RE: Pay per view: PH Blog
Discussion
I had to add my two peneth, in my opinion I think it's a bit cheeky to ask for subscription based videos when there is so much free stuff out there wether it's good or bad after all the internet is supposed to be free, what will be next, subscription to piston heads ;0( to me it's a bad model and only shows that it's all about how much profit can be made. Fair enough the videos do have to be paid for but when shooting high class videos the costs just keep going up and up, exotic locations exotic cars etc, wages accommodation air fares to name a few. I really think Chris has crossed over from doing something for the love of cars to a new business venture I mean who wouldn't get up at daft o'clock to meet at a track to drive le Ferrari for free for fecks sake I know I would!
Having said all this I wouldn't be disgruntled if the fee was either voluntary donations for those of us who are well off or if it was a more appropriate £9.99. Annually subscription ( the internet is huge and I'm sure if it goes well Chris and the guys will make enough to justify them getting out of bed and dragging themselves to a nice location in order to make a decent video about the cars they might love to drive and own).
Having said all this I wouldn't be disgruntled if the fee was either voluntary donations for those of us who are well off or if it was a more appropriate £9.99. Annually subscription ( the internet is huge and I'm sure if it goes well Chris and the guys will make enough to justify them getting out of bed and dragging themselves to a nice location in order to make a decent video about the cars they might love to drive and own).
There's no nice way to say this but Google's profits would indicate that they are making pretty good money out of YouTube. You talk about your costs, well they stumped up a couple of $billion when they acquired it.
I don't argue with the money you guys are getting out of it but doubt very much if Google are splitting with you on the percentage they say. But no point in trying to renegotiate now is there? They have you captured into thier subscription model.
Shame, I loved the videos. No doubt they will pop up on BitTorrent.
I don't argue with the money you guys are getting out of it but doubt very much if Google are splitting with you on the percentage they say. But no point in trying to renegotiate now is there? They have you captured into thier subscription model.
Shame, I loved the videos. No doubt they will pop up on BitTorrent.
Good channel and I agree with others that its better than both 5th Gear and Top Gear. Pricing model is completely incorrect though especially as TV based channels are free. I do not believe charging for the channel will work but if I had to set up a pricing model I'd go for 50p per download and on the vid where Chris managed to get 2m hits on a £9k production they'd basically have made £1m at 50p per hit. At least this gives the viewer the option to pick and choose the content they want. All paid for content will probably move to this model one day. Good luck and I wish the Drive team all the best.
sato said:
TheAntics said:
I disagree....after a very quick look Drive channel produces c.8 videos per month (it varies but looks about right on average) this is across the various program formats, not just Harris videos.
Using the only info we have let's use £9k costs as an average cost per program. As described £9k only just covers costs for Chris so it seems fair.
Quite a few of those 8 videos a month are just two Americans sat in front of a laptop talking.Using the only info we have let's use £9k costs as an average cost per program. As described £9k only just covers costs for Chris so it seems fair.
Chris Harris said:
I don't have any of the answers old bean. I'm just trying something new. The YT SVOD hardware works on subscriptions, that's what we have to use. Clearly you don't think the videos are worth squat, I have to believe they are or I wouldn't bother getting up in the morning.
You might be proved right, but at least we're having a go.
Worth a lot more than the formulaic crap Topgear has been producing for decades, and those boys are on obscene amounts of money. Television will be your real income stream if you can get the viewing figures. Jay Leno seems to sing your praises so why don't you chaps make an appearance on his show or do a little collaboration on his YT channel? Best way to get new viewers in the US I think. You might be proved right, but at least we're having a go.
CJP80 said:
Worth a lot more than the formulaic crap Topgear has been producing for decades, and those boys are on obscene amounts of money. Television will be your real income stream if you can get the viewing figures. Jay Leno seems to sing your praises so why don't you chaps make an appearance on his show or do a little collaboration on his YT channel? Best way to get new viewers in the US I think.
I believe they get 6k per episode, hardly obscene for a show watched by 300mill+ people and positively pathetic when the stars of the big bang theory get 1 mill each per show and do 20+ shows a year. Clarkson earns more from royalties etc but then he owns half of TGand as for formulaic? UG powwwahhhhh slide car gooood UG, seen it so many times already ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz and it has no relevance for 99% of people who drive in the real world ...
coyft said:
I think you're looking at this from the wrong perspective.
You should look at the video content as an asset that lasts forever. It can be sold over and over again and like any asset you should expect a return on investment (a yield).
Rather than getting consumers to pay for the production costs via subscriptions perhaps you should seek investors to "invest" in the content.
The most important thing is to create great content There will be numerous opportunities to monetise the content in the future, whether that's through micro payments, targeted ads or more likely something that hasn't been invented yet.
+1 You should look at the video content as an asset that lasts forever. It can be sold over and over again and like any asset you should expect a return on investment (a yield).
Rather than getting consumers to pay for the production costs via subscriptions perhaps you should seek investors to "invest" in the content.
The most important thing is to create great content There will be numerous opportunities to monetise the content in the future, whether that's through micro payments, targeted ads or more likely something that hasn't been invented yet.
Going behind a paywall is only going to reduce the amount of people interested in you and your content and ultimately you'll get less revenue, in effect reducing the value of your own 'stock' for the sake of a short term gain that will probably never happen.
It shows a remarkably backwards looking perspective in this era of new media.
