Who was it that told you YouTube was so expensive to run? Google? I couldn't imagine why the company, with a vested interest in making you think ads are essential, would tell you that YouTube is like super duper totally expensive.
Please explain to me how it is that my website, despite serving lossless music and video streaming and a photogallery, doesn't actually cost me anything except the electric bill which is so negligible that I don't even bother considering it in my low-income no-job budget. I would love to hear why this isn't possible.
I, too, remember the days before YouTube where videos literally did not exist on the internet! So innovative of Google, inventing video hosting.