I have often wondered how companies like Ustream make money. They have to stay afloat somehow. Are they just looking for a buyout?
Well, Mogulus is trying something new and, quite frankly, it’s a model that I have thought about for Ustream. And that is charging people for pro-level features.
I’m sure Chris Pirillo would like that too much, but he’d probably pay it seeing as his entire publishing model now relies on Ustream.
Mogulus is looking to start charging people for “pro” service, such as ability to customize the player or sell their own ads. According to Silicon Valley Insider, the rate will start at around $20/month and will increase based on traffic and bandwidth. Large companies who depend on Mogulus for live streaming internet TV content are likely to wrack up very large bills when the service starts next month.
If this works out, Mogulus could end up being the leader in a mass migration of live streaming sites into a premium paid model.
It’ll be interesting to see how this one pans out.
David Risley is the founder of PCMech.com. He is the brains, the thinker, the writer, the nerd.
Mogulus seems to always have been gearing towards paying high end users, I was wondering when this was going to start. Its funny how the sites have gravitated towards a particular niche market. Justin and Yahoo seems to have settled into lifecasting/social networking sites with an edgy(read younger) audience with a lot of sexual ovetones. Ustream professes to be in the microbroadcasting (thier nomenclature) of smaller events with some lifecasting but states it is only interested in clean content. So it would appear they are looking for a perhaps more mature or professional audience, since educators and business podcasters seem to have gone crazy over ustream recently. And on these markets wish lists are a site that wont embarass children. So I suspect the dust will settle into niche markets with thier own way of monetizing thier streams.