After MyPod launched in October 2010, it reached 20 million unique visitors 13 months later, according to the site’s own metrics. And according to Quantcast, MyPod is nipping at the heels of Hulu for traffic size, making the new entertainment platform one of the fastest-growing in the industry.
In this email interview, Miletsky talks about what a video “gated community” entails, the difference between quality and watchability and how’s he working out...
MyPod Studios (MPS), a new premium online video community that launched in September 2011, captured more than five million unique viewers in December according to the most recent audience tracking data by QuantCast, making it the 191st most trafficked site in the nation, right behind collegehumor.com, blip.tv and cbsnews.com and just five spots behind hulu.com. Additionally, MPS visitors are increasingly viewing for longer periods of time, with TOS (time on site) more than doubling from December to January, and returning more often, with repeat traffic averaging close to 30%, as new content and features have been unveiled.
Further extending its momentum, MPS recently signed five new content partners: Howdini.com, OpenFilms, MotorSport, Grab Networks and Phuneware. Unlike many competing streaming video sites that rely heavily...
It's been a lot of twists and turns, changes and alterations, but after almost a year of preparation, we're almost ready for our official launch. Our 80th Pod has been launched, and we've organized all of our Pods into 10 distinct categories:
Our upcoming calendar is booked solid with an average of 5 new Pods per week waiting to be included for the next few months, and we've been gaining the support of some of the largest online advertising networks in the industry. Just a few small tweaks and a couple of screws to tighten, and MyPod Studios will officially be the latest and most unique video network on the Web...
Of all the hurdles we've had to overcome in putting together the MyPod directory, probably the biggest puzzle has been trying to figure out the right balance between ads and content.
One the one hand, we need to pay the bills. Server space and bandwidth is expensive, marketing costs pile up, and we have employees who tend to like to eat now and then. We don't charge our content developers anything to put their videos on our network, and we don't charge audiences a subscription fee. So we really only have one way of generating revenue - showing ads before and during each video.
On the other hand, we don't want to overdo it, and we don't want to get in the way of viewing experience. The network is filling out nicely, with some really good content, and we want our audiences to be able to enjoy it with as few...
