Category Archive: 'Video subscriptions'

Hulu Hits 2M Paying Subscribers, $192M in Subscription Revenues

Date: April 20, 2012 Topic: Subscription Business Model, Video subscriptions Tags: , ,

Hulu recently announced that of its 38 million monthly visitors, 2 million are now paying Hulu Plus subscribers, indicating a 5% conversion rate for the online TV and video site.

Those subscribers translate to approximately $192 million in subscription revenues, which is only a partial amount of gross revenues given that the site boasts a robust advertising revenue stream. After expenses, the company claims to have netted $420,000 in total revenues.

These are impressive numbers for the site, which seems to be competing in recent months with YouTube (there was even some speculation that Google — YouTube’s parent company — was looking to buy Hulu). Both sites are seeking to augment their original programming, with Hulu stating it wants to be the first true Internet-based premium television network. Yet Hulu seems more poised for success given its partnership with professional content producers (i.e., its owners NBCUniversal/Comcast, Fox/News Corp., and ABC/Disney). In fact, the site is already pitching advertisers for its upcoming crop of original shows.

Posted by MinalB21
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Thinkwell Re-Imagines Video Production for Online Education Courses

Date: April 9, 2012 Topic: paid content, Video subscriptions Tags: , , , , , ,

If you’re running a subscription site with thought-leaders in your niche, you’re going to want to take a page from Thinkwell’s playbook.

Thinkwell, founded by Amy Bryant and Dan Heath in 1997, creates wonderful online video courses covering math and science. When I was talking to Thinkwell’s CEO Carl Tyson, he let me in on the secret to their success.

While the company does a lot of prep to plan and outline a semester-long course in subjects like calculus, they do not prepare transcripts for their instructors. By working with experts who really know their subject, such as mathematician Edward Burger of Williams College, they’ve found that letting teachers speak extemporaneously creates the most lively, dynamic videos, able to hold kids’ attention for more than three minutes (the usual video viewing time–although they do break up the lessons into 10-minute segments).

This is a great lesson for other sites working with experts and video. Don’t be afraid to go a little cinéma vérité. As TV execs have known for a long time, it’ll save you time and money. Although unlike reality TV stars, when you work with expert thought-leaders, you’ll probably get a higher quality product.

Of course, once you create those great online videos, you may want to steal another page from Thinkwell’s creative playbook and upsell CDs, especially if you have an international audience for your education courses. While I initially thought that was an outdated revenue-model, Tyson informed me that they’re very popular with deployed military personnel who don’t have reliable Internet access.

Posted by MinalB21
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Brenda Power to Offer Tips and Tricks for Creating Videos on a Budget

Date: April 3, 2012 Topic: Video subscriptions Tags: , , ,

With computers providing a “second screen” in many homes, online video is a growing trend and money-maker for subscription sites. Just look at ChoiceLiteracy.com.

The 6-year-old site provides professional development videos for literacy teachers in over 70 countries and has more than 50,000 paying subscribers. Their key benefit is online videos — while many teachers have stacks of books and VHS tapes with literacy lessons and tips, online videos give them access to up-to-date tips in a convenient platform.

But for those of you who think video is prohibitively expensive, Brenda Power, Editor of ChoiceLiteracy, is appearing at Subscription Site Insider‘s April Summit in San Francisco to prove you wrong. With years of video production experience, Brenda has great tips on when to use a professional crew and when you can do it on your own, the basics of good editing, and what vendor software will best suit your needs. If you’re even considering using video on your subscription or membership site (and all of you should at least be producing a welcome video and site tour video), you don’t want to miss this talk!

Posted by MinalB21
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Have You Got Your .tv URL Yet?

Date: February 21, 2012 Topic: Attracting Traffic, Video subscriptions Tags: , , , , ,

Last week, professional organizer and spokesperson Lorie Marrero gave a great Webinar on how membership and subscription sites can get more media attention — without being or employing celebrities.

One of the tips she gave was to buy the .tv URL for your site as soon as possible. This will allow you to create a dedicated video channel which will have multiple benefits. One, you’ll get lots of free media training by making videos. Two, you’ll create an online video portfolio that will increase your chances to be selected by media outlets for TV appearances. And three, video gets ranked high in search results when done right, so you’ll be driving more traffic to your site.

If you’re interested in more of Lorie’s tips, check out the on-demand video of her Webinar on our sister site, Subscription Site Insider. And if you think video production is just too complicated or expensive, you’ll want to buy a ticket for our April Summit in San Francisco where Brenda Power of Choice Literacy will be giving a talk on how to make video segments on a budget.

Posted by MinalB21
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Launch News: Verizon, Redbox, BSkyB, & Apple Get Into the TV Business

Date: February 13, 2012 Topic: Launches, Video subscriptions Tags: , , , , ,

Through partnerships and new ventures, it appears that the online video streaming business is really taking off.

Just last week, three companies announced their plans to launch streaming video services. Verizon and Redbox are partnering for a U.S. based subscription service, while across the pond, BSkyB is planning to launch a streaming service that has both a subscription and pay-as-you-go plan.

And in related news, rumors are flying that Apple is planning on creating its own smart TV (it’s presumed it will be called iTV–what else would they call it?).

While this is great news for digital content creators, it also a bit disconcerting because of the lack of regulation in the telecommunications industry. We’ve talked before about how Apple’s bit to control both distribution and content can lead to some unnerving censorship issues. It they can control both the equipment (through iTV) and the content (through iTunes or a similar service), television may also be censored more heavily. For parents trying to eradicate porn in their household, this may not be a bad thing, but since Apple seems to have evolving standards, this may not end well for artists.

BSkyB’s service and Verizon and Redbox’s partnership is less likely to lead to such a monopoly, but since many online streaming services (like Hulu) are now offering original content, one has to ask what the implications are. Can Verizon not broadcast content to its subscribers it doesn’t endorse? Will it block access to competitors like Hulu? Will consumers have to start subscribing to individual networks/channels like BSkyB, BBC, etc?

The last scenario seems unlikely, but then again, the future is very uncertain.

Posted by MinalB21
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