Already live in the US, YouTube Red will soon be available in Australia.

Following the Netflix business model, YouTube Red will attempt to attract customers by offering original content, such as film, TV shows and documentaries unavailable elsewhere.

YouTube chief business officer Robert Kyncl said the service — which launched in the US in late October for $US9.99 a month — hoped to rival Netflix, Stan and Presto.

“Our focus is on the under-35s,” he told The Australian.

“If you look at TV, it is generally over that age and we are under. We are looking at the new world and trying to expand it.”

Mr Kyncl said the gamble would see the service investing in up to 20 new shows each year.

“We are not a production company; you could think of us as a distribution platform, like the TV networks,” he said.

The former Netflix executive said YouTube Red would be dominated by interactive content and would also include access to streaming music and offline video viewing — features not included by its rivals.

“It will be personalised and easily shareable, and it will feel weird when you can’t do these things — search, share, comment, interact,” he said.

YouTube Red Original's "Scare PewDiePie" with actor Felix Kjellberg.Source:AP

In an attempt to capitalise on the pool of talent already uploading content to the free service, the company will be giving financial backing to YouTube stars in order to create four new shows for Red.

Swiss comedian and gamer PewDiePie, who has 40 million subscribers, is one of the YouTube stars to have been commissioned for a YouTube Red “Original”.

“We have a platform that is free and there are phenomenal content creators who have risen to stardom … it makes sense to bet on them, to focus on the people who have become large on YouTube and produce programs that they could not do on their own,” he said.

Mr Kyncl wouldn’t comment on how many people had subscribed to the US version of the service, but hinted it had been a success.

“It’s tracking exactly to our plans. We have been at it for three months, people are coming off free trials and signing up. We are happy with progress,” he said.

“We wouldn’t do this (Red) unless we had high hopes for it because it is a big investment for us.”