Maker Studios to buy Blip?

Maker Studios, the Multi-Channel Network (“MCN”), is apparently to buy video hosting website Blip.tv, according to reports

Like all MCNs, the group, which describes itself as “a cutting-edge, talent-first media company founded by YouTube artists”, is essentially a franchising organisation which signs up video producers on contract so that the MCN can offer advertisers a bigger pool of viewers. The video producer then benefits from a bigger slice of ad money and everyone’s happy. The MCNs typically offer help with marketing and producing videos too.

Until now, most MCNs have operated via existing video websites – basically YouTube. Now, Maker has provisionally snapped up Blip.tv which started out as a general video hosting site several years ago but refined its model over time to push original web series rather than vlogs or random cat videos. An ideal fit for an MCN you might think, which rely on regularly-produced series content in order to maintain the viewership and ad base.

The question of what Maker will do with its content on YouTube if it has its own distribution platform isn’t answered but it’s unlikely – surely – that it would remove videos from YouTube and host solely on Blip. Despite the draw of Maker’s biggest stars (cf PewDiePie with 12 million subscribers), axing distribution on YouTube would be cutting off their nose to spite their face. So at the moment, this is a case of watch with interest…

The size of the deal in money terms isn’t known.

There’s more info about Maker at www.makerstudios.com