Live Streaming- Is it worth it?

[Taylor Wright]

I've been thinking about buying a GoPro or two for next year and live-streaming to try and make some side cash. I have a few questions for those of you who have experience with it.

1. Is it worth the trouble? I know it's around 55-100 per year for a membership to Severe Studios and maybe another 100 for software. Not to mention the money you spend on the GoPros. I imagine it's a hassle to keep it going during a chase day.

2. How much money can you actually make? I've heard you can make a decent amount on higher risk days when which you have over a couple hundred viewers, but I can't seem to find an actual number.

3. Are you able to stream to multiple websites at once? If so, does it bog down your internet connection/ eat up your data?

Obviously I'm not trying to get rich off of it, but it would be nice to have some income from streaming to help cover gas costs or whatever. Overall, I'm just wondering how successful some of you have been doing it, and whether it's worth the investment.

Mods- I wasn't sure whether this belonged in the Equipment section or here, so you can move it if you need to.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Oh, this thread again. I think there was a thread just a few months ago that had the same question.

 

[Larry Bell]

Good questions.....I'd like to see the responses....I too was thinking about streaming next season......would love to make enough to pay for gas/hotel....

 

[Sean Ramsey]

I guarantee you, you will not be "making" any money by streaming. You might get enough back to reimburse you for a few tanks of gas if you have a decent viewership. It's good for exposure if that's what you like. At least that's my experience.

 

[Taylor Wright]

Oh, this thread again. I think there was a thread just a few months ago that had the same question.

I saw the similar thread, but it didn't exactly answer my questions.

 

[TJKLECKNER]

I don't think you can make money with Severe Studios. I know you can with the ChaserTV Revenue Share System For YouTube LIVE Video. I never tried the ChaserTV or Severe Studios paid plans because Iowa weather is boring. I just flip on my free Severe Studios stream whenever just for sh*ts and giggles. If I want to make a buck or two, I will post a video recap to YouTube and turn on monetization.

 

[Matt Tottle]

I've been thinking about buying a GoPro or two for next year and live-streaming to try and make some side cash. I have a few questions for those of you who have experience with it.

1. Is it worth the trouble? I know it's around 55-100 per year for a membership to Severe Studios and maybe another 100 for software. Not to mention the money you spend on the GoPros. I imagine it's a hassle to keep it going during a chase day.

2. How much money can you actually make? I've heard you can make a decent amount on higher risk days when which you have over a couple hundred viewers, but I can't seem to find an actual number.

3. Are you able to stream to multiple websites at once? If so, does it bog down your internet connection/ eat up your data?

Obviously I'm not trying to get rich off of it, but it would be nice to have some income from streaming to help cover gas costs or whatever. Overall, I'm just wondering how successful some of you have been doing it, and whether it's worth the investment.

Mods- I wasn't sure whether this belonged in the Equipment section or here, so you can move it if you need to.

The 100k stream you get for free with SevereStudios isn't really that bad.. They've actually upped what you get, because IIRC it used to be 75k, and for $40 you could do 125k. Now for $35 you get 200k. And don't forget, regardless of your provider, there are a LOT of areas on the plains where you will be stuck on 1xRTT or EVDO-Rev.0 , which tops out at 150k upload anyway.

You also don't have to buy any software unless you have something against Flash Encoder. It's free and SS gives you all the setup instructions.

But yeah, don't buy a bunch of equipment and software thinking you're going to do it for the money, because there isn't money to be made as a streamer unless you are contracted with a network - and good luck with that. If you want to do it just to do it, I know I appreciate the streams, and many others do too. That's why I do it when I go out.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I don't know of anyone who has made any significant revenue from streaming. The rate of return is pennies on the dollar when considering even just gas money. Look up what the various companies pay per viewer minute and you'll quickly see that it's not a revenue source worth considering, let alone shelling out hundreds in equipment to support. I tried it once during a chase here in St. Louis on a day there was no other severe weather in the US. I made $2 from streaming that day.

