ReadWriteStart

Justin.TV's Sub-Sites Are a Surefire Profit Generator

Written by Dana Oshiro / October 1, 2009 3:34 PM / 7 Comments

This post is part of our ReadWriteStart channel, which is a resource and guide for first-time entrepreneurs and startups. The channel is sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark. To sign up for BizSpark, click here.

justintv_subsite_oct09.jpgWith almost half a million broadcasters, popular lifecasting service Justin.TV could probably create a section for clown fightclubs and still have thousands of video voyeurs clamoring to entertain us. The company just launched its first in what is likely to be a long list of sub-sites. Gaming.justin.tv is a sub-site that offers viewers info, events and videos specific to the gaming community. The company is already working on followup sites with music and social channel queued up for the future.

justintv_gaming_sept09.jpgIt's hard to believe that a young man and his hat camera could build an empire like Justin.TV. In just three years the company has gone from a four-person gritty apartment startup, to a service with more than 21 million unique monthly visitors. The site currently serves the equivalent of 16,946 standard DVDs per hour in video content and ReadWriteWeb featured it as one of the top 5 video sites in the world. With the new channel sub-sites, this empire is about to expand even further.

In a blog post the company writes, "Justin.tv sub-sites will have their own promoted content and could include custom features as well...Now that there's a dedicated gaming area, we're free to build new features just for gamers that may not have been possible before."

Last month ReadWriteWeb covered Wikia's profit announcement. Wikia acknowledged that corporate sponsorships on sites like the World of Warcraft and Halo communities were particularly lucrative. Justin.TV is likely to see even more advertiser interest. Video production often requires much more time than the average wiki contribution, and viral video makers are perhaps some of the most sought after customers due to their far-reaching networks. If corporations can get to a sub-site's influencers and gain favorable reviews, then the outreach could generate huge sales growth. Furthermore, given the fact that the Justin.TV's traffic more than doubles Wikia's, it will be hard for advertisers to resist the lure of these fan communities. To check out the first sub-site, visit gaming.justin.tv.

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Comments

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  1. I admit...I used to watch it when if first started. I watched him try to gamble, play video games, and I think they were even trying to hook Justin up with a girlfriend.

    Posted by: BWI | October 1, 2009 4:04 PM



  2. According to Slate Magazine, Google lost 470 million this year alone on Youtube. I'd have to imagine their hosting costs are most of that. If YouTube offered live streaming those losses would obviously be even higher. Even with Sub-sites, I don't think justin.tv will be able to monetize the traffic/streams and turn a profit.

    Posted by: Alyssa Myers | October 1, 2009 9:31 PM



  3. google or microsoft or yahoo will buy justin tv

    Posted by: marco | October 1, 2009 10:16 PM



  4. Surefire profit generator?!

    They have so much copyright problems, no advertising is going to touch them.

    Posted by: Mario | October 3, 2009 8:49 PM



  5. I do not see advertisers flocking to Justin.tv

    Their brand is very tarnished from the copyright issues, porn issues, etc.

    Posted by: Bill Richardson | October 4, 2009 8:13 AM



  6. Google wants a founder with a sweet self photo like this? I think not.

    http://cache-01.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/34/2008/08/justin_kan_before_yale_after_yale.jpg

    Posted by: JTVRules | October 4, 2009 2:35 PM



  7. thanks
    for writing
    .!

    justin tv lately to get out the problems Started
    best for his blog tv

    Posted by: justin tv | October 12, 2009 6:20 PM



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