Notice to SplashCast UGC Publishers
Posted on May 16, 2009
Posted by Tom Turnbull
SplashCast will be discontinuing its free service for publishers effective 12:00 AM June 1, 2009.
We’ve made this decision given our focus on developing our “Social TV” product and expanding our TV application network.
Three months ago, we asked you (our publishing community), whether you would be willing to pay for the service. The vast majority answered “no.” Furthermore, among those willing to pay, the average amount was extremely low. We discussed this in more detail in an earlier blog post.
Additionally, advertising is not a realistic option. We’ve explored several approaches. While we love your content, advertisers aren’t willing to pay a reasonable price to sponsor it [As an aside, this is the issue that YouTube faces on a monumental scale.]
Beyond subscription fees and advertising, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about other, more creative, approaches. The unfortunate conclusion is that continuing our free service does not make business sense (we even considered a public broadcasting-like pledge drive).
We’ve listened. We’ve thought creatively. We’ve weighed the alternatives. We’ve slept on it.
In terms of alternatives, you might check out a service called Embedr. Here is a recent review on the ReadWriteWeb blog. If you know of other services, please let us know.
Thanks for being a part of the SplashCast community. This is a very tough decision for us. We hope that you can understand that, as a startup, we have to focus.
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32 Responses to “Notice to SplashCast UGC Publishers”
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SplashCast is a leading provider of social marketing solutions that gives brands direct access to teens and young adults where they live: social networks.
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Deeply disappointed. Not only in the discontinuation of a service that was reported to be continued “indefinately” three months ago, but in the equally dishonest reasons your giving for discontinuing service.
For example, when I informed SplashCast I was depending on the player to build a pay-service Business Card TV system the reply was great, ‘we may come for a percent down the road’.
When you upgraded the player with ‘chatter’ I wrote stating this would enable a “business chat card” model, to compliment your “social tv” model. SplashCast’s response was ‘great idea, but sorry… we would have to build a micro-payment system and we don’t have time’. Which of course is nonsense as there are free off-the-shelf micro-payment systems available.
So please spare me the ‘we tried everything’ pitch and stop blowing “creative” smoke up our ass. The bottom line is Splashcast wants to pick the low hanging ad fruit by repostioning network tv content through a chat widget.
What a shame. The player is so much more than a TV chat widget. Its like taking a smart beautiful young girl out of school and putting her on the street to hook. She will last as long as it takes HULU, content producers, or another coder to fiqure out how to be the next pimp-ass player.
Don’t get me wrong, I hope it works out for you. And I’m glad you feel you found your focus. Its just that folks that pump & dump usually get pumped and dumped.
Claude, SplashCast is a business. We have to focus. We can’t be all things to all people.
Our Social TV product is a breakthrough. We’ve seen average user session times increase by 50%. That’s a pretty amazing result. We are focused on further enhancements to Social TV.
You can read more about Social TV on TechCrunch:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/29/splashcast-figures-out-that-to-make-online-tv-social-it-is-all-about-the-chatter/
Tom, Social TV is a breakthrough because you tried it. Business TV would be a breakthrough as well but Splashcast refuses to empower me with the tool to try it.
Like work and play, social and business TV are two sides of the same coin. And, as I have the biz site already up and running “you” don’t have to “do” anything but make the player available, on a pay-per-use basis.
I asked you for a rate, you gave a ‘no micro-pay system’ reply. I say I have a micro-pay system you reply… “Splashcast is a business. We have to focus”. O’K?!
I’ll end with a quote from ‘More Than Human’, by Theodore Sturgeon:
“Specialization is for insects”.
Thanks Tom, Mike and so long to the SplashCast player. It was fun while it lasted. But if you gotta _buzz off_, so be it.
Thanks, Claude. If there were a few million other users who used the free SplashCast player as you have, then we’d be able to scale a business around it. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Social TV is a big idea that is going to require 100% of our focus and resources going forward.
