How's the Business Side Looking?

So we’re about halfway through the slate of new episodes at this point. Thus far I’ve been very happy with the newest iteration of the show, and the Gizmoplex is looking like a fun community-building destination that will only get better as development continues. But as someone with an interest in making sure MST3K has a long life, I find myself wondering how things are looking from a self-sustainability standpoint, since part of the goals of the last Kickstarter was to get away from having to use Kickstarters to keep producing new episodes.

Now, I know a backer isn’t the same thing as an investor, and I certainly don’t feel like I’m owed a detailed breakdown of the financials or anything. But I would (and think others might) like to know, in broad and general terms, how the projections for the revenue side of things are matching up with reality. Simply put, can we be confident that a Season 14 is feasible without another fundraiser at this point, or should backers like me be out there banging the drum to get new Gizmoplex subscribers?

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Lesley weighs in on this over here:

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Here’s Lesley’s recent update saying an update will be coming in the (not too distant) future.

EDIT: Dangit, @MichaelRobertson jumped in while I was looking for that post. Damn mods and their scooters with a lot of mirrors.

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I think regardless of how the Gizmoplex is doing, backers should be banging the drum to friends and other fans. We’re now halfway through the season and I still feel like some fans have no idea:

  • that a new season is even happening
  • that there are many ways to watch the new season, including renting a new episode for five bucks
  • that there are over 150 classic episodes available to stream on the Gizmoplex by anyone, FOR FREE

Word of mouth is the best marketing and regardless of how it’s doing so far, it can always be doing better. So please, talk to your friends about the Gizmoplex today!

And share these helpful, informative links!

What is the Gizmoplex?
Ways to watch the Gizmoplex
How to see the new season

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In terms of some fans having no idea… Tim is your feeling just a feeling or is there’s more to your sense? No judgment at all. I too feel as you do. However I chalk my read up to grasping human nature and the nature of averages and the deluge of distractions out there. I really don’t know for sure. Much obliged.

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Yeah, I feel like you can shout it from the mountaintops that it’s happening and there’s all these episodes for free, and you can rent the new stuff for a five spot, and the echo will sound like, “There are new episodes? $120!? What are we millionaires!? I’ll just pirate the classic episodes for free!”

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This logic is a problem. Something for nothing and entitlement versus working for it. The only cure is patience, persistence, poise, and a powerful argument. There are those you won’t convince yet as Joel said in 2015 “the right ones will.”

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It’s not based on any official data or insights or anything like that. Just, like you, a sense I get from…you know…the nature of people. It seems every time an official post goes out regarding a new episode, someone will comment how they didn’t even know a new season was happening. Jonah made a post a month or so ago on his Instagram about the Gizmoplex and he had good friends messaging him in surprise that there was a new season. And that doesn’t even account for the people who don’t see posts like that because of the algorithm or because they’re not on social media.

I was a public relations major in college and I remember some wild statistic that people need to hear a new piece of information something like eight times before it really sinks in. So…I’m just trying to get that info out there and encourage other people to do the same!

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Well said. Thank You!

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Yes, when I did community radio, during fundraisers we used to say people had to hear the pitch at least three times before they started thinking about donating.

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I think the best way to summarize how it is doing is to quote a very smart man: “business business merger” followed by googly eyes.

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Also, and not that I know what the membership size is for the Gizmoplex, but I feel safe in saying that it’s lower than 7.96 billion, which means that THERE ARE STILL MORE PEOPLE OUT THERE.

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I don’t know how well received the Gizmoplex would be by African Bushmen, so maybe be selective about who you try to sell it to.

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More and more things are competing for people’s attention, at a time when they likely have less and less money for them. :confused:

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Facts! This keeps happening. And…

Ding ding ding! This is also a major factor. We are fighting for eyeballs – everyone making “content” is – harder than we ever have before. There has been exponential growth in sheer volume of stuff to watch, and with the Gizmoplex, we can’t rely on people scrolling through Netflix looking for shows and seeing that we have a new episode out. We have to come up with new ways of connecting with people – both with existing fans of the show who don’t know there’s a new season, and also with entirely new people who don’t know about MST3K at all but who would love it if they saw it.

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Don’t know if this has been talked about elsewhere, but is there a marketing/PR budget to advertise the Gizmoplex to non-MSTies? If so is that taken care of by Alternaversal?

How much would it cost to get some ad buys on the PlutoTV? Talk about a captive audience. Probably a decent percenatge of viewers who, even if they’re fans of the MST3K and Rifftrax channels, would be surprised to find out there are new episodes ripe for the picking.

And I’m kinda tired of those Tide Pods commercials.

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I know the Netflix revival got some Pluto TV ads.

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On my kitchen TV, which is a Vizio and comes with WatchFree+ loaded, I almost exclusively watch the MST3K channel. And there IS a Gizmoplex commercial that runs on that. =)

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What irks me is when people go to MST3K groups asking where they can watch old episodes. It’s always “Youtube!” and “Club MST3K!” Why isn’t everyone’s response, “Come on over to the Gizmoplex and support the creators who are, even now, making more wonderful episodes!”

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Club MST3K is gone now though, so they’re probably going to have to go to the Gizmoplex for certain episodes.

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