Cheib said:
Strikes me that Drive is actually charging the wrong punter....well to be specific Mr Harris is charging the wrong punter for his material. The people that are really getting the most value from these vid's are the manufacturers....think about the McLaren P1 test....they had the ciruit hired out, cars flown out there, senior engineering staff out there and then they flew Harris, Autocar, Evo etc out there to make their video's. That's a serious six figure sum they are spending.....even for something like the F12 vid at Anglesea.....how many sets of tyres, brake pads did Ferrari supply ? It probably cost them more in tyres than it took Chris to make the video. Think about what those Youtube vid's are worth to Ferrari with a million people watching them ? Answer ? A lot....a very lot.
How much money do Porsche spend on promo vids on their latest products ? I bet they spend £100k plus on each one....probably a lot more. Then you have Chris and Neil making their Drive video's for £10k. Sommit's wrong.
Problem is, if they are being funded by the manufacturers their credibility goes down the toilet.How much money do Porsche spend on promo vids on their latest products ? I bet they spend £100k plus on each one....probably a lot more. Then you have Chris and Neil making their Drive video's for £10k. Sommit's wrong.
They would still probably get loads of views, but you cant really take their opinion at face value.
I can see why a journalist with integrity would rather not..... hell Harris integrity gets questioned on a daily basis just because he happen to like Porsches! Imagine the vitriol if Porsche actually paid him to do the videos!
And I bet a manufacturers would not be best pleased forking out 10 grand only to get a lukewarm review in return
Dave Hedgehog said:
I believe they get 6k per episode, hardly obscene for a show watched by 300mill+ people and positively pathetic when the stars of the big bang theory get 1 mill each per show and do 20+ shows a year. Clarkson earns more from royalties etc but then he owns half of TG
and as for formulaic? UG powwwahhhhh slide car gooood UG, seen it so many times already ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz and it has no relevance for 99% of people who drive in the real world ...
Really? I was pretty sure they got a £10k per episode INCREASE in 2008 alone. and as for formulaic? UG powwwahhhhh slide car gooood UG, seen it so many times already ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz and it has no relevance for 99% of people who drive in the real world ...
Thinking about it. Getting a one off instant download @ say 50p per piece via an app that automatically offers content would be better. I don't think people see a small charge, quickly paid AS paying really. YouTube from behind a paywall seems a bit of a fudge. It's inelegant. And it feels a bit outdated already. I know needs must and I understand the need to stem the outward flow of cash only too well. Is there no way of finding other specialist content providers in a similar vein and getting unified finance to put together a free app that can work as a portal for all of you?
IMI A said:
Good channel and I agree with others that its better than both 5th Gear and Top Gear. Pricing model is completely incorrect though especially as TV based channels are free. I do not believe charging for the channel will work but if I had to set up a pricing model I'd go for 50p per download and on the vid where Chris managed to get 2m hits on a £9k production they'd basically have made £1m at 50p per hit. At least this gives the viewer the option to pick and choose the content they want. All paid for content will probably move to this model one day. Good luck and I wish the Drive team all the best.
You personally pay £140 for bbc and all the other stuff you don't watch which is 'free'You pay for your mobile per month, if you have broadband at home you are paying monthly for that. Nothing is free and as the old saying goes "if it is free, you are the product" so they are selling you to someone else.
Your maths on the hits assume that everyone has watched the advert without skipping it. Otherwise they don't get the 11cents or 45% and hence why he is asking for us to pay them directly.
The reason Topgear/Clarkson has made money and was able to chump up the income from the BBC was because outside of the UK you couldn't get it for free or at all. You would have to wait on the net or pay a streaming site to get it. He sold a DVD of this and other episodes and extra silly stuff as there was this 'paywall' of the BBC. Now they use iTunes. He also realised that the Topgear Live works well in other countries as like a band playing at a concert they can penetrate a market that will then buy the album online. Which is why they have been doing that rather than driving around Bedford Autodrome all year for you on the BBC.
You need to pay Discovery in other countries to get 5th Gear and I can't buy episodes from them as such so they don't have the ability to gain extra revenue from this. Much like musicians getting paid for their set but getting none of the money from the album/single sales.
Mr Harris, the only problem I have with your subscription based content is that I can't access it. In my country youtube plus is not available. I fully understand your reasons for charging viewers however I will not be able to pay for your content. This saddens me and it's really not going to be solved any time soon, as I understand legal issues are involved. When it comes to legal issues it takes years, especially when governments are involved. That said I wish you success, and I hope you will provide alternate ways of accessing your content.
Edited by emix on Thursday 31st July 12:17
I believe services like this are the beginning of the end of net neutrality.
For now you pay 45% to Google (Youtube) and 55% gets split up between NBC and /Drive but before to long the ISPs will want a piece of that cake as well and then your internet bill looks like this:
I would have gladly donated a couple for € to /Drive for their CH content but Google and NBC won't see a single cent. The comedian Louis CK does self-published internet content from time to time and it is a great success. I have no problem paying for that because 100% goes to the artist.
Not to mention that he doesn’t use any form of DRM so I can even watch his stuff in Germany! Imagine that!
For now you pay 45% to Google (Youtube) and 55% gets split up between NBC and /Drive but before to long the ISPs will want a piece of that cake as well and then your internet bill looks like this:
I would have gladly donated a couple for € to /Drive for their CH content but Google and NBC won't see a single cent. The comedian Louis CK does self-published internet content from time to time and it is a great success. I have no problem paying for that because 100% goes to the artist.
Not to mention that he doesn’t use any form of DRM so I can even watch his stuff in Germany! Imagine that!
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