What is YouTube’s MCN (Multi Channel Networks) business model?
http://www.quora.com/What-is-YouTubes-MCN-business-model
from Daniels Quora Post
Daniel Meechan
@DMeechan1
There are primarily two strategies:
1. The MCN focuses on exclusivity and partner a small number of large channels. The revenue from these is usually higher but is less stable; if a partner leaves, it could have a big impact on the MCN financially.
2. The MCN focuses on building a large partner-base of small channels generating a small amount of stable revenue. In the beginning, there is little money, but once the partner-base has grown, the MCN can grow rapidly over a small period of time.
In the early days of MCNs, they all followed the first strategy until AwesomenessTV came along and formed the second strategy by having no partnership requirements at all. Shortly afterwards RPM followed suit and now Freedom (AnyTV) have done so.
Over time, partnership requirements have been slowly dropping. Just a couple of years ago the standard for partnership requirements was 1000 daily views. Now it’s anywhere between 0 daily views and 300 daily views.
Once MCNs have built their partner-bases, many of them target brands and use the audience reach of their partner-bases to secure deals and bring in more money. Some of these brand deals involve managing brand YouTube channels and offering Content ID matching for their content.