Roger Fingas
Vimeo is readying a new site-wide subscription service, the interim CEO of the video-sharing platform announced this week via an earnings report.
The company prepared for the move earlier this year by buying out the over-the-top subscription platform VHX, TechCrunch noted. Vimeo's CEO, Joey Levin, didn't say when the new service will launch, or what features it might offer.
He did mention however that the company is in the process of redesigning its interface, which will help unite Vimeo Originals, the rest of its library, and the creator marketplace.
Currently Vimeo makes money through SaaS (software as a service) tool sales, and to a lesser extent, sales of individual videos and creator-specific subscriptions. The new service could be similar to Google's YouTube Red, which offers perks like exclusive content on top of its regular material.
It could be difficult to carve out a niche, as Vimeo will be competing not just against Google but many other streaming options vying for limited consumer cash, such as Amazon, Netflix, and live TV services like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue. Individual networks like HBO and Showtime even run their own standalone platforms.
Vimeo has had some success with its content though. One series, High Maintenance, was picked up by HBO, and earlier this year it received an Emmy nomination for Garfunekl and Oates: Trying to be Special. Levin suggested that because the site already has ways for people to make money, it should have to spend less on funding original content than rivals like Netflix.
Malcolm Owen
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
3 Comments
To compete with Netflix lol.
Paid subscription with content created by users? Do the content creators (aka the users) get a snippet of the earnings? Does your subscription give you more bandwidth to upload more content? Lots of questions here.
More of a YouTube rival surely, Netflix not so much.