RE: Pay per view: PH Blog
Discussion
The post several pages earlier about "Don't try and be like the Times, be like the FT" was bang on the money.
A subscription is the wrong way to go, too lumpy and your content, while brilliant is just too specialist, too niche and in the final analysis too short to be worth paying £25 a year for. It's not "fair" it's just how it is... people won't compare the cost of Drive+ with a boxing match, they'll compare it with Spotify (£5 or £10 a month for effectively ALL MUSIC) Netflix £5/month for loads of tv series and videos and they will not sign up in reasonable numbers.
So what's the answer? Charge less, and offer more. Not just videos (though they should be the centrepiece and flagship content) - blog posts, new car tests, good investigations into the used market (eg how to buy a 996, Elise, Evo whatever) - in fact everything one would expect from a really good mag at the top of its game.
Hmm - sounds like DR again? Yes, something like that but delivered properly over the open web with standards-based responsive design, behind a paywall.
And finally, I have a sneaking suspicion (though absolutely no data) that all any of us in the UK care about (well 95%+) is Chris Harris. Personally speaking I've never watched anything else on Drive and I'm not starting now.
Just my 2 pence. Good luck with it Chris, I'm a big fan.
Joel
A subscription is the wrong way to go, too lumpy and your content, while brilliant is just too specialist, too niche and in the final analysis too short to be worth paying £25 a year for. It's not "fair" it's just how it is... people won't compare the cost of Drive+ with a boxing match, they'll compare it with Spotify (£5 or £10 a month for effectively ALL MUSIC) Netflix £5/month for loads of tv series and videos and they will not sign up in reasonable numbers.
So what's the answer? Charge less, and offer more. Not just videos (though they should be the centrepiece and flagship content) - blog posts, new car tests, good investigations into the used market (eg how to buy a 996, Elise, Evo whatever) - in fact everything one would expect from a really good mag at the top of its game.
Hmm - sounds like DR again? Yes, something like that but delivered properly over the open web with standards-based responsive design, behind a paywall.
And finally, I have a sneaking suspicion (though absolutely no data) that all any of us in the UK care about (well 95%+) is Chris Harris. Personally speaking I've never watched anything else on Drive and I'm not starting now.
Just my 2 pence. Good luck with it Chris, I'm a big fan.
Joel
Chris Harris said:
...and, much as I resent it, I pay my accountant...
I'm an accountant. Sometimes we're worth it...Your content, on the other hand, entertains and is beautifully produced. I always wondered how it was funded and the maths are, frankly, more horrifying than I dared hope!
I shall be subscribing; why don't we, in this day and age, value entertainment, and informed opinion. I hope this "whole new thing," works!
speedjockey said:
It's essentially the price of a coffee in the morning anyways. Really unfortunate but the content is good & the reasons that Chris pointed out are understandable. Just find it odd paying for a Youtube video..
That's true. Delivered in a different wrapper would give a different impression. However, I suspect that the YouTube structure is far more cost effective as it handles all client management aspects. In a year or two premium YouTube channels will probably seem normal though.
I do think direct pay content is a very good complement to pay by advertising as the content has no demand to cater to the advertisers but solely to the content consumers.
I wish them every success. They'll need tens of thousands of subscribers to make it work and I hope they get them. Although for that number you need to rely on US consumers being the bulk which will skew content.
SimonD said:
The thing is that people are used to the internet 'being free'.
That's not necessarily correct at all times (anymore).History has shown that people value convenience over anything, even over “free”.
Napster was not as successful as it was because of being free, but because it gave people a convenient way to quickly get their fix on music online, even individual songs if they wanted to (when elsewhere, all you could do was buy albums on CDs).
Then iTunes came along, just as convenient, but not as illegal. And people paid. And are still paying. Lots.
Convenience is also why most paywalls fail. I google some interesting stuff, I click a link, I am asked to sign up for yet another website? No thank you, doesn't matter if it is free or paid after sign-up.
So the issue will be if Drive+ is convenient. I think it is, since all subscribers will have a Youtube account already. If the next step is to simply (and once) fill out your payment details, click subscribe and you're done, that should be convenient enough.
As for 25£ - it's simply not much. Yes, there is a danger that soon, everybody will be charging that for their car videos, but the way I see it, Drive is way beyond most car series on Youtube. Shmee150 or SaabKyle04 also have good videos, but it is plain to see that their production value is nowhere near Drive's.
And in my view, that is true for all presenters, not only Chris Harris.
Regards,
Robert
See I think for the quality of the stuff Chris puts out I'd happily pay but some of the other content on Drive is rubbish....the bloke who does the behind the scenes vids (J F Musial) is really poor IMHO. I remember seeing the one he did on Pagani and thinking it was "okay".....someone else did a similar video where they did a fantastic interview with Pagani himself and you really got to understand the man and the genesis of the brand.....brilliant piece of work unlike the Drive one. I think Mr Harris is in a class of one when it comes to online car vids....
steve_n said:
£24.99 a year is too much based on the numbers outlined. All of a sudden this has the opportunity to turn into a multi-million pound pocket liner when all it would take to support the costs of these shoots is say £1 per person per year.
This is a shame as I really like Chris's work, there's nothing else quite like it as most other journos who try to do the same thing are simply too annoying to listen to!
Possibly the stupidest thing I have ever seen on the entire internet. It is a business FFS, not a hippie commune making car videos.This is a shame as I really like Chris's work, there's nothing else quite like it as most other journos who try to do the same thing are simply too annoying to listen to!
I think you want 'Kibbutz for Kars' channel...
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.
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.
I'm sure the micro transaction side of things will come along soon enough from YouTube.
I just hope that Drive gets enough subscribers for the first venture to keep it going until it does.
Because even though I approve of the current sub price and have paid it, having people pay 15p for a video will be far, far more popular.
I just hope that Drive gets enough subscribers for the first venture to keep it going until it does.
Because even though I approve of the current sub price and have paid it, having people pay 15p for a video will be far, far more popular.
Not for me ta. Big Muscle is the only remotely interesting show on /Drive for the same reason Petrolicious vids are interesting, the owners' stories. If I want to see some bloke skid around a test track in some borrowed cars I'll just watch TG.
Half the cost of actual subscription services like Netflix etc. for about (at a guess) 2 hours of car reviews is a bit on the steep side as well IMO.
Half the cost of actual subscription services like Netflix etc. for about (at a guess) 2 hours of car reviews is a bit on the steep side as well IMO.
Chris has needed his own regular show for a while and this might just be the ticket. I will subscribe if quality and quantity keeps me entertained.
I could definately see him as a mainstream presenter on TV esp as top gear et al have become stale and boring. Shame no TV execs have employed him......yet
I could definately see him as a mainstream presenter on TV esp as top gear et al have become stale and boring. Shame no TV execs have employed him......yet
Obi Wan said:
Quick question. If I pay for the £25 subscription is that a one off or a rolling payment?
Order date: 30 Jul 2014Title Price
/DRIVE+ – Free Trial £0.00
/DRIVE+ – Subscription £24.99 (Billed Yearly starting 13 Aug 2014)
Looks like it carries on until you cancel it. Makes sense.
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