How D2C streaming works
The content owner runs its own website and apps, sets its own prices and bills viewers itself. There is no intermediary deciding what is promoted, what the viewer pays or what share reaches the owner.
What going direct gives you
- The full price of each sale, less payment and store fees
- The customer relationship: names, emails and viewing data
- Control of pricing, release timing and presentation
- A lasting asset: an audience that belongs to you rather than to a distributor
What it costs you
- Marketing: you must bring the audience yourself
- Technology: a platform, apps and delivery
- Operations: support, billing questions and content scheduling
- Possibly licensing income, if exclusivity to your own service means giving up a distributor's fee
D2C alongside distribution
It is rarely a choice of one or the other. Many owners license older titles to third parties while keeping new releases, niche catalogs or live events for their own service, and use social platforms for free clips that lead viewers to it.
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