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YouTube Primetime Channels debuts in United Kingdom

YouTube’s streaming TV marketplace YouTube Premium Channels. (Image courtesy YouTube/Alphabet, Graphic edited by The Desk)

Television fans in the United Kingdom can now subscribe to some of their favorite streaming services from within YouTube, the company announced this week.

On Tuesday, YouTube said it was bringing a version of its YouTube Primetime Channels streaming marketplace to the United Kingdom, which allows streamers to pay for and watch TV shows and movies from a number of third-party services.

It marks the third country where YouTube Primetime Channels has launched after the platform became available in the United States last November and in Germany this past June.

In the United Kingdom, streaming TV fans will be able to sign up for Paramount Plus, Lionsgate Plus, History Plus and Crime & Investigation Plus through YouTube, starting on Wednesday. DAZN is expected to make some of its streaming services available through YouTube Primetime Channels in the United Kingdom and Germany in the coming months.

“The need to jump from app to app to get to desired content disrupts and adds friction to the user experience,” Richard Lewis, the director of partnerships for YouTube in the United Kingdom and Ireland, said in a statement. “Primetime Channels gives users access to official TV, movies or streaming service content all in one place. And with Brits increasingly watching YouTube from their TVs, this offering will complete their entertainment journey on the platform.”

YouTube officials cited market research from Nielsen Media Group, which apparently showed around 65 percent of YouTube users in the United Kingdom discover new TV shows to watch through YouTube’s recommendation engine, and another 49 percent said the streaming platform made them want to pay for streaming content discovered there.

YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, which is owned by California-based technology services provider Alphabet.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is the award-winning founder and editor of TheDesk.net, an authoritative voice on broadcast and streaming TV, media and tech. With over ten years of experience, he's a recognized expert in broadcast, streaming, and digital media, with work featured in publications such as StreamTV Insider and Digital Content Next, and past roles at Thomson Reuters and Disney-ABC Television Group.