/DRIVE going subscription

[benyl]

SLvRs6JICfw

More details from Chris Harris.

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=30564

Can't say I am not disappointed. Not sure if I will subscribe. But I would rather watch shorter videos than none at all.

The only show I watch on /DRIVE is Chris Harris on Cars. The other episodes are so hit and miss.

[gpomp]

Torrent time!

[04_dc5]

I think majority of people watched /DRIVE for Chris Harris. His videos were entertaining but they weren't the BEST reviews.

Don't think I'll be subscribing unless they put out a lot of quality content..

[Modelexis]

Won't be subbing.

[AlanPortman]

I understand that they need money to continue production, but i think that I will not subscribe to the premium service.

[DeleriousZ]

Yeah that's too bad. Adblock is really doing a number on people's youtube revenues these days. Remember to disable it if you wish to support a specific channel!

[K3RMiTdot]

I sub'd. hopefully its good.

[Modelexis]

I might wait until the end of the year when its cold and blowing snow and sub for a month to watch the videos from the last 6 months (cause I'm cheap)

[Sugarphreak]

...

[b_t]

Chris Harris is my favourite reviewer and I subbed just for him... only $4 really is nothing

[kvg]

The drive channel is losing subscribers much faster than drive+ is getting new subscribers.

[Cos]

.

[Xtrema]

Pay wall is the wrong way to go about it.

RT is much better at this.

[benyl]

Motortrend has some great youtube videos, although the quantity has gone down significantly. Ignition used to be once a week and Head to Head was every two weeks.

[DeleriousZ]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Pay wall is the wrong way to go about it.

RT is much better at this.

Definitely.

If they asked for donations to keep their channel running, I know I'd donate a hell of a lot more than $4. However, when they say YOU MUST PAY for access to our full videos, I say no goddamn way you greedy bastards.

[benyl]

Originally posted by DeleriousZ


Definitely.

If they asked for donations to keep their channel running, I know I'd donate a hell of a lot more than $4. However, when they say YOU MUST PAY for access to our full videos, I say no goddamn way you greedy bastards.

:clap: :clap:

or do a kickstarter or some shit for every season. Don't film anything until it is funded.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by benyl
Motortrend has some great youtube videos, although the quantity has gone down significantly. Ignition used to be once a week and Head to Head was every two weeks.

I thought the slow down is just summer effect but I only subbed for just under a year, so I don't really know.

They posted an Infiniti Q50 feature recently on their channel that I'm sure Nissan paid for. That's the right way to generate revenue.

Or you adopt the Top Gear model when you know your shit is going to be pirated anyway and consider it a promoting the brand and hope it grows and branches out to other opportunities.

More on Drive+
http://drive.jalopnik.com/a-slight-lift-mid-corner-were-canceling-drive-s-annua-1618409894/+travis

[Phl0xed]

Not shocked. In an age where everyone and everything is so connected, A la carte subscriptions are becoming the norm. The only thing lagging behind now is telecommunications. I think this is going to be what most content we may/may not want to consume will end up in the near future.

[CanmoreOrLess]

Product placement, or some other advertising is the thing to do. Subscriptions are a tough sell. I like Chris Harris, but I'm not paying a dime.

[b_t]

You guys are a bunch of fuckin cheapskate entitled crybabies.

It is four goddamn dollars. Seriously :nut: less than a latte from Starbucks, that's like 2.5 days of Tim's coffee, not even a full meal from McDonalds. they are greedy? hahahahah

[DeleriousZ]

Originally posted by b_t
You guys are a bunch of fuckin cheapskate entitled crybabies.

It is four goddamn dollars. Seriously :nut: less than a latte from Starbucks, that's like 2.5 days of Tim's coffee, not even a full meal from McDonalds. they are greedy? hahahahah

The dollar amount doesn't matter. It could be $1 or $20, it's the principle. They are (or were, going forward) an incredibly popular and successful channel. The way they've gone about changing the channel to a paywall style couldn't have been handled much worse. The fact they didn't have their shit sorted out for international viewers to even get on their paid subscription before the launch is evidence enough.

Take a service like Twitch for example. The top streamers make shitloads of cash, and for the large majority of them, the subscription option is just that, an option. You can still consume all of their media for $0, but people enjoy them enough they choose to support them for $5/mo. I was subscribed to 5 or 6 streamers when I had the time to watch streams regularly.

In Drive's case, it's funny how they went this direction pretty soon after they got taken on by NBC...

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by DeleriousZ
In Drive's case, it's funny how they went this direction pretty soon after they got taken on by NBC...

Wonder NBC's deal cause the pay wall. They probably don't want to buy the program when everyone watch for free.

[b_t]

Originally posted by DeleriousZ


The dollar amount doesn't matter. It could be $1 or $20, it's the principle. They are (or were, going forward) an incredibly popular and successful channel. The way they've gone about changing the channel to a paywall style couldn't have been handled much worse. The fact they didn't have their shit sorted out for international viewers to even get on their paid subscription before the launch is evidence enough.

