YouTube may pass the next season of Cobra Kai on to another streaming service

According to a report yesterday from Deadline, the YouTube premium series Cobra Kai will be moving to a different streaming service for its third season. The show, which is produced and distributed by Sony Pictures TV and based on a continuation of the Karate Kid, may end up on a rival streaming service like Netflix or Hulu.

Deadline says that producers hope that the move may allow the show to last beyond three seasons. YouTube was reportedly only willing to have a single, final, third season, and uninterested in commissioning a fourth — understandable given YouTube's waning interest in scripted content. YouTube has since made its original content free with ads.

Netflix and Hulu are rumored to be front-runners in negotiations for the show, but whoever gets it may also end up with non-exclusive rights to earlier seasons, in addition to exclusive rights for season three and, we assume, subsequent seasons, should they happen.

Negotiations are reportedly ongoing, but if you had hoped to watch the third (and previously final) season via YouTube for free, you might end up being out of luck.

Source: Deadline