Do you love cars, racing and shows like Roadkill, Head 2 Head and Ignition? Then you are probably already watching Motor Trend OnDemand for free on YouTube, along with 3.8 million other fans.

Despite some initial confusion, that free YouTube channel will continue, but there is a new option coming to a video screen near you. Motor Trend is about to launch a new subscription service on MotorTrendOnDemand.com, a beta site launched last fall, to give fans exclusive access for $5.99 a month ($59.99/year or $107.99/2 years), following a two-week free trial.

David Freiburger, star of Roadkill, calls it the “Netflix for car guys” in this video clarifying the new service. According to Freiburger, the streaming video subscription service will offer:

• 1,000 hours of automotive, motorcycle and motorsport programming
• Live motor sports, including exclusive live events
• Old movies and TV shows
• Documentaries
• Videos from the Hot Rod and Motor Trend archives
• Early access to YouTube shows, which will go live on YouTube about a month after first airing on the channel

According to Digiday, Motor Trend’s YouTube channel has had more than a billion total views, making it second to BBC’s Top Gear, in terms of subscribers and total views, and YouTube account for than 80 percent of Motor Trend’s overall video audience. That seems like a pretty good reason to act on this opportunity to monetize that traffic.

So what exactly will change? The content on YouTube will remain largely the same, though some of its programs will no longer be available on the channel. Digiday reports that Roadkill Garage won’t be available on YouTube and other content will remain behind the subscription paywall for 30 days before being added to YouTube.

According to Digiday, Motor Trend will experiment with different price points and subscription options to give fans choices. How many free fans it will be able to convert though remains a big question mark.

Insider Take:

We love this idea! As more streaming video services enter the marketplace, they are having to differentiate themselves through content, and many of the newer ones are doing so through niche content. Seeso, for example, airs only comedy, and the WWE Network offers only wrestling and related entertainment. There may be competitors to more broad-based services like Netflix and Hulu, but we think the future is in niche-based OTT services.

Motor Trend already has a proven audience on YouTube, and it has been testing its Motor Trend OnDemand website since last fall. This provides Motor Trend with built-in fans, some of whom will pay $5.99 a month to get exclusive or early access to the programming they want. We don’t know Motor Trend’s strategy for conversion, but a two-week free trial and asking for a credit card at the time of sign-up are best practices to improve conversion rates.

From a content standpoint, it sounds like Motor Trend will work with the content it has already been producing for YouTube, so there may not be additional costs at this point. However, as Freiburger points out in the video, licensing often only extends to the United States, so if Motor Trend wants to expand internationally, it will have to make a concerted effort to purchase the appropriate licenses.

We like that Motor Trend is taking advantage of what seems to be a golden opportunity to monetize its business in new ways, while still offering fans the option of free content on YouTube. And testing price points and experimenting with different plan options that could incorporate video subscriptions with print or digital subscriptions are smart moves. Motor Trend will no doubt cross the finish line with this idea, and we’re excited to cheer them on from the sidelines!