Take a service like Twitch for example. The top streamers make shitloads of cash, and for the large majority of them, the subscription option is just that, an option. You can still consume all of their media for $0, but people enjoy them enough they choose to support them for $5/mo. I was subscribed to 5 or 6 streamers when I had the time to watch streams regularly.

In Drive's case, it's funny how they went this direction pretty soon after they got taken on by NBC...

The principle being what, these guys don't deserve to ask for money for the videos they make? How dare they attempt to try and break even on this.

Why would they offer a Twitch subscription option if they know the internet will basically take care of that for them anyway, with people ripping the YT vid and putting it on torrent?

Being a content creator in this day and age has really gotta suck ass since all of the people who have no idea what it takes to produce this quality of material think it is completely outrageous to try and make some money off videos that cost thousands to produce. And they aren't even making money! YT ads pay like shit, and are filtered by a large portion of your internet audience. Unless you have literally millions of views on every video you post, you aren't making bank even if you are some kid making shit in his basement with a webcam. If you actually have to rent a track, fly somewhere, get accommodations, maybe pay to drive the car, there is no chance at all you are making a cent. Every dollar you try and get from your audience is to pay production expenses.

And if you think top Twitch streamers are making money hand over fist, you don't know fuck all about Twitch.

[DeleriousZ]

Originally posted by b_t


The principle being what, these guys don't deserve to ask for money for the videos they make? How dare they attempt to try and break even on this.

Why would they offer a Twitch subscription option if they know the internet will basically take care of that for them anyway, with people ripping the YT vid and putting it on torrent?

Being a content creator in this day and age has really gotta suck ass since all of the people who have no idea what it takes to produce this quality of material think it is completely outrageous to try and make some money off videos that cost thousands to produce. And they aren't even making money! YT ads pay like shit, and are filtered by a large portion of your internet audience. Unless you have literally millions of views on every video you post, you aren't making bank even if you are some kid making shit in his basement with a webcam. If you actually have to rent a track, fly somewhere, get accommodations, maybe pay to drive the car, there is no chance at all you are making a cent. Every dollar you try and get from your audience is to pay production expenses.

And if you think top Twitch streamers are making money hand over fist, you don't know fuck all about Twitch.

The principle is that in the past the channel provided free unlimited content, and after a hiatus decided to come back and place their best content behind a pay wall. The fact that they are forcing their previous users to pay for their content that was previously provided freely. I disagree with this method of content delivery, I think it's ancient and antiquated, but that's just me.

I'm not suggesting they offer a twitch sub, I was using that as an example of content being provided for free that users choose to pay for. Granted, production cost for twitch content providers is probably 1/1000'th of what the drive guys pay, the principle is still there.

Yes, being a content producer these days probably does suck, especially when your production costs are high. That being said, most people know what they're getting themselves into when they decide to attempt to be a 'youtube only' content provider.

I think it's totally OK to ask for money to help in production costs and wages for the people producing content. In fact I think that's the way it should be done. It's the fact that the 'youtube +' model forces you to pay for the content that I think is wrong. Especially when the content had been free for such a long time.

I bet if you asked some of the top Twitch streamers how they're doing financially, they'd probably say they're doing pretty well. Monthly subscription pays them 2.50 ($5 sub, half goes to twitch) so if you have 1k subs you're making 2500/mo plus donations minus taxes. Ad revenue on there is also crap, it's like $3 for every 1000 viewers when an add is run. I guarantee you the top streamers have significantly more than 1000 monthly subscribers, they certainly make some serious bank.

However, the average twitch partnered streamer will definitely not make enough to support themselves. You have to be pretty popular before it becomes a full time paying job.

[rx7_turbo2]

How dare they put a model in place that generates maximum revenue :dunno:

[gpomp]

Chris Harris has left /DRIVE and is starting his own channel

http://chris-harris.kinja.com/statement-from-chris-harris-1645507716?rev=1413181847142

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by gpomp
Chris Harris has left /DRIVE and is starting his own channel

http://chris-harris.kinja.com/statement-from-chris-harris-1645507716?rev=1413181847142

Well, people paid for /Drive mostly for Harris. I guess it's over for /Drive then?

[Canmorite]

Originally posted by Xtrema


Well, people paid for /Drive mostly for Harris. I guess it's over for /Drive then?

Damn, I am one of those payers for DRIVE. Great content, but Harris is by far my favourite. Unfortunate for those guys, but excited for Chris :thumbsup:

[DeleriousZ]

:thumbsup: nicely done Chris!

[JaffX]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

[b_t]

LOL yeah there goes my Drive+ sub

the other guys aren't bad and drove some pretty cool cars but Chris was what made it actually worth the money

[benyl]

I just stopped watching drive altogether.

[Xtrema]

Wonder if Chris backed out because subscription model isn't what he signed up for? Or money just isn't good enough?

[tehwegz]

they lost more than half their subscribers a few weeks ago. Serves them right. hahaha