YouTube Offers Creators Millions Of Dollars To Stay Off Netflix: Reports

YouTube is reportedly offering some of its biggest creators multi-million-dollar financial incentives to keep their content exclusive to the platform for set periods, in a bid to counter Netflix's growing push to sign away its top talent.

Two forms of payment on the table

According to Bloomberg, the payments under discussion would come in two forms. YouTube has held talks about directly financing specific creator programs, and has also offered creators a share of revenue from the platform's major brand-partnership deals. The arrangement does not appear to involve permanent exclusivity, but windows of time during which creators would agree not to publish the same content on rival platforms. No agreements have been finalised yet, though YouTube is said to be close to deals with several partners, declining to be identified because the negotiations are sensitive and ongoing.

A stick alongside the carrot

Alongside the financial incentives, YouTube has warned creators that publishing simultaneously on Netflix could come at a cost. Creators who sign deals with the streaming service risk being sidelined from YouTube's marketing campaigns and events, and could lose access to a share of proceeds from certain major brand deals, according to the report.

Netflix's creator push forced YouTube's hand

The move comes as Netflix has spent the past year aggressively courting YouTube-native talent, signing creators to non-exclusive deals that let them post the same content on both platforms at the same time. Creators including Alan Chikin Chow and Nick DiGiovanni have already signed such agreements, with dozens more reportedly in active talks with the streamer. Netflix has also struck deals with children's content creators such as Ms Rachel and, more recently, Mark Rober, as it leans on family-friendly programming to retain subscribers.

What it means for the platforms

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has previously argued that creators working with rival platforms still end up directing audiences back to YouTube, with few actually leaving. But the reported shift toward directly financing shows and sharing brand-deal revenue marks a departure from YouTube's two-decade-old model of a straightforward advertising revenue split with creators, positioning the company more like a studio commissioning content than a platform simply hosting it.