As I officially promised to release all figures from the FXOpen Invitational series event, you will find disclosed all facts and figures as well as my own opinion of these facts and figures for the first week of the FXOpen Invitational event.
First of all, let me start by saying the numbers we received to the FIS have been encouraging. But from a first weeks perspective they are just below the line of expectation.
Ok so lets get down to it shall we.
Firstly. Income.
Ad revenue: $710.54 Subscribers: 66 Income from subscribers: 66 x 3.493 = $230.54
Total income for week 1: $941.08
Break even: $8500
Remaining until break even: $7558.92
As you can see, we did smash a fair bit out of the required income to break even on the cash investment. The figures are promising for an FXOpen event, as it is our record so far. But in terms of the actual cost, there is still a long long way to go.
The best and most impressive figures that I have found are the following figures:
Video views: 215876 (this is total number of times the video or stream was opened, by anyone including refreshes etc)
Unique views: 132763 (this is the number of individuals who watched our stream during the period of broadcasting)
Hours watched: 96866 (this is the total amount of time viewers as a whole watched our stream)
Note we only streamed for ~48 hours
We ran 300 commercials over the entire weekend, which for us is the most we have ever done in a 48 hour period, that being said, we streamed the most games we have ever streamed in that 48 hour period as well.
Analysis
I actually just got back from Jakarta, but had these facts all over my laptop and I have been looking at them very closely during the time I was away. The numbers are good. Don't let the dollar value fool you. The actual hours watched and the unique viewers vs the video views shows that we had a stable stream with a mid-high viewer retention rate. Each viewer actually watched the stream for a long enough period to decide whether or not the content was relevant to them. Which is basically stating that the product can be marketed as browsers actually spend time observing the product before switching to the next.
Having 132763 unique individuals viewing the stream at some point in time also helps us identify whether or not its the content or the timezone that we are broadcasting the content. (This is also shown by the concurrent views vs the unique viewers)
From my own analysis we could find a better time slot for our main broadcast. However, due to the strong competition in e-sports events, the timezone we have picked is safest to maximize our viewership. We do not want to be clashing with GSTL or the likes at the same time. However, our rebroadcasts allow the viewers of other events to jump onto our stream when that event finishes to catch up on what they missed out. This has shown with our high unique viewer count.
Note: statistical comparison are based on FXO events only and are not representing statistical evidence on the industry as a whole
What I'd like to see this weekend.
From feedback I have noticed that people are generally pleased with the increase in broadcast quality from FXOpen e-Sports, so we are entering our second week with that in mind. We also have some pretty intense matches coming up in the RO16 and LB. These should lead to some exciting games. I am hoping that this weekend we can break 10k concurrent viewers. That alone to us is achievement enough to continue along with the invitational series project. We would also hope that those who were on the fence about subscribing feel that its worth taking the plunge. The prizes are there to be won so it might as well be you winning them am I right?
Finally I want to thank all the viewers for allowing this to be possible and a success. It is truly appreciated. I also want to thank those in chat who have (as always) kept our stream chat at a respectable level where our mods don't have to always swing the ban hammer. We do get alot of feedback about how nice our chat is. I hope it stays that way. Also, thank you to Razer for helping us with prizes and of course TL for their support with the streamlist. Also, Thegunrun and twitch.tv for helping out where necessary with the stream and back office.
I look forward to seeing you all in chat on the weekend.
On January 25 2012 23:12 Eppa! wrote: Is it possible to have EU rebroadcast? 6 am is terrible for us.-
TL is not allowing us to put the rebroadcast in the calender. However, if you see the stream "FXOpen" in the featured list, it is the rebroadcast and will be running for 48 hours over the weekend. The broadcasts are set up to hit the main timzones. So you should be able to get an EU rebroadcast. I will discuss tomorrow with unstable about scheduling the broadcasts and advertising the broadcast time.
On January 25 2012 23:12 Eppa! wrote: Is it possible to have EU rebroadcast? 6 am is terrible for us.-
They rebroadcasted straight after the original broadcast finished last weekend.
Interesting stuff boss, cool to see the breakdown of how online tournaments perform (this, SCI etc). I'll keep trying to drag my sorry arse out of bed at 5am to give you +1 concurrent on the initial live cast =p
On January 25 2012 23:12 Eppa! wrote: Is it possible to have EU rebroadcast? 6 am is terrible for us.-
They rebroadcasted straight after the original broadcast finished last weekend.
Interesting stuff boss, cool to see the breakdown of how online tournaments perform (this, SCI etc). I'll keep trying to drag my sorry arse out of bed at 5am to give you +1 concurrent on the initial live cast =p
A true esports hero right here. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to catch any of this, due to school internet, rather than disinterest, but I would if I could, if that makes you feel any better.
