I think a model based more heavily on advertising revenue and less on subscription fees would increase traffic and might work out better for all parties involved.
That is what I said at the end of my review of the Momentum Video Magazine premium area last December. If you haven’t already heard, the Momentum Video Magazine is dropping their premium section and making the entire site free of charge. Non-paying customers will no longer see scaled down or preview versions of clips. It’s not that the subscription fee was ever exorbitant by any stretch, but I think that this will no doubt please many that balked at the idea of paying for online climbing videos. Obviously there are still other ways the site can improve (shared embeddable videos?), but I think that this is a step in the right direction.
The change is scheduled to take place starting September 1, and if you have 1 year paid subscription that extends past that date you will be given a prorated refund. No new subscriptions will be taken starting August 1. There will also be some new features added that have yet to be revealed so stay tuned to Climbingnarc.com for more details.
If you are wondering what you will be getting once the premium section is free to everyone check out the free preview at MVM. Also read my review of the premium section from last December (and a follow-up post) for more in depth information.
In November 2007, I wrote,
“Momentum Video is trying out a pay-to-watch plan for its videos. A quick visit to the site reinforces my belief that the viewers should be paid to watch climbing videos. Every minute spent waiting for a tiny grainy video of a (usually) well-paid white guy hanging onto rocks is time you will never have back. I’m not sensing this business model is going to fly”
http://mountainsandwater.blogspot.com/2007/11/hiatus-from-blogging.html
Having posted a number of grainy videos to my own blog, I am more convinced that the words above are justified. Except the well-paid part. Looking forward to the new version of the site however. The traffic will increase exponentially and the ad revenue accordingly. Can’t believe they held out this long.
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Ahh yes, I remember that well Peter. I too am surprised it took this long.
I would argue that the videos are of better quality than your standard google or youtube videos though…at least the premium section ones.
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Good stuff. I think we talked about this, it takes a LOT of traffic to make the subscription model work, and usually you have to build it up before you can even think of going down that road. I’m sure this will work out a lot better for these guys, glad to see someone there is paying attention.
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Excited to see this all take place. I think it was a fantastic idea on their part.
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