/DRIVE is back 31st July!
Discussion
martin elaman said:
Can't pistonheads fill in idrives place with a new video talent?
You can imagine that these videos actually cost quite a bit of money to make. There will be at least one other member of staff and it must take several days to film and produce.
If ad revenue can't cover that cost plus a profit then it seems logical to run a subscription.
The subscription model also allows you two key benefits. Firstly you can calculate your income and ergo, spend, in advance and it's constant (in contrast to eyeballs + variable as revs) and secondly you create a much closer corporate connection with your customers which permits precisely targeted upselling such as a DVD or a 'Pet a Monkey' day out.
Another flip side is that you get higher quality feedback from direct paying consumers that helps to grow the business.
In theory, a higher quality income stream will mean better and more continuous productions. And if it doesn't then it dies on its arse.
YouTube's massive drive to put 3 minute (skippable) adverts between every one or two songs on my YT playlist and provide non-skippable 30 second adverts when I'm watching videos has taken me down the wonderful world of Adblock. I am not paying for a review of a car that, after a few weeks, will have tens of other reviews from dedicated channels. For free.
I think DRIVE have approached the social model completely wrong. I follow another car site and they release all their content for free - but ask for a small fee to post on their forums etc. I happily paid that as I get to engage with the large community but also appreciate that they're throwing their stuff out for free in order to draw the masses to purchase forum access. Seems to be working.
I think DRIVE have approached the social model completely wrong. I follow another car site and they release all their content for free - but ask for a small fee to post on their forums etc. I happily paid that as I get to engage with the large community but also appreciate that they're throwing their stuff out for free in order to draw the masses to purchase forum access. Seems to be working.
DonkeyApple said:
You can imagine that these videos actually cost quite a bit of money to make.
There will be at least one other member of staff and it must take several days to film and produce.
If ad revenue can't cover that cost plus a profit then it seems logical to run a subscription.
The subscription model also allows you two key benefits. Firstly you can calculate your income and ergo, spend, in advance and it's constant (in contrast to eyeballs + variable as revs) and secondly you create a much closer corporate connection with your customers which permits precisely targeted upselling such as a DVD or a 'Pet a Monkey' day out.
Another flip side is that you get higher quality feedback from direct paying consumers that helps to grow the business.
In theory, a higher quality income stream will mean better and more continuous productions. And if it doesn't then it dies on its arse.
And so it seems the "driver republic" model might really have been right. Plus they had a better cast than idrive. I think if people were to pay they would need something special to pay for. Something deeper than what idrive offers. martinThere will be at least one other member of staff and it must take several days to film and produce.
If ad revenue can't cover that cost plus a profit then it seems logical to run a subscription.
The subscription model also allows you two key benefits. Firstly you can calculate your income and ergo, spend, in advance and it's constant (in contrast to eyeballs + variable as revs) and secondly you create a much closer corporate connection with your customers which permits precisely targeted upselling such as a DVD or a 'Pet a Monkey' day out.
Another flip side is that you get higher quality feedback from direct paying consumers that helps to grow the business.
In theory, a higher quality income stream will mean better and more continuous productions. And if it doesn't then it dies on its arse.
I think the pricing is a mistake.
I don’t understand why companies don’t go for low price/high volume over greedy high price/low volume on the internet. Surely the only negative factor - cost for bandwidth - is zero because Youtube pays it.
$3,99/month just pisses off fans who will then stop watching or grab the latest episodes without paying. We all know the internet will always find a way. A total no-win situation.
I don’t understand why companies don’t go for low price/high volume over greedy high price/low volume on the internet. Surely the only negative factor - cost for bandwidth - is zero because Youtube pays it.
$3,99/month just pisses off fans who will then stop watching or grab the latest episodes without paying. We all know the internet will always find a way. A total no-win situation.
I think they got it mixed up. Drivers republic had very frequent almost daily doses of automotive info. Its was the enthusiasts go to site. The Harry Potter model of story and wait for the continuation of it later. It didn't work out due to likely ego, now idrive wants to do this but isn't deep enough to pay for. They need to switch their model back to DR. martin
swimd said:
I think the pricing is a mistake.
I don’t understand why companies don’t go for low price/high volume over greedy high price/low volume on the internet. Surely the only negative factor - cost for bandwidth - is zero because Youtube pays it.
$3,99/month just pisses off fans who will then stop watching or grab the latest episodes without paying. We all know the internet will always find a way. A total no-win situation.
