YouTube has introduced a new subscription tier, Premium Lite, which offers an ad-free viewing experience on most videos for $8 per month in the United States, according to company sources.
The new plan, currently rolling out in the U.S., is designed for users who prefer uninterrupted streaming without the added features of the full YouTube Premium package.
Under Premium Lite, viewers will be able to enjoy content such as podcasts, gaming, fashion, beauty, and news without ads. However, music content is treated differently; ads will continue to appear on music and music videos, as well as on YouTube Shorts, because YouTube Music is included only with the full Premium service. Additionally, features like downloads and background play will not be available to Premium Lite subscribers, and users may still encounter ads while browsing and searching on the platform.
"We’ve heard from our users that many want an ad-free, uninterrupted streaming experience without needing the full music service," said YouTube’s chief product officer, Johanna Voolich, in a video announcement. "Premium Lite gives those viewers more choice, while also unlocking a new revenue stream for our creators."
The rollout of Premium Lite marks an expansion of YouTube’s efforts to offer more flexible subscription options. The service is part of a pilot program that began testing lower-cost subscriptions in several markets last October 2024. In those trials, YouTube provided most content without ads, except for certain categories like music content and Shorts, where non-interruptive ads were shown.
Subscribers in YouTube’s pilot markets in Australia, Germany, and Thailand will also gain access to Premium Lite in the coming weeks, with plans to expand the tier to additional countries later this year. The platform has indicated that it will continue to explore new ways to enhance the subscription experience for its users.
Overnight Iranian strikes on an air base in Jordan damaged multiple U.S. aircraft and left one without a wing, American media reported. Meanwhile, ...
Sea drones have injured eight people in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi, regional authorities said. In Ukraine, two people were wounded...
Azerbaijan's education system is showing some of its strongest signs of progress in years, with the latest ...
Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, according to the governor of the Krasnodar region. Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Russian military ships were destroyed in the attacks.
A TV channel was struck during a live broadcast on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least three people, the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Meanwhile, drones hit civilian infrastructure in Russia's southwestern Saratov region.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly launched two ballistic missile attacks against a U.S. Navy warship over the past two days.
Wildfires have broken out in Türkiye’s Antalya province, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate as strong winds fuelled the flames.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they attacked two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, calling the strikes a response to a U.S. attack on five Iranian tankers.
Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton has warned against rushing to develop artificial superintelligence, arguing that scientists still do not know how to ensure systems more capable than humans remain safe and under control.
The United States and China are preparing to hold their first official bilateral talks focused exclusively on artificial intelligence as concerns grow over the risks posed by increasingly capable AI systems.
AI may live in the cloud, but the infrastructure powering it is anything but virtual. As data centres consume ever more electricity and water, the race is on to find new ways to keep the machines running.
Hua Hong Semiconductor, China's second-largest contract chipmaker, is investing $2 billion to build a new fabrication plant in Wuxi, China as part of a push to expand capacity as domestic demand for AI-related chips outstrips what the industry can currently produce.
A humanoid robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor has run 100 metres in 9.32 seconds, beating Usain Bolt's men's world record of 9.58 seconds, China's state broadcaster reported on Saturday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment