Industry sources say the programming is the product of an initiative the site announced last year, when YouTube said it would “fund new content from some of our top creators.”At the time, YouTube didn’t say that stuff it was funding would be placed behind a paywall. But industry sources say the site now intends to use at least some of the content it is bankrolling as a bonus for its premium subscription service, which will also include features like ad-free videos.
Source: YouTube Will Announce Programming for Paid Subscribers | Re/code