Zype : Revenue and Reach Magic for Online Video

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Roku - Cable for the Rest of Us

Cable TV is expensive. 

Consumer pay for channels they don't want, taxes are out of control, and people are too busy to watch shows when they air in the first place.

Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime have helped ease the pain of making new content affordable, but they don't come without their own costs. Want to see a new movie? Netflix might have it next year. What about a new show? Hulu might have it tomorrow.

So as a content owner, how do you deliver new videos to consumers without the expense of advertising or coveted relationships with industry executives?

Cue Roku.

Unlike the network provider monopoly, Roku lets video content owners of all stages create their own channels to share with the world.

A few benefits include:

Expanded reach - 500 million streaming devices worldwide

Instant delivery to fans - live content publishing

No red tape - complete control of your content

Increased revenues - flexible monetization strategies for owners

If you've ever wanted to be on TV, now may be the time.

Learn more about getting your own Roku channel here.

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Zype Presents at VideoInk Showcase in NYC

Last week Zype participated in the first ever Video/Tech showcase during NYC's Advertising Week, hosted by industry leaders VideoInk and Dailymotion.

The event was held at the Dailymotion offices in New York City.

While on stage, co-founders Ed and Chris demonstrated two core features of the Zype Platform:

Dynamic Player Technology

Zype's video player dynamically optimizes delivery based on a viewer location or device, revenue and licensing rules of the area, and can manage multiple video sources such as Hulu, YouTube, and other traditional OVPs and syndicated content sources. 

Turnkey Roku Apps 

Video content owners can leverage existing platform content to launch their own Roku channel without development or IT.

Other companies who presented include N3twork, TouchCast, Tubular Labs, Vuier, Wemolab, and Wonder Place.

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Available Now on the Amazon Marketplace

Over the past few months we’ve been hard at work servicing clients like YuGiOh! and other large-scale digital video providers, many with over 1,000 films in their content libraries.

But today, we’re proud to announce that both hobbyist and semi-professional content producers may now create their own Roku channel or fully-branded video destination platform, courtesy of Zype and Amazon Marketplace.

Benefits of creating your own Roku Channel

Easily manage the video content and metadata of your branded Roku channel through the Zype Dashboard for Publishers.

Robust analytics and intelligence dashboards provide complete metrics of the performance of your video content, allowing you to make informed business decisions.

Start earning additional revenue immediately by leveraging built-in monetization tools for advertising and subscriptions

To learn more about creating your own Roku channel, get in touch.

Benefits of a custom online video platform

Zype's player provides a consistent experience with support for web, tablet and mobile devices.

Easily upload bulk video content and use our recommended transcoding presets or customize your own configurations.

Custom metadata objects allows additional content and information to be stored and retrieved through a robust set of APIs.

To learn more about building your own destination site for fans, go here.

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Zype Playlists

Use Zype playlists to create collections of videos group together for playback in a specific order. Playlists can be used inside the player or pulled from the API for inclusion as content.

In this video you'll learn how to:

Search / filter existing playlists

Create and edit playlist titles, descriptions, and visibility

Manage videos (add, remove, organize)

Add categories to segment groups of playlists

In our upcoming walk-through series we'll be exploring "Magic Playlists" which are collections created dynamically based on categories, metadata or metrics such as a most popular list.

For more information about the Zype platform, go here.

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CordCutters Summer Survey Results

Popular subreddit r/CordCutters is home to a thriving and ongoing conversation about video content and the increasing number of options for digital streaming.

Spinoff resource Cord Cutter News recently submitted a survey to 63,000 subscribers of the subreddit and got very interesting results.

From their website...

And...

While 88% of respondents cut ties with cable companies due to costs, usage is reaching record highs.

This presents a staggering cost/value posit:

The majority of respondents stream 100+ hours of content per month

Average cable costs $70 per month (+ taxes, cancellation fees)

Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu cost $8 per month

This means Netflix / Hulu subscribers pay roughly $0.16 per hour to stream content compared to their peers paying $0.70+ /hour for cable, a 4x price difference for nearly identical content.

So here's the million (er, billion) dollar question:

How can content producers a) increase the value of paid video content, b) decrease the costs to distribute it (cable vs digital), or c) do both at the same time?

