Netflix. Amazon Prime. Disney+. Apple TV+. NOW TV. Paramount+. The list goes on.

The streaming giants have won the war to control the future of TV in the UK and around the world. We all subscribe to some combination of the big few streamers, with occasional visits to our own home-grown outlets like iPlayer and ITVX. It seems this is the way of the future, with only YouTube and the video sharing sites providing an alternative model for video and content creation.

However, one tiny challenger is upending this model, proving that a successful micro-streamer can produce high quality content, build a devoted following, and carve out a niche that marries the production values of TV with the grounded audience focus of YouTube. It can also provide an interesting model for any organisation looking to monetise their talents in the new media economy.

What is Dropout.tv?

Dropout was born out of the collapse of US comedy website CollegeHumor. After years of building a successful web following, and then a YouTube and Facebook empire, market forces caused their parent company to close down the brand. Sam Reich, the successful Director of CollegeHumor for many years, ended up buying the company from its parent to pursue his plan for a subscription-based reinvention of the business. Dropout was born.

In essence, Dropout is a mini version of Netflix which only produces its own original comedy shows using its in-house cast of performers (not unlike Saturday Night Live). For a fraction of the price of something like Apple TV+ or Amazon Prime, Dropout provides hundreds of hours of quality content with a relatable, fun and human feel that’s often lacking from the billion pound TV behemoths.

Is it really successful?

The platform is booming, generating hundreds of thousands of subscribers since launch and was even nominated for an Emmy for its flagship show Game Changer. In a few short years, the company has gone from insolvency to being at the forefront of a new media revolution. It’s also no longer alone in its category, other sites like Nebula (which largely works with major YouTubers to provide the funds to elevate their content) is generating hours of original content and even producing Hollywood films with funding to match.

That’s great but my organisation couldn’t do this surely? 

We have already seen businesses, charities and all sorts of organisations jump into the podcasting world with much success. Podcasts are a really cost-effective way to get your message out to new clients and provide some clever original content to your existing audience. In some ways, “OTTs” (the technical industry term for these Netflix-style streaming platforms) are the next step in this evolution.

So many organisations have a wealth of advice, expertise and knowledge to share – often the only option for imparting this knowledge online is by doing it for free via a blog, downloadable document, social media post, YouTube video or podcast. Many would pay a small fee to watch high quality content delivered by experts and may even pay for a regular subscription if the content and the subject matter resonate with them enough. Many organisations run detailed and valuable in-person training sessions for individuals and other businesses, but are lost when translating this service to the digital realm.

Setting up these kinds of platforms is now easier than ever – Dropout themselves use a version of the Vimeo OTT – a system that can be highly customised and have a very small price for entry. Selling a single video via Vimeo can be easily achieved and many have generated significant incomes through just one piece of content.

In many ways, these systems represent more than a challenge to the world of “big streaming”, they could provide a new revenue stream for so many organisations with a wealth of knowledge at their disposal. In short, maybe in a few years having your own mini-iPlayer will become as commonplace as the company blog is today.

If this sounds like your organisation, our team would be delighted to help – email us at info@plmr.co.uk