To copy-paste my take I posted in another thread:

The question to ask is if streaming is really something you want to do. In my opinion, streaming is one of the worst things to come along in the chasing world in terms of cost versus benefit for the chaser. It's all cost (in more ways that one), no reward. Even the service providers don't see much from it. It adds significant workload to a chase (additional camera to buy and pay attention to). Media pays peanuts to use streams on-air (in the rare event they do pick your stream). It chews up your mobile data. Online viewers are generally unappreciative and demanding ("MOVE THE CAMERA NOW!!!" "WHY ARE YOU GOING *THAT* WAY???"). The additional task of babysitting the stream is a liability. Finally and most importantly, other than the 60 seconds someone is looking at your stream, nobody cares.

Streaming has already cost me dearly in making me miss shots I've been trying to get for a long time. I personally hate streaming and will never do it again. I'm amazed it's as popular with chasers as it is! Maybe that's not the kind of answer you were looking for, but just an honest take.

Focusing on building your Youtube channel is time and effort better spent.

 

[Justin Wilcox]

I tried it last year and im done lol. Its just one more thing to take my attention away from everything else. I did however, use it to record just some basic chase footage, as well as my trip through Yellowstone on my way back home. Using the hot keys makes that easy though. I used ChaserTV. Everything was great technically, although it took forever to get my one and only archive. But I think streaming with the intent to cash out just isnt there at all.

 

[Will Campbell]

1. No
2. Pennies
3. No

I had streamed for over 5 years and stopped this year. It became too much hassle and was taking my attention away from the reason I was out there in the first place. We had a sizable viewer-base, and still no $ to be made. We'd offer our media stream to local news networks, and some of the "affiliates" with our stream service that could pick up the broadcast at any time. In the end, it's not something you do to make money; and if you're chasing to make money you're in it for the wrong reasons IMO.

 

[Matt Tottle]

and if you're chasing to make money you're in it for the wrong reasons IMO.

This.
(twenty characters)

 

[Marcus Diaz]

I have a friend who has made good money on a few days before. 5-10-10 he was picked up by KAKE and made more than enough to pay for gas that day. Also some other big days. This was back when TVN had bonuses for being top streamer on MDT and HIGH risk days. But it's changed now. In a matter of 5 years I've seen streaming go from nothing, to big companies making money from it, to nothing again. But now it seems like a lot of chasers are switching to streaming on YouTube. Not sure if you get paid good through YT or not.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Youtube pays the same on streaming as it does on your regular channel videos, about 40-50% of advertising revenue from overlay and pre-roll ads. If you can get a lot of viewers you can probably make a little money, but we're talking thousands of people watching.

 

[Taylor Wright]

In the end, it's not something you do to make money; and if you're chasing to make money you're in it for the wrong reasons IMO.

I guess I didn't emphasize enough that I wasn't doing it to make any kind of actual income, rather I was just wondering if it was possible to make maybe a couple hundred bucks throughout the season to help pay for the hobby. Obviously I'm not chasing for the money. But the general impression I'm getting is that it's not worth the trouble. I need to make a YouTube channel first, obviously. I might still get a GoPro just to have an extra view. Thanks for the info!

 

[Matt Tottle]

If you get a good video and can drive traffic to it, then that is not outside the realm of possibility. However, as far as I know, monetizing Youtube channels is still by invite only. So if you don't have one yet, I don't think the monetization options will be available right away.

My opinion is that streaming should not be your main focus. The fact that most people can do it is a side effect of them already having a data-connected computer in the car already. Since it's already there, it's not a big deal to throw a cheap webcam on the dash or plug in your camcorder/GoPro and fire up Flash Encoder. And as I said, I personally appreciate those who stream - and since I can do it with equipment that I already have, I do it too. But I don't feel obligated to go and spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on equipment/software specifically to do it.