Video Service Vessel Launches to The Public

Three months after inviting online video creators to join its ranks, Vessel has opened its doors to the public. The company, founded by former Hulu boss Jason Kilar, on Tuesday invited people to sign up for its online video service, which offers early access to videos from YouTube stars such as Connor Franta and digital studios such as gamer-focused YouTube network Machinima. (THR)
Vessel has two different version: A free version, which shows you clips you can find on YouTube and other video sites, and a $2.99-per-month paid service that gives subscribers a three-day “window” where they can see stuff before it shows up anywhere else. Kilar has been explaining his strategy — in short, he thinks superfans will pay for early access to stuff from their favorite video creators — for a while. Kilar says that he’ll launch with 165 channels, and that 135 of them will have stuff that’s only available for paid subscribers. (Re/code)
To celebrate, the much-ballyhooed and heavily financed online-video site is giving away one-year subscriptions to people signing up in the site’s first 72 hours of full operations. The list of participating organizations includes traditional media companies such as NBCUniversal, Fox, A&E Networks, Discovery and major sports leagues. Vessel also will have content from big online-video names, such as networks DanceOn and Tastemade. Machinima is making the fifth season of its gamer-oriented animated series Battlefield Friends exclusively available first on Vessel. Other contributors include Alec Baldwin, GloZell Green, Jukin Media’s FailArmy, Mythbusters, Phillip DeFranco, Shane Dawson, Franta and Ingrid Nilsen. On the music side, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group are contributing. (Deadline)