Google's YouTube will release the first batch of shows from a new original programming drive on Wednesday, offering three movies and an adventure series designed to lure customers to its $9.99-a-month subscription service.
The programs, which YouTube funded, include Scare PewDiePie, a series with the Swedish gaming sensation Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg, and A Trip to Unicorn Island, a tour documentary featuring online star Lilly Singh, the company said in a blog post. All of the programs will be available exclusively in the U.S. to subscribers of YouTube Red, the paid version of the video site, and will be available for purchase outside the U.S.
With YouTube Red, the video-streaming site owned by Alphabet Inc.'s Google is testing whether its homegrown stars, backed by bigger production budgets, can persuade their millions of young fans to pay for programming. Like Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., YouTube is using original programming to entice potential subscribers.
Original programs are one of several features that YouTube is using to develop its paid service, which combines Google's music subscriptions with entertainment, news and music videos. Subscribers can watch YouTube clips without advertising, and listen to videos or music in the background while using other applications on their phones.