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Much the way Amazon now dominates the American retail market, YouTube doesnt have a problem drawing eyeballs.
YouTubes premium tier, dubbedRed, has actually been around since late 2015.
(Yes, of course, PewDePie had hisown reality showon Red.)
(The series will also get a splashy premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 24.)
But that doesnt mean she doesnt have big plans for the service.
Here are five key takeaways from our conversation.
Not so, insists Daniels.
We started where we were just doing one thing, referring to the early batch of YouTuber-centric series.
Theyre brands or talent that we believe have crossover appeal.
(And for Gen-Xers, it even featuresMelrose Placealum Marcia Cross in a recurring role.)
Damn right, I do!
Daniels laughs when asked about Reds goals.
But she just as quickly cautions against expecting too much too fast.
And Ive built or had to rebuild services and brands before, Daniels explains.
It takes time to build that brand to a place where you feel like you are really taking off.
Thats a smart place for us to start as a strategy.
Datadoesplay a large part in evaluating these shows, she says.
Relying on digital data to help guide programming decisions isnt a new strategy, of course.
We know from our search data that titles likeStep UpandKarate Kidare extremely popular on YouTube, Daniels says.
Karate Kidrelated content has been watched over one billion times on our platform.
Daniels, however, says Wojcicki was doing no such thing.
That quote was taken out of context a bit, she says.
While some tech bloggers might argue otherwise, Danielss explanation seems logical.
It wasnt my idea; Katy Perry gets all the credit, Daniels says.
That show tapped into everything that YouTube does best.
Were a global platform, and she had global fans.
She wanted to have interactivity, which it did.
You could basically design your own viewing of the content.
It [was] not a lean-back, online grid experience.
Thats the thing thats the most super cool about YouTube the engaged viewer.
Television is a one-way street.
YouTube is definitely two-way street, and I love that about this place.
To be sure, YouTube doesnt have a complete monopoly on interactivity.
CBSsBig Brotherhas been giving audiences a similarly immersive experience for more than 15 years.
We are looking into a very original, new version of aBig Brothertype of experience.
For now, YouTube Reds release philosophy is a lot like Hulus.
We dont have a go-to rule of thumb about this, Daniels says.
Were still building the service, and were experimenting to see what works best.
So weve taken a show-by-show, case-by-case basis.
We want to do whats best for the show.
So we offered four free episodes in front of the paywall.
(She declined to specify how many viewers signed up for the paid service after watching the show).
Its going to be more about building up YouTube Red as a destination, she says.
*A previous version of this story said that Stephen GouldsImpulseis a time-travel thriller.
It is actually about teleportation.
