YouTube plans Internet television service: report

The YouTube homepage appears on a screen in Washington on September 3, 2010. Google-owned videosharing website YouTube is expected to turn a profit this year on revenue of 450 million dollars, The New York Times reported Friday. The newspaper, in an article about the rise of advertising on YouTube, said the site's revenue has more than doubled each year for the last three years.     AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM
The YouTube homepage appears on a screen in Washington on September 3, 2010. Google-owned videosharing website YouTube is expected to turn a profit this year on revenue of 450 million dollars, The New York Times reported Friday. The newspaper, in an article about the rise of advertising on YouTube, said the site’s revenue has more than doubled each year for the last three years. AFP PHOTO/

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — YouTube plans to launch a service that streams cable television channels to viewers over the Internet for the price of a subscription, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

YouTube has made a priority of creating the service, called Unplugged, which could debut as early as next year, according to the report, which cited unnamed people close to the project.

YouTube executives have talked about the plan with major media companies such as Viacom, NBCUniversal, and Twenty-First Century Fox but had yet to obtain rights to any content, according to unidentified sources cited by Bloomberg.

YouTube is a unit of Alphabet-owned Google, where it has been billed as a star performer when it comes to attracting viewers and revenue.

YouTube last year introduced Red, were ad-free videos can be seen for monthly subscriptions of $10 in the United States.

When contacted by AFP, YouTube declined to comment on the Unplugged report.

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