Youtube Originals is being shut down, project lead leaves the company

A new report from Variety, and later corroborated by Youtube’s Chief Business Officer, Robert Kyncl on Twitter, Youtube Originals, the company’s own content slate is being shuttered. Additionally, the Global Head of Originals, Susanne Daniels, is leaving the company, with her last day being March 1, 2022.

Before pulling the plug, Youtube will finalize production of any and all shows it’s already contracted creators for in an effort to honor its agreements, and going forward, it will fund only content that is a part of the Black Voices and YouTube Kids Funds.

Having been launched in 2016, Youtube Originals have amassed billions of views. With 2 million creators in the Youtube Partner Program and over $30 billion spent out of Youtube’s pocket on creators, artists, and media companies over the past three years alone, Robert states a case for the health of the program in light of the news.

While no specific reason was given for the closure of Originals, it’s obvious to conclude that they haven’t been as successful as other competing original content offerings. However, Google makes it clear that the program accomplished what it set out to do – to shine a light on important social topics, introduce Youtube to new audiences, and highlight creators in new and unique ways.

As one of the primary benefits of Youtube Red – I mean, Youtube Premium – Originals were never really seen as something that added enough value for the cost compared to other features like background listening, offline play, and most importantly, an ad-free experience.

As of writing this, the ‘Originals’ tab is still present on the Youtube app and website, with all of its content likely to remain even if the tab is removed. The last time I looked at it, it was focused on providing interesting shows like the incredibly cool Mind Field, Escape the Night, MatPat’s GAME LAB, Bad Internet and Rhett & Link’s Buddy System, but now that I’ve clicked into it, the entire focus seems to have been shifted to cultural awareness and inclusion – something the company has focused heavily on as of late across several other projects. Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever watched Youtube Originals and if you’ll be sad to see them go. More importantly, tell me how ridiculous it is for me to even ask and how rhetorical that question even is.