How does GCN make money?

markhewitt1978
markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
edited February 2015 in Road general
I've been watching their videos for a while and they are obviously well made, professional and well funded.

But I always wonder where the likes of GCN, and plenty of other similar YouTube channels get their money from? They don't run adverts before or during their programming and it can't all come from selling GCN jerseys.

Or is their output merely a promotion for other parts of their business?

Comments

  • BillyImp
    BillyImp Posts: 130
    If you produce enough original content that gets x amount of views then YouTube themselves will commission you. Each view is worth something to YouTube because it means they can sell more advertising space. You might be surprised how lucrative it can actually be, although I'm sure they have a few other income streams too.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    I was actually mistaken in that they do have adverts before their videos - I've just not noticed as I'm running that -- add in feature for browsers that we're not allowed to mention but if you're not running it then it makes the BR forums unusable.
  • lostboysaint
    lostboysaint Posts: 4,250
    markhewitt1978 wrote:
    I was actually mistaken in that they do have adverts before their videos - I've just not noticed as I'm running that -- add in feature for browsers that we're not allowed to mention but if you're not running it then it makes the BR forums unusable.

    :)

    Just the seven to nine blocked at any one time on BR
    Trail fun - Transition Bandit
    Road - Wilier Izoard Centaur/Cube Agree C62 Disc
    Allround - Cotic Solaris
  • bendertherobot
    bendertherobot Posts: 11,684
    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/be ... ng-3210608

    It's an interesting topic. Stampy here earns around £100k (average claimed) per month with 5 million subscribers.

    GCN are small fry by comparison, 1/2 million, but could still be doing very very well.
    My blog: http://www.roubaixcycling.cc (kit reviews and other musings)
    https://twitter.com/roubaixcc
    Facebook? No. Just say no.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    My daughter who's into all of this stuff was really excited that I was going to be in Orlando at the same time as these YouTubers were having a conference - she even asked me to get autographs if I could!
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    bendertherobot wrote:
    GCN are small fry by comparison, 1/2 million, but could still be doing very very well.

    I suspect for the main presenters it's most likely not their only income - although given the amount of material they are putting out must take up the majority of their time?
  • supermurph09
    supermurph09 Posts: 2,471
    One thing I would say, is that wherever they get their funding from I hope it doesn't run out, always enjoying watching these videos. I think someone actually mentioned their funding before, I seem to remember it was when the they produced the Contador climbing video, I got the impression that there was a mutual partner maybe from Tinkoff.

    I could be completely wrong here though!
    Trainer Road Blog: https://hitthesweetspot.home.blog/

    Cycling blog: https://harderfasterlonger.wordpress.com/

    Blog: https://supermurphtt2015.wordpress.com/

    TCTP: https://supermurph.wordpress.com/
  • Omar Little
    Omar Little Posts: 2,010
    From what i remember google were involved from the start so i assume that meant access to the youtube partner benefits (which can be very lucrative for some users) from the beginning whereas normally the user would have to build up an audience and subscriber base first before being able to monetise it.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Yeah on searching it does seem that they are at least partly funded by google themselves, hence the YouTube logos on their jerseys. Perhaps as a way to get cyclists into YouTube? It's certainly worked for me.
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    I'm a Big fan on GCN, and fitness blender which is another fav of mine.

    Anyone can make money from youtube and the videos don't have to be that professional either. If you are showing someone something useful they'll watch it. A tiny %age will click your advert, an even smaller % will buy something. But a Vid with a 100,000 a year could buy you your next bike. I think its a great platform and a little bit of pocket money for the content providers makes it worth the fun.

    The girl who presented in my December stretching video made enough money to buy a whole cup off coffee last month ;)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WElIDKxmyQo
    Guide to cheap bike lights Turbo Trainer Vids Play list
    Stretching & Workout Vids
  • MiddleRinger
    MiddleRinger Posts: 678
    Looking at their YouTube site they've had over 76 MILLION views. That can earn some revenue.

    Also aren't GCN and Tinkoff-Saxo owned /funded by a common parent company? (or something like that)

    Video Views: 76,000,000
    Estimated Revenue: $103,360.00 - $258,400.00

    The values above are based on the typical RPM range from $1.36 to $3.40
    It is important to note that this RPM range is AFTER the cut Google takes from Adsense earnings which is 32%

    http://youtubemoney.co/
    ~ ~ How fast is fast enough? ~ ~ ~ ~ Tempo Cyclist - Tasmania ~ ~
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    About £170,000
    Guide to cheap bike lights Turbo Trainer Vids Play list
    Stretching & Workout Vids
  • Rodrego Hernandez
    Rodrego Hernandez Posts: 1,436
    They got a million from google to start up and I think are still funded by them.

