YouTube is reportedly offering top creators millions of dollars to stay off Netflix

[Diane82]

YouTube is in discussions to pay some of its biggest creators multi million dollar sums in exchange for keeping their content exclusive to the platform for set periods of time, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the negotiations. The move is a direct response to Netflix's growing push to sign popular YouTube talent to deals that let them post the same content on both platforms simultaneously.

Bloomberg describes two different categories of payment under discussion. One involves YouTube directly financing specific creator programs, and the other offers creators a cut of revenue YouTube generates through its own large scale brand and advertiser partnerships. No agreements have been finalized as of the reporting, though the company is said to be close to deals with several partners.

The exclusivity arrangement doesn't appear to be permanent, more a defined window during which creators agree not to publish the same content elsewhere. YouTube has also reportedly warned creators that publishing simultaneously on Netflix could come with real costs even without a formal exclusivity deal in place, including getting sidelined from marketing campaigns, losing access to platform events, and forfeiting a share of proceeds from certain major brand partnerships.

The backdrop here matters. YouTube's total revenue topped 60 billion dollars last year, outpacing what Netflix brought in over the same period, which gives some sense of just how much leverage YouTube still holds even as Netflix aggressively courts its top talent. Creators like Alan Chikin Chow and Nick DiGiovanni have already signed non exclusive deals with Netflix that let them post content on both platforms at once, and Netflix reportedly remains in active talks with dozens of other creators and shows as it continues building out its creator economy strategy

YouTube offers creators millions to not work With Netflix | Fortunefortune.com