Thanks again,
Mike
CEO
A start up is about risk, hard work, long nights, burning cash, doubts, many ideas that fail and few that work. It is a continuing search for the right product and revenue model. It is very very competitive and risky way of life. So once you find an opening, you should go for it hard, with all your focus and all your strength.
I really congratulate SplashCast for the work they have done over the last few years. And I congratulate them for the SocialTV product and their decision to focus for it.
I wish you the best !
Bernardo
We just got the email. I guess we have to move on right?
Dear Tom Turnbull,
I think this is a wise way of doing. But what I ask you can you make an offer for having a payed subcription on the Splashcast version. I need it for my Community College and my students. Let’s say it is about hosting video clips, ulpoding audio, video, ppt, pdf from the pc and use it as a social education network. It is not used for commercial or trading purposes.
Can you make me an offer?
sincerley
Toon Rekkers
Educator of business skills and e-commerce in Tourism and hospitality.
The Netherlands
Toon:
Unfortunately, we will not be offering a paid version of the “free” product.
Hi!
I’m sad that you quit your service, cause
it does what i want: play youtube vids in a nice tv-like flash app .. and sophisticated functions like skip broken vids etc. perfect.
over the years i used splashcast as my youtube bookmark … and now i’m not only loosing your great service .. i loose my bookmarks.
Is there a way to get a dump, URL list textfile, XML or whatever .. maybe by using a special formed URL for a channel …or however?
Thanx and all the best for your business,
thorsten.
Oh my god…!
We just got the email. I guess we have to move on right?
Like many others I am extremely disappointed too in the discontinue of the service… free or otherwise! I did express my willingness to pay when you asked the question a few months ago… I seem to think I saw a survey or something, I cannot remember. Anyway, this has caused me problems because I design web sites for musicians & I use the splashcast player for their video pages. It is very compact & neat. The player you have recommended as a replacement does not have the same optional changes as Splashcast & is not even remotely as good in design. Now I have to revisit all their sites and re-do there video pages with this unpleasant looking thing now!
Thanks splashcast!
Good bye Splashcast…!
PLE.. KEEP MAY PLAYER LIVE
How to subscribe?
@Poorman and others. Unfortunately, SplashCast will not be offering a subscription for our recently shut down UGC product.
Still active my account.Thanks to splashcast.
SplashCast company update via TechCrunch.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/04/splashcast-throws-in-the-towel-on-user-generated-content-looking-for-a-buyer/
[…] SplashCast user base, there was an expected outcry of dismay. But when it finally came down to it, keeping the UGC stuff going simply didn’t pencil out. As such, SplashCast decided to continue focusing on its Social TV efforts where it was gaining […]
I LIKE SO
Are you insane????? You lost a huge marketing oppertunity to put 5 to 10 second video or audio commercials in every splashcast broadcast bar and you decided not to and pull the plug. I hope you will reconsider this massive marketing blunder and will put out another applet that will have advertising incorporated with it. If you dont I will or will.
Wow, I wish I had seen this coming. Is there anyway to retrieve the photos that I’ve loaded up on my account?
HEY! How about responding to a customer service question!! Pretty please!! Mucho appreciated.
Two more days pass by and still no answer. Maybe that’s a part of your business you need to eveluate. It’s not the first time my inquiries have been ignored. Splashcast sucks!!
i can do this all night becues i cant sleep with out her in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love you here my number 601-323-4568 Alicia Keys
Free version is active again..!Thanks….
[…] viewing. One thing that we do know is that their flagship product, a user generated media player, has been shut down. This isn’t a surprise to customers and industry experts. A year ago they started offering […]
Thanks for reactivation!
[…] discussed in previous blog posts, over the last few months the company has had to make difficult decisions relating to allocation of […]
how i create a new account for my?
fuck you splashcast is only shit go fuck your self
we love free broadcasting
we hate you
FUCK!
pls active my free account again