Fullscreen makes the leap with launch of new subscription service
Over the course of the last decade, with the proliferation of online entertainment outlets, there has been a fundamental shift in how millennials consume media. YouTube is perhaps the most important, but sites like Vine, Snapchat, Instagram, and more recently, Facebook, are also important for younger consumers, who are almost constantly on their devices.
Two of the most prominent players have been AT&T and The Chernin Group, as The Drum has reported here and here. One of the projects the pair has teamed up on, through their joint venture, Otter Media, is the millennial media company, Fullscreen. And the big news out of Fullscreen is the launch of their new, eponymous, ad-free, Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD) service.
The service will, of course, be geared towards a younger generation, and it will include feature films, exclusive content, scripted and unscripted acquisitions and originals, along with content from recognizable creators and social influencers. As Fullscreen Founder and CEO George Strompolos explained, “This is for a generation of young people that grew up with online video and social media. The phone is their primary screen and they look up to an entirely new breed of creators and stars.”
The new service will be available anytime on fullscreen.com and via iPhone, iPad, select Android Phones and Chromecast, and will cost $4.99 per month, which is a bit lower than others like YouTube Red, Netflix or Hulu. Additionally, Fullscreen will utilize its AT&T connections, marketing and promoting the service to AT&T’s more than 100 million customers.
The launch of the new service really illuminates the perceived and real value of this new generation of entertainment. And other major entertainment companies have taken notice, like Hearst, which bought a stake in Awesomeness TV, valuing the company at $325 million, and Disney, which bought Maker Studios for over $500 million.
For Fullscreen, the move is a logical conclusion and it may be a legitimate competitor to YouTube Red. It certainly has the firepower. Fullscreen has 600 million subscribers and generates over 5 billion video views each month. The network includes 75,000 creators, and names like Grace Helbig, Andrea Russett, and Jack and Jack, all of whom are immensely popular. It should be fun to watch. The service debuts April 26.