Why YouTube Exited the Original Content Business: ‘We Weren’t Good at Picking Content’

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube has tried its hand at funding original content more than once — with disappointing results.

Ten years ago, YouTube believed it needed to more directly compete with the Netflixes of the world. Robert Kyncl, then YouTube’s chief business officer (who left to become CEO of Warner Music Group in 2023), in 2015 hired TV veteran Susanne Daniels to build a slate of original programming — available exclusively to subscribers of YouTube Red (later rebranded YouTube Premium).

Daniels, who had been MTV’s head of programming and a top exec at the WB and Lifetime, led the team that greenlit series featuring YouTube creators like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Rhett & Link and Liza Koshy, as well as scripted originals like “Karate Kid” offshoot “Cobra Kai.” However, the originals were not delivering the payback YouTube execs anticipated via subscriptions.

The platform shifted to make YouTube Originals available for free with ads, an attempt to better monetize them. In 2019, YouTube started to exit the scripted game to focus on unscripted fare.