Consumers need to know.

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Why Lots of YouTube Talent is Looking For Revenue Elsewhere

A number of YouTube creators have been quite vocal in recent years about how tough it can be to make money on the platform. Now, more and more media companies are offering YouTube creators alternate revenue outlets.

Viddiverse, a new video platform for tween-aimed content, commands as much as as $35 CPM in ad revenue compared to YouTube's $2. 

This has led several content producers, namely Brittany Balyn, to make a giant off-YouTube leap.

"When it comes to making a living on YouTube, one revenue stream, or even one ad partner, isn't enough" writes Mike Shields. 

If you need a nudge to expand your premium content beyond the eyeballs of YouTube, let us know.

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The Battle for Late Night will be Fought on O&O Turf

Nick Bilton from the New York Times recently wrote a compelling article “The Battle for Late Night Viewers on Screens of All Sizes” - extolling the virtues of late night masters Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, and Jimmy Fallon.   These next-generation, Internet savvy, and YouTube friendly jesters, according to Bilton, were outsmarting the likes of Stephen Colbert, whose content is merely confined to his website, http://colbertnation.com.

Outside of realizing that we now have two Jimmy’s on late night (is that a first?), this article made me think about how important an Owned and Operated video strategy is for YouTubers.  

Commenter Peter gets it right:

"Both Colbert and the Daily Show are available online, in full, the next day, via legal means (and with fewer commercials). I think that's a pretty great way to reach out to younger viewers.”

Few can argue that leveraging YouTube to reach fans, distribute short form clips and companion videos, and staying connected with your audience isn’t working for Kimmel and his cohorts.  Colbert may not have been able to leverage YouTube under his Viacom ownership on cable, and perhaps he’ll extend more content to YouTube as part of the Late Show.

However, while Kimmel and Fallon are rocking YouTube, Colbert truly owns his audience.  Both strategies are extremely important for success online, as YouTube is the primary sharing and discovery engine for video. But getting that audience - those fans that you connect with - on your own property, interacting with all your content and each other, will build Colbert Nation's fan loyalty.

I’m betting on Colbert and his rabidly loyal audience to win this battle.

After all, only audience loyalty will get a space station or bridge named after you.

Want to start owning your audience and building an owned and operated site?  Sign up for Zype today!

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“Off YouTube” is on trend at Silicon Beach Fest

Google was conspicuously absent from the panels at a Santa Monica fest for MCNs, but execs couldn't stop talking about its video hosting giant.

As brands seek additional ways to monetize their content and brand, YouTube continues to deter extracurricular behavior.

According to Todd Longwell, YouTube "punishes channels for pushing off-platform," most likely via lower ranking search results and less visibility in "related video" sidebar suggestions. 

This behavior discourages YouTubers from driving fans to additional revenue streams such as merchandise platforms, leaving them evermore dependent on the 45% ad share. 

To help video content owners capture more value from their fans, we built Zype. To learn more about how to own your audience, go here.

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The World's Most Popular YouTuber Makes $4 Million A Year

Felix Kjellberg, better known as the YouTube star PewDiePie, is making roughly $4 million a year, with most being straight profit.

Huge congrats to Felix who, after dropping out of college, "sold hot dogs to get by" before forming PewDiePie.

At Zype we just wonder one thing: how much more could he make with his own custom platform? 

Felix, if you see this we'd love work with together here.

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YouTube Partner: We Make 5x More Money Off YouTube Than on It

Jan Riemens talks with TheWrap about Zoomin.TV's expansion into the U.S. and using YouTube as a farm system

Zoomin.TV's Jan Riemens claims they "make more than 50% of their income from 2,000 sites off YouTube... [and that] a YouTube video must get 20% more views off-site to generate the same ad share.

The key to their success? Subscription models that let fans buy videos, not just stream them.

If you want to explore new revenue streams for your video content, get in touch. 

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Supercharging the YouTube Playbook: Part 1

This blog series provides tips on using Zype’s next generation video platform to Supercharge the strategies outlined in the YouTube Playbook.

If you haven’t checked out the YouTube Playbook, you can view and download it here.

First let’s jump into the Playbook, then see how to supercharge it.

