Vessel Goes Ad-Free, Adds Annual Subscription Option

Vessel, an online video streaming service, announced this week that subscribers will now enjoy an ad-free experience, effective March 7. Vessel also launched a

Subscription News: Vessel Goes Ad-Free — Source: Vessel

Vessel, an online video streaming service, announced this week that subscribers will now enjoy an ad-free experience, effective March 7.

But wait there’s more. In addition to this change, Vessel launched a new annual subscription for those who prefer to pay $19.99 a year instead of $2.99 a month. Subscribers also get exclusive early access to their favorite videos. Non-subscribers can still view videos on the site for free with Vessels ad-supported service.

If you haven’t heard of Vessel yet, the video streaming service launched a year ago “to build a decidedly different – and better – video platform for creators and fans.” Since its launch, the service has attracted subscribers from 155 countries, and the site offers more than 300,000 videos from 250 content partners, and it continues to grow. Vessel is currently experimenting with offering full-year exclusive content, but it hasn’t disclosed details about what those might be.

Vessel offers 26 categories of videos, including comedy, gaming, music, science and ideas, geek and prank. Some of its popular channels include:

Minute Science
Unbox Therapy
Clash of Comedy
The TTV Channel
Geek & Sundry
Linus Tech Tips
Battlefield Friends
Element Animation

Adds Annual Subscription Option — Source: Vessel

Jocelyn Johnson of VideoInk who reported on the story isn’t impressed with the change, calling it “extremely reminiscent of the first launch of Hulu Plus” where Hulu said it would go ad-free and then got consumers to watch ads anyway. VideoInk’s sources said that Vessel struggled to sell ads on the site and this is the solution.

Insider Take:

It is smart for a subscription startup like Vessel to evaluate its business model frequently and make adjustments as needed. In this case, Vessel is offering subscribers more – an ad-free experience, exclusive content and an annual subscription option – for the same price or less. This will please existing subscribers and may entice new ones to give the service a try. As Vessel figures out how to make itself profitable, it will no doubt carefully consider its competition including YouTube Red, Spotify and Vimeo in this expanding playing field.

Filed in Business Strategy, Entertainment and Streaming, Industry Announcements, News, Revenue and Sales

Dana E. Neuts

Dana Neuts is Subscription Insider's Editorial Director, covering our daily subscription news as well as member features, case studies, premium content, and reports. Dana is also a writer, editor, marketer and communications professional. Her work has appeared in AARP Bulletin, The Seattle Times, Seattle Business, 425 Business, 425 Magazine, South Sound Magazine, Northwest Travel and more. Her specialties include business writing, community news, senior issues, travel and, of course, subscriptions!