New Delhi: YouTube recently announced that they are going to unveil a new plan for Indian users, which is named the Premium Lite subscription tier pilot for users in India, as the Google-owned video platform looks to ramp up its subscriber base in the country. They have set a price of Rs 89 per month. Premium Lite will enable viewers to watch ad-free videos in categories such as gaming, comedy, cooking or learning. Subscribers, see the ads on music content, music videos, and Shorts. The consumers will also not be able to play videos in the background or download them for offline streaming.
This Premium Lite will be available soon in the upcoming weeks across the country. YouTube is also piloting a new subscribers tier with select users in India, France, Taiwan, and Hong Kong that lets them share their Premium or Music Premium membership with another household member. The two-person YouTube Premium subscription tier is being offered in India at the monthly price of Rs 219, while Music Premium is available at Rs 149 during the pilot. But in India, standard YouTube Premium plans start at Rs 89 for students, Rs 149 for individuals, and Rs 299 for families. Music Premium plans begin at Rs 59 for students, Rs 119 for individuals, and Rs 179 for families. The company hiked the prices of all its subscription tiers in August 2024 by 12% to 58%.
In March, YouTube officially announced that they recently crossed over 125 million subscribers globally, across the Music and Premium services. Overall, Alphabet has surpassed 270 million paid subscriptions, with YouTube and Google One as key drivers, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai stated during the earnings call in April. But in October 2024, Sundar Pichai noted that YouTube’s revenue had surpassed $50 billion for the first time over the past four quarters.