This week is “Calls to Action.”

Playbook Strategy - Direct viewers during the video to take actions that build engagement and audience.

YouTube Playbook CTA's

Subscribe. Invite viewers to subscribe to your channel and give them good reasons to do it!

Watch more. Direct viewers to the next episode, a new video or a playlist.

Like/share. Ask viewers to like or share a video; this broadcasts to the community and brings new viewers to your work.

Comments. Ask for comments! Posing specific questions will boost participation.

Supercharge Edition CTA's

Visit branded portal. Direct your audience to visit your branded destination site to view all your content in a single location.

Almost all YouTube channels include links in their “About” section to merchandise, social media profiles, blogs, and other content. Many of these links allow new ways for fans to connect with or consume related content from the YouTuber, however the experience is fragmented versus being viewed through a single integrated stream.

Zype allows YouTube channel owners to easily create owned & operated video destination sites and mobile apps with the power to unite all your separate sources of content into a single immersive experience.

It’s flexible nature lets channels include multiple sources of content and metadata, helping increase YouTube earnings revenues as well as providing direct access to your entire audience.

Downloadable mobile app. Let viewers watch content from their mobile devices and receive push notifications from you in real-time.

Zype’s fan app allows you to easily create an iPhone app from your YouTube channel. All you need to do is connect your channel and upload custom branding. You can also link up social networks, personal websites, and send messages directly to users. Time to complete: 10 minutes!

We’ve been hard at work with YouTube channel owners from our waitlist. Sign up now so you too can get early access to Zype’s platform and easy app creator:

http://www.zype.com/youtube-fan-app/

In Part II we’ll look at additional calls to action and share best practices for scheduling new content releases.

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Teens and tweens-focused YouTube Channel Drives Big Numbers 

Congratulations to AwesomenessTV, a YouTube MCN acquired by DreamWorks in 2013, for driving over 1 billion views per month since expanding the brand beyond the YouTube Partner footprint.

"While YouTube remains a key platform for AwesomenessTV, the company is expanding beyond that... [to] Nickelodeon" says TJ Marchetti, the CMO of AwesomenessTV.

AwesomenessTV is yet another success story of leveraging platforms like YouTube to acquire an initial fan-base, then taking it to the next level with a custom platform.

To learn about how Zype helps the AwesomenessTV's of the world achieve this success, go here. 

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Broadcast 2.0 - TV Is About To Enjoy Its Biggest Renaissance in 50 Years

After decades of reliably scheduling when audiences are to be entertained, the linear broadcast model is hitting obsolescence, thanks to technology.

"These are uncomfortable days for network television executives" starts this fantastic article by Ernesto Schmitt of TNW. 

He couldn't be more right, as audiences of even the most popular series on the planet (Game of Thrones, Mad Men, etc) demand more flexibility in their ability to watch programming when they want, where they want it, and on what device.

No longer are consumers willing to pay superfluous "usage taxes," sign lengthy contracts, or let cable companies dictate what content they get to enjoy.

Long live Netflix, Hulu, and the like. Long live owned and operated video platforms. To learn more about how Zype is leading this charge, go here.

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Freddie Wong - What's Next for Online Video Stars

The actor-director has used his star power on YouTube to galvanize his fans and fund the largest crowdfunding campaign in web series history. Now he wants to use that model to take over Hollywood.

YouTube's Partner Program is sufficient for the casual content producer who makes short films in their spare time for the pure fun of it.

But what about those who depend on their talents to make a full-time living through online video?

With the advent of new monetization tools for video producers it's becoming increasingly clear that YouTube, while perhaps the most comprehensive starting point, is not a final destination for stars like Freddie Wong.

We built Zype to help premium content producers expand their revenue and reach with an immersive fan experience. Learn more here.

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Huge on YouTube. What about Off?

Where platforms like Kickstarter, YouTube, and Facebook fall short, entrepreneurs are stepping in.

No matter how many subscribers you "have" on YouTube, they belong to YouTube. Want to send a newsletter? Sorry. What about merchandise? Good luck pointing users off-site. 

Zype exists to give premium content producers a new home, ultimately increasing revenue and reach while improving the fan experience, something every fan can appreciate.