I’ve been saying for quite a while that YouTube should have a “charge-for-play” model, where they get a cut of each transaction… just like PayPal or eBay or Amazon or any number of other companies…
Yes, I know they are working on the advertising model, but it would be so easy for them to put together a package for content creators who want to SELL their videos to consumers. There are plenty of content creators out there who would LOVE to have a charge model via YouTube. No, I’m not talking about porn, but it’s the same idea. The New Yankee Workshop could charge for watching a single episode, or just pay for a subscription to that channel.
I would hope they’ve been working on it, but why does it take so long? By giving the uploader the chance to make some money on their original content, and a 10% fee on those videos could generate amazing revenues for YouTube, and create a whole new market for content creators and consumers out there.