Subscription billing model is the best suit for online subscription businesses to monetize content. Engaging content with subscription billing provides significant benefits to consumers. Read how CuriosityStream uses subscription billing platform to serve its consumers with benefits while increasing online revenue.

1. 1
How the founder of
the Discovery
Channel used
Subscription Billing
and quality content
to avoid Ads
© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.

2. 2
How the founder of the Discovery Channel used
Subscription Billing and quality content to avoid Ads
© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.
One content provider found great success switching from television to online content on
a subscription billing model. John Hendricks first began his foray into video with the
Discovery Channel, which launched in 1982. Hendricks eventually became chairman of
the network's parent company Discovery Communications before leaving for a new
project in spring 2014. That venture, CuriosityStream, launched in March 2015.
Streaming science to consumers
Sometimes referred to as the Netflix for documentaries, CuriosityStream provides
informative videos on a subscription billing platform, The Los Angeles Times reported.
The service started with 600 feature-length documentaries, series and short clips on
history, science and technology. According to Hendricks, CuriosityStream's content is
aimed for an audience that widely varies in age and level of education. He wants anyone
interested in learning to be able to comprehend the videos on his streaming network.
The cost of science
What's remarkable about CuriosityStream is how the service merges a quality product
with an attractive price on an online subscription business model. Consumers get their
first month free, then pay either $2.99 for standard definition picture quality or $5.99 for
high definition – a much cheaper price than the competition.

3. 3© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.
CuriosityStream's subscription billing model offers two price points based on quality.

4. 4© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.
Netflix begins at approximately $9 per month, while HBO Now costs $15 and has a
significantly smaller library. One might assume CuriosityStream makes up for the
difference in price with paid advertising, but the service runs ad-free.
How is this possible? According to Hendricks, it's all in the content. He told The L.A.
Times that creating a nonfiction documentary is one-fourth to one-sixth the cost of
developing a dramatic, scripted movie or series. He also develops the service's original
content in Maryland as opposed to Los Angeles. This way, Hendricks has easier access
to the scientific and historical experts who frequent Washington, D.C.
Combining subscription billing, inexpensive but quality content and an ad-free experience
worked well for the company. According to Multichannel News, one official said the
service saw a 20 percent growth in subscribers week-over-week a few months after
launch. CuriosityStream was so popular and profitable it was able to debut internationally
by August 2015. Consumers outside the U.S. only paid a dollar more for access.
"Unlocking all of this incredible content for worldwide viewers to easily access and enjoy
is our ultimate goal," CuriosityStream President Elizabeth North said in a statement,
Multichannel News reported. "We saw an opportunity in the marketplace to offer high
quality programs that are mobile-friendly and appeal to a wide audience hungry for
science, nature and history programming."

5. 5© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.
Combining subscription billing with content consumers want
While Hendricks told The L.A. Times his service wasn't designed to compete with Netflix
or Discovery, there's no denying CuriosityStream makes the most of consumers'
modern-day obsessions with OTT content and riveting nonfiction. Considering the
success of the Netflix original programming "Making a Murder" and Neil deGrasse
Tyson's "Cosmos," it's clear there's a market for thought-provoking documentaries.
Mixing engaging content with subscription billing provides benefits consumers simply
can't ignore. When Curiosity stream divided the pricing structure by the quality of
streaming video, it gave users a choice in payments while still providing the content they
wanted. Budget-conscious viewers get the same videos with a slight sacrifice in quality,
but the cost of high-quality streams is reasonable and encourages users to upgrade.

6. 6© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.
About the Author: Bryta Schulz
Bryta joined Vindicia in 2013 and serves as Senior Vice
President of Marketing. She is responsible for building brand
awareness, creating go-to-market strategy and promotion, and
driving growth. With over a decade of executive level marketing,
product management and PR experience, Bryta has led
marketing teams in enterprise technology and SaaS companies.
Her experience includes heading product marketing at GoGrid,
PGP, RSA and Symantec and business development and
product management positions at Xcert, Thales, and
Persistence Software. Bryta holds a MA in Translation from the
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and an MBA from the
University of Reutlingen.
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© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.