Wouldn't price be a function of historic views run against an industry algo relating to known take-up percentages at various price points and then factor that against minimum monthly gross revenue targets? Ergo, some models show that you make higher revenue from charging more not less as seen with premium brands?I don’t understand why companies don’t go for low price/high volume over greedy high price/low volume on the internet. Surely the only negative factor - cost for bandwidth - is zero because Youtube pays it.
$3,99/month just pisses off fans who will then stop watching or grab the latest episodes without paying. We all know the internet will always find a way. A total no-win situation.
Besides, go too low and your fixed costs on few collection goes from a few percent to being tens of percent. Plus currency costs etc. choice of gateway and merchant will have an impact on how low you can charge.
I think it's a shame they've gone down the subscription route. I only watch Chris Harris' videos, so it's not worth paying to watch them.
I've just had a browse on their youtube channel, and it seems /CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS is the most viewed. What I think would be good is a deal between /DRIVE and PH where members on here get to watch Chris Harris' videos for free.
I've just had a browse on their youtube channel, and it seems /CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS is the most viewed. What I think would be good is a deal between /DRIVE and PH where members on here get to watch Chris Harris' videos for free.
paulrussell said:
I think it's a shame they've gone down the subscription route. I only watch Chris Harris' videos, so it's not worth paying to watch them.
I've just had a browse on their youtube channel, and it seems /CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS is the most viewed. What I think would be good is a deal between /DRIVE and PH where members on here get to watch Chris Harris' videos for free.
Same for me.I've just had a browse on their youtube channel, and it seems /CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS is the most viewed. What I think would be good is a deal between /DRIVE and PH where members on here get to watch Chris Harris' videos for free.
I subscribed to the Drive channel for a while, but it was far too heavily US biased and filled my what to watch page with loads of crap I had no interest in. So I unsubscribed and watched Chris from here, $3.99 a month is too much for Drive.
No chance for me.. At 99p I'd of thought about it.
But in reality, it was only one vid a week as I got absolutely zero interest in the Americans, even when reviewing European cars.
They were good vids but you could get similar elsewhere for free, so didn't really lose out.
Plus. Wait a few days and they will be re hosted all over the internet!
But in reality, it was only one vid a week as I got absolutely zero interest in the Americans, even when reviewing European cars.
They were good vids but you could get similar elsewhere for free, so didn't really lose out.
Plus. Wait a few days and they will be re hosted all over the internet!
vtgts300kw said:
Harris on Cars is the only thing worth watching, the other hosts verge on the unwatchable.
I quite enjoyed Mike Musto's pieces as he spent a good wedge of time with the owners generally finding out more about their car, why they bought it etcNever mind the fact that he had some properly retarded machinery on there. The Chevy Nova with 1100hp or something ridiculous springs to mind.
I love how everyone expects everything for free.
It's not exactly a charity business and these people have to earn a living and cover their costs.
Unfortunately, I won't be paying for them because I live in Spain and it's not available here but 99p per month is hardly much for the average person. If you're that tight, how about waiting until the end of the season and paying for a 99p month pass and watching all the movies in one hit?
It's not exactly a charity business and these people have to earn a living and cover their costs.
Unfortunately, I won't be paying for them because I live in Spain and it's not available here but 99p per month is hardly much for the average person. If you're that tight, how about waiting until the end of the season and paying for a 99p month pass and watching all the movies in one hit?
beanbag said:
I love how everyone expects everything for free.
It's not exactly a charity business and these people have to earn a living and cover their costs.
Unfortunately, I won't be paying for them because I live in Spain and it's not available here but 99p per month is hardly much for the average person. If you're that tight, how about waiting until the end of the season and paying for a 99p month pass and watching all the movies in one hit?
It's £2.49 a month not 99p and we don't expect it for free, just a lot of people voicing the opinion that it isn't worth paying for. If PH suddenly started charging to use the forums I'd do exactly the same and just not bother using them.It's not exactly a charity business and these people have to earn a living and cover their costs.
Unfortunately, I won't be paying for them because I live in Spain and it's not available here but 99p per month is hardly much for the average person. If you're that tight, how about waiting until the end of the season and paying for a 99p month pass and watching all the movies in one hit?
I echo the above really. Harris is the only one I look out for but many of his videos are AMG models going sideways or something compared to a 911, which has worn thin. We've got an M4 and a LaF video coming up, anyone know what else?
Maybe I'll wait a few months, subscribe for a month, then watch all the videos in one go.
The other stuff is too American for my taste.
Maybe I'll wait a few months, subscribe for a month, then watch all the videos in one go.
The other stuff is too American for my taste.
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