There’s no question that YouTube is a juggernaut when it comes to creating superstars with original content in all sorts of genres, from gaming to entertainment. But this week, Vimeo has made a deal that could see some of the talent coming its way.
The company has formed an alliance with Disney’s Maker Studios, which will bring over a number of formidable talents that will create exclusive video-on-demand content for its channel.
Through the deal, Maker will provide Vimeo with access to its 55,000 creators for distributed content, which will then be put on its video-on-demand platform. In addition, Vimeo will also pay out of pocket for original content from several talents at Maker, which will be released through exclusivity windows throughout this year, according to Variety.
“Thus far, YouTube creators have been monetizing through ads,” said Greg Clayman, general manager of Vimeo Audience Networks. “This lets Maker go to their creators to choose to window content, or distribute original content, in addition free, ad-supported video.”
Maker is no stranger to housing content away from YouTube, as it previously formed its own Maker.tv channel. But this opens up a whole new venue for the team. “Maker is always excited to create original programs that reach audiences across platforms, and Vimeo will be a great partner to distribute new ideas,” said Maker chief strategy officer Courtney Holt.
No projects have been confirmed with Maker just yet, nor any of its individual creators, but Vimeo is hard at work figuring out what to do with it. “It’s a fabulous talent pool to work with,” said Clayman. “Maker has tremendous reach in terms of promoting content, across their network.”
The deal also provides a little more leisure with exclusivity than the previously announced plan with the Vessel service, which came last year. “We’re not saying, ‘Hey, put your content here three days in advance and we’ll charge X,'” explained Clayman. With that, the team hasn’t ruled out the possibility of subscription channels, which would be owned and run by content owners over at Maker.
This should be good news for Vimeo, and provide some strong content as YouTube prepares its own possible subscription services sometime this year.