    Then there's ad revenue and whatever retainer they get from the products they do PR for and the products they plug / use in their adverts, oops, sorry, videos.
  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    Does Google fund the business itself, or the production of the content for the channel? It would be interesting to know.
    My London Road
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,602
    Ask Phil_S on Pro Race. I think he does the filming and might also be involved in directing / producing?
  • IrishMac
    IrishMac Posts: 328
    They can make a fair bit from views alone, my mate got €12.76 from about 10' 000 views.

    It's not the presenters' only source of income either, Daniel Lloyd is a coach for Dig Deep Coaching and also does a bit of commentating on races with Carlton Kirby and co.
    Member of Cuchulainn C.C. @badcyclist

    Raleigh SP Race
    Trek 1.2
  • lancew
    lancew Posts: 680
    I thought that they were at least partly owned by one of the magazine companies? Research time....

    Montage time....


    So they're owned by Shift Active Media which seems to be a startup of some description.

    http://www.shiftactivemedia.com/what-we-do/

    Interestingly Tom and Simon are on their "who are we" section.
    Specialized Allez Sport 2013
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    It doesn't take much to make money on Youtube. I know someone who started putting family videos on it so family and friends from around the world can see. Trouble is one of the clips was a funny baby video that got a few views. Result at least £800 per month from Youtube. It didn;t get that many views but they still have this nice little treat coming in. Imagine a hell of a lot more views and it will increase.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    I got the impression - maybe wrong - that Shift Active Media were just like the holding company for GCN, basically so they can do other things just without being called GCN.
  • Rodrego Hernandez
    Rodrego Hernandez Posts: 1,436
    Shift is the parent company. They do PR for Colnago, Fizik, Mekk, Santini, OTE? and various other brands that pop up in their videos. Neal Rogers from velonews will fit right in.
  • ju5t1n
    ju5t1n Posts: 2,028
    GCN is owned by Simon Wear, former COO of Future (who used to run this site)

    https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=21386616
  • MiddleRinger
    MiddleRinger Posts: 678
    Rodrego Hernandez wrote:
    Shift is the parent company. They do PR for Colnago, Fizik, Mekk, Santini, OTE? and various other brands that pop up in their videos. Neal Rogers from velonews will fit right in.

    So basically GCN videos are a (sometimes not so) subtle advertising platform for Shift's clients/brands.
    ~ ~ How fast is fast enough? ~ ~ ~ ~ Tempo Cyclist - Tasmania ~ ~
  • chris_bass
    chris_bass Posts: 4,913
    MiddleRinger wrote:
    Rodrego Hernandez wrote:
    Shift is the parent company. They do PR for Colnago, Fizik, Mekk, Santini, OTE? and various other brands that pop up in their videos. Neal Rogers from velonews will fit right in.

    So basically GCN videos are a (sometimes not so) subtle advertising platform for Shift's clients/brands.

    A bit like men behaving badly was for Stella
    www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes
  • Rodrego Hernandez
    Rodrego Hernandez Posts: 1,436
    MiddleRinger wrote:
    Rodrego Hernandez wrote:
    Shift is the parent company. They do PR for Colnago, Fizik, Mekk, Santini, OTE? and various other brands that pop up in their videos. Neal Rogers from velonews will fit right in.

    So basically GCN videos are a (sometimes not so) subtle advertising platform for Shift's clients/brands.

    Sometimes. Companies that they do PR for will get favourable reviews - just check out their list of clients and see how team bikes with them on are handled in the videos.
  • alex222
    alex222 Posts: 598
    As it is all free content I don't see an issue that certain brands are plugged.
  • Rodrego Hernandez
    Rodrego Hernandez Posts: 1,436
    Alex222 wrote:
    As it is all free content I don't see an issue that certain brands are plugged.

    It's only an issue if they disguise product plugs as news or give biased reviews to preferred brands without making it clear that it is a sponsored review.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    They don't really tend to review products as such, except for the occasional mention on the GCN show. But they do have the likes of spotlights on particular riders bikes, talking to teams about what bikes they are running etc which I guess may favour their clients but it would make no change to the editorial if they'd use another team.

Categories