On January 25 2012 23:12 Eppa! wrote: Is it possible to have EU rebroadcast? 6 am is terrible for us.-
I'm in Latvia at the moment and only caught the last half of the live games myself. If you tune in half way, just keep watching to see the rebroadcast after. Some thoroughly entertaining games for sure.
The time-slot didn't really hurt us because of the rebroadcasting. I don't feel the results are bad at all. But it goes to show that its not so easy to break even on a project in e-sports relying on revenue generation rather than sponsorships.
The "live" factor matters a ton in which viewership ceiling you can potentially hit. Personally, I don't see any way for your timeslot to hit 10k, while both EU and NA are sleeping (to be sure, I was convinced you couldn't even hit 4k, and was pleasantly proven wrong). I believe back when GSL still airs on twitch, they peaked at around 13k.
Thank you so much for your transparency. More professional eSports organizations need to follow your example and let the community know how things are shaping up.
Ever since you were the first foreigner team in Korea for the GSTL, I have been impressed with the initiative FXO has taken in their pioneering efforts for eSports. I will continue to watch and support as many of your endeavors as I can.
One of those subscribers is me! It is good to get a sense of how much support something is getting in numbers like this.
The production values were great, the list of players was excellent. The timezone works perfect for me, but then again I'm only one hour ahead of South Korea anyways and so GSL and everything else is usually timed great for me.
I can't really think of anything to provide feedback on. I just wish more people would watch and support.
Mega props for being able to post these figures for everyone to see. FXO is probably the most open, transparent, and communicable team around. You're slowly becoming my favorite team <3
Now that the figures are all up, wouldn't it be time to wash it all down and get prepared for the next round of streams with some good ol' teh tarik? =)
jan/feb are supposed to be the worst 2 months for ad revenue via streaming.. I think those same numbers could generate 2 or 3 times as much a couple months later just by taking advantage of better ads.
Additionally I don't ever hear about incentives for getting a FXO subscription. I think you guys shouldn't be talking about money made from 66 subs but closer to 300-400 AT LEAST. Offer raffles to play with Leenock for 1-3 games, raffle off a coaching session with one of your english speaking players.. give them a seat in a custom game rotation etc etc.
Pretty awesome to post the numbers. I just hope everyone is doing their part to make them grow as much as possible!
On January 26 2012 01:19 iNcontroL wrote: jan/feb are supposed to be the worst 2 months for ad revenue via streaming.. I think those same numbers could generate 2 or 3 times as much a couple months later just by taking advantage of better ads.
Additionally I don't ever hear about incentives for getting a FXO subscription. I think you guys shouldn't be talking about money made from 66 subs but closer to 300-400 AT LEAST. Offer raffles to play with Leenock for 1-3 games, raffle off a coaching session with one of your english speaking players.. give them a seat in a custom game rotation etc etc.
Pretty awesome to post the numbers. I just hope everyone is doing their part to make them grow as much as possible!
We do have reasons (really good ones, at that) for subscribing.
FXOpen e-Sports will be offering a subscription for this event. This will be completely optional and you will be able to participate in the following benefits.
Receive no advertisements on the stream
Ability to chat during peak broadcast time (chat will be limited during periods where we are not able to completely moderate the chat. Subscribers will still be able to chat)
Opportunity to win prizes:
1 x Razer Banshee headset
1 x Razer Spectre mouse
3 x Razer Zerg bag
4 x Signed FXOpen e-Sports jacket of the player or players of your choice
4 x replay packs consisting of 10 replays of your favourite FXOpen e-Sports players. You can choose any player, any specific matchup, or a mix. And our major prize is!
1 x FXOpen e-Sports Korean house access pass (for 10 days, includes inhouse food and board but not travel expenses)
We feel that a good cost for the benefits of supporting the event and the chance to win the prizes involved would be $5 USD for a months subscription (the entire event) Let us know what you think!
A little better than a random game, I would think.
On January 26 2012 01:19 mrGRAPE wrote: Now that the figures are all up, wouldn't it be time to wash it all down and get prepared for the next round of streams with some good ol' teh tarik? =)
On January 26 2012 01:19 iNcontroL wrote: jan/feb are supposed to be the worst 2 months for ad revenue via streaming.. I think those same numbers could generate 2 or 3 times as much a couple months later just by taking advantage of better ads.
Additionally I don't ever hear about incentives for getting a FXO subscription. I think you guys shouldn't be talking about money made from 66 subs but closer to 300-400 AT LEAST. Offer raffles to play with Leenock for 1-3 games, raffle off a coaching session with one of your english speaking players.. give them a seat in a custom game rotation etc etc.
