box. That kind of stuff.
Pay-per-view isn’t the only form of monetization YouTube is looking at, though. The site also offers content partners the ability to tap into advertising revenue streams. One event that will take that option is Marvel when it streams the red carpet premiere for The Avengers on YouTube.
This represents a maturity for the YouTube live video feature, which was first made available about a year ago.
Until now, there was no way to make money from live videos on the site, even though there were plenty of monetization opportunities through the regular video channels.
Competing services like Ustream.tv were also already well established when it came to offering pay-per-view live video. Even now, the monetizing options are only available to eligible content partners. No doubt that will eventually open up over time, though.
