As most of the online video world tries to figure out how to monetize content off YouTube, Rooster Teeth has launched a mobile video app designed to do just that.
The Fullscreen-owned production company lifted the curtain on the new app on Thursday, revealing that it would offer both free, ad-supported content and access to a Rooster Teeth subscription service.
Founded by Matt Hullum and Burnie Burns, Rooster Teeth was making short-form video before YouTube was invented and posting them to its website. The Austin-based company began a subscription service in 2003 to help pay for its expensive web hosting and has kept a version of the subscription ever since. “It was the first way that we monetized content,” explains Burns.
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With the launch of the mobile app, the subscription will cost $4.99 per month or $15.99 for six months. With it, subscribers (called “Sponsors”) get access to all live programming, and early access to features including Let’s Play Live: The Documentary and live late-night comedy series Rooster Teeth Entertainment System, which premieres Sept. 27.
In total, Rooster Teeth produces some 40 to 50 short-form videos each week, including installments of its popular franchises Red Vs. Blue and RWBY. All Rooster Teeth videos premiere exclusively on the company’s website before being pushed out to other platforms, like YouTube.
“We want a unique experience where you feel like you get premium content with a particular voice,” says Hullum, Rooster Teeth’s CEO. “We want people to experience our content and not be distracted by other stuff.”
Rooster Teeth, which has more than 5 billion monthly video views and 3 million unique monthly visitors to its website, developed the app in collaboration with Fullscreen. Burns says the app was a big goal for the company when it joined forces with Fullscreen a year ago. “It’s something we’ve been working toward for a while,” he adds. Rooster Teeth is also working with Fullscreen on a feature-length film, Lazer Team, which is being released digitally at the end of the month.
The app is currently available on iOS and Android devices. Users can try the subscription service free for 30 days.
