Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and co-editor at TechCrunch, Alexia Tsotsis at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2015. Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Over the past couple of years, the online and streaming video sector has seen a remarkable shift in profitability that stems largely from the development of original content by streaming video providers. In early 2011, companies like Netflix began to acquire original content giving them even more of a leg up on cable providers that have been consistently dumped as users deflect to streaming services. Amazon followed with its highly successful Amazon Instant Video service. While Netflix was (and is) largely king of streaming video, services like Amazon and Hulu are gaining popularity.
Original content has played a big role in these companies’ successes, and now the market is a competitive one. The strategy has even extended to social networks like Reddit — often touted as the “front page of the internet” — which announced that it will be venturing into the original content arena starting with its popular “Ask Me Anything” or AMA forums.
Reports released Wednesday from TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference in New York detail how Reddit cofounder and executive chairman Alexis Ohanian described a future for the social network via original series and the launch of its own video division. He emphasized that a video service would expand upon Reddit’s already thriving original content, bolstered by the universal popularity of online videos.
Indeed, what Reddit has going for it is its massive user base. After surpassing 20 million unique visitors and 153 million pageviews in April, according to Mashable, the site is set to deploy a video service likely to top the charts as well. Reddit is already known as the originator of viral internet memes and other content that is repurposed across other social networks such as Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook. President Barack Obama, among other global names, has conducted AMA forums through the site. And its recent look into monetization, while irksome to some Reddit fans and users, seems to be a natural next step for a network with such a devoted following. (What has hindered it thus far is its mission to not clutter up its user interface with advertisements as well as its plethora of graphic content that could potentially dissuade investment.)
While the network appears to be joining the original content bandwagon, it is doing so in an entirely different way. What will likely be unique about Reddit’s streaming video is what has always been unique about the site: its users create much of the content/conversation. The service will be a way for Reddit to further monetize itself, and the future holds many opportunities for content development once its video division is in full swing.
