Matt Birchler on YouTube Red:

I’m probably not going to pay for YouTube Red. The ads on YouTube honestly don’t bother me that much, and the additional features added to the YouTube app would be nice, but I wouldn’t use them enough to justify the cost. I also have no interest in the original shows they are producing right now. […]

But here’s the thing: I do think that I will end up paying for Red sometime in the next 12-24 months. I have faith the original content will get better and the draw of an ad-free YouTube will eventually be something I want. The real question is how many people are going to go in on this in the early days? With the original content still months away, I doubt this will blow up right away. Over the long term though, I think it has more than a fair chance of being a big deal. Netflix is the king of online paid video, but if anyone can catch them it’s YouTube.

I’m with Matt on this — I don’t plan on signing up anytime soon. But, if I continue spending as much time on YouTube as I have over the past few weeks (non-stop Mario Maker videos, obviously), it might be worth the $9.99 a month just to skip ads. I, too, am not intrigued by the current crop of original programming, but I expect that will change as more shows are introduced.