According to this, as of Jan 2024 there were 14 Billion videos on Yt. So effectively a dollar and change to host a video for all YT users.

Obviously it doesn't work like that, but if the above commenter's point was that I, a content creator, host my video and manage my own costs, and that video is linked via whatever federation, I can monetize and limit as needed as a creator, thus popular videos get paid to host, and unpopular videos are hosted for more or less table stakes because they're only getting X hits per Month.

Some kind of WordPress-like container with a built-in safety switch for overages and - hey presto. Well, it's a thought anyway.

I dunno, it seems do-able, even if the Great Unwashed are going to stick with YT and getting ads up the wazoo to see "I Stuffed My Face In A Fusion Reactor - Watch What Happens Next" and the like.