Small Streamers, Big Business: Inside Fandom-Backed Growth and Industry Infiltration at Dropout, Nebula and Critical Role’s Beacon
variety.comJennifer Maas TV Business Writer There’s a meta moment in Season 8 of “Jet Lag: The Game” when the stars of the unscripted travel competition series are seated on a plane behind a fan watching an episode of the show on the streaming platform Nebula.
Catching a “Jet Lag” viewer in the wild would have been unthinkable when the series bowed in 2022. But not anymore. Nebula is part of a wave of streamer startups that are owned by content creators and cater to niche audiences and passionate fandoms.
The list also includes Dropout (formerly known as CollegeHumor) and Beacon, a tabletop roleplaying-focused service that evolved from the YouTube channel Critical Role (which boasts 2.3 million subscribers).
These outlets bill themselves as vehicles for reaching the super fans of their niches, and they wear their independence like a badge: No venture capitalists or pesky parent companies to answer to.Sam Reich, CEO of Dropout, draws a sharp distinction between his service and a broad-based player like Netflix.
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