YouTube Originals is bringing in experts, celebrities, and other entertainers with a new run of content related to COVID-19. The shows will range from the entertaining to the informative, with the goal of helping encourage and help amid widespread stay-at-home orders. The content is, in fact, already releasing now, with more scheduled for release in the app and on the web through May.
As indicated by recent reports stemming from Google’s announcement, at least one of the planned shows is already streaming now. Dubbed “Money Talks: Taxes” and produced by Refinery29, the show is effectively a step-by-step guide covering questions about filing taxes. Questions about the COVID-19 stimulus checks are part of that, with the video featuring experts on the topics.
What shows and stars are incoming in YouTube Originals’ latest COVID-19 push?
For the remaining videos, with the exception of the April 25 launch of “The Creator Games Presented by MrBeast,” YouTube is pinning its incoming content to its popular “#withme” campaign tag. That global live event will challenge YouTube’s biggest performers to battle it out in stay-at-home games. Viewers will be encouraged to donate to support COVID-19-related charities, with the event kicking off at 6:00 PM eastern time.
Later this month, a weekly series featuring Yungblud will launch called “Stay Home With: Yungblud.” The series will follow the musician under quarantine in his apartment with his manager, a videographer, and two bandmates. Yungblud and crew will be attempting to not only write new music while in confinement. They’ll be trying to shoot a full-blown music video.
On April 29 — International Dance Day — YouTube Originals is hosting a dance competition called #MoveWithMe. For that event, YouTube will bring in dancers and choreographers to provide performances. Again, the purpose will be to gather donations, in this case for COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO, during the performances.
Similar to that, in the UK, YouTube Originals will launch “Stream #WithMe (UK)” on April 30. Instead of dancing, however, that event will focus on “the UK’s most loved” YouTubers. The content will center around dealing with lockdowns and entertainment in equal measure. NHS Charities Together will be the focus of donations.
Among the most intriguing of the new series, however, is Celebrity Substitutes. That will kick off on May 7 and effectively seeks to supplement high school lessons with more entertaining content. As is implied by the branding here, various celebrities from Karlie Kloss and Camila Mendes to Janelle Monáe, Terry Crews, and even Bill Nye will be taking part. They’ll be teaching lessons on everything from biology to coding.
More content beyond that schedule will be incoming as YouTube looks to return operations to normal
Now, the latest push via YouTube Originals is not the only news from the company on COVID-19. The company also recently revealed that at least some associated videos on that topic would soon be monetized again. That’s following a halt put in place on ads for videos covering the subject after it was determined to be a sensitive topic.
Returning ads for some of those videos encourages legitimate sources to continue publishing useful and informative videos on the matter. Ads will still not be allowed on videos that spread misinformation about the disease. Those videos will almost certainly prove invaluable for the platform and users since there’s no end in sight for the virus.
Following on that, further YouTube originals beyond the above-mentioned content is being planned. Other events with similar themes will follow, as laid out by YouTube Originals. Specifically, the company says it also has content planned expressly for kids and families. It plans to make that content available starting in May for both YouTube and YouTube Kids. More content beyond that may follow, depending on how long the pandemic continues.