Sundance’s YouTube Stream? Not So Much…
YouTube started a service for Indy films at Sundance, streaming them for a $3.99 rental fee. The total take?
The most for any single film? 1103 views.
They’re calling it a success. We’re calling it an example of how online media still doesn’t pay.
I would call that a marketing mistake. I never heard of it until now.
Perhaps it is a mistake, but it seems to me collecting over ten grand in a day of rentals in complete secrecy – and their cost is, let’ see, about 76 cents for server time and about the same for each of several score actors – looks more like a stroke of genius! If it were a public company, I’d buy a little chunk!
I think the results are pretty scewed As compared to a regular studio film that has been out on DVD and netflix etc.
Ummm, let’s see – $3.99 per film sounds like a lot. I already pay for lots of films with my cable bill. Why not try 99 cents a film? Or two for a buck specials? Think fast food.
The reason you tube is getting such poor results, because it has established itself as a free site, everybody is looking for free videos combine with limited attention spans and no recognizable names you get low sales/rentals.