Pretty awesome to post the numbers. I just hope everyone is doing their part to make them grow as much as possible!
If you're a subscriber you actually have a chance to go to the FXO house and live there for 10 days free (travelling is the only thing that cost)
And also they give out signed jackets from FXO player(s) of your choice / replay packs from a player where you get to choose the specific matchup etc. So there is a benefit of subscribing. But for me as an FXO fan I just do what I can to support them
FXO must have a special CPM rate from Twitch. My CSL LAN got about.... 1/5th the ad revenue despite having more viewership and longer broadcast times. Could possibly be less commercials, but I think the only way to explain is a special CPM rate.
Thank you for the info . I'd dare to say that it's fair to limit the stream up to 480p for non-subscribers as it's enough to read the text and people with TVs or large monitors would subscribe since it’s quite cheap. And a second thing – I tend to watch weekend events if I know it’s difficult to get the VODs. If I know that later I’ll find neatly cut VODs in my youtube sub box I tend to ignore the stream (pop in once a day for the adds). Both of these things are generous of you but I think people wouldn’t mind up to 480p for free and VODs released during the week following the weekend. It might help you generate income from the event. I’m not against raising the standards but I expect people would be satisfied even with less.
FXO switched back from ow3nd for this event. I think Twitch agreed to sponsor it, whatever that entails, perhaps its a higher CPM perhaps a prize pool contribution, not sure really as the prize pool has remained consistent since the announcement of the tourney. I'll wait till Boss or Frequency comments on it however.
ah cool I remember reading about those deals for subscribers now... yeah some good stuff there. Don't underestimate fan interaction with games though.. pretty big deal for a lot of people.. mor so than a headset I would think.
Love all of the information you have released Boss. Gives a great insight into the business behind e-sports that few know about and even fewer actually understand.
On January 26 2012 02:19 iNcontroL wrote: ah cool I remember reading about those deals for subscribers now... yeah some good stuff there. Don't underestimate fan interaction with games though.. pretty big deal for a lot of people.. mor so than a headset I would think.
Hey now, I subscribed just to win that headset (and to support esports) and I won it. Don't diss my headset :|
On January 26 2012 02:19 iNcontroL wrote: ah cool I remember reading about those deals for subscribers now... yeah some good stuff there. Don't underestimate fan interaction with games though.. pretty big deal for a lot of people.. mor so than a headset I would think.
You are welcome to come cast a few games if you would like... I am sure it would be fun
I understand what you mean about the player interaction with fans. Its a big thing, unfortunately our schedule for the team is pretty tight right now with all the team leagues and 5 players in GSL etc. I will make the trip to korea to talk to them about possibilities in the future for prizes we can offer.
For now we felt a pass to the team house with food/board covered was a pretty big thing and a good chance for people to not only get practice, but actually get to see the side of our team that I see. The fun, family style that is FXO. Its always a different situation when practice is going on, as you know.
I'm Happy to be one of those 66 Subscribers. But wow, only 66 people. It's only 4.99. And they are some great games to watch.
On a side note, The raffles are only for Subscribers who are "on-line" at the time of the drawing. I can rarely watch live QQ. I would of subscribed raffle or no raffle. But I would of loved to get in on some of that raffle action too somehow.
On January 26 2012 02:19 iNcontroL wrote: ah cool I remember reading about those deals for subscribers now... yeah some good stuff there. Don't underestimate fan interaction with games though.. pretty big deal for a lot of people.. mor so than a headset I would think.
Hey now, I subscribed just to win that headset (and to support esports) and I won it. Don't diss my headset :|
LOL I saw that. IT WAS RIGGED MAN! ...they just gave it to you to shut you up.
If I may chime in, free swag isn't a huge incentive for me personally to get a subscription, nor for a lot of people I imagine. I mean I already have a working PC + headset mouse etc. The chance to win razer swag isn't really something I'm interested. If there was a quality increase for getting a sub, hells yeah, if there were replays or something made available with vods, hells yeah. I understand why you offer what you do for the subscription, I just hope this is some more perspective I can offer.
On a related note FXO is awfully awesome and I love everything they do.
This is a pretty cool thing to do, hopefully as the weeks go on it starts to pick up pace. That would be the ultimate dream for esports when an event can generate all of the revenue to pay off the expenses without as much help from sponsorship money. Good luck with the rest of the event.
For some reason, people from Quebec don't seem to get any ads from Twitch.tv lately... I didn't get one during this event nor during IPL TAC yesterday... I don't even get any during Day9 Dailies or while watching random stream.
Could this have any impact? I mean... if there is 2k or more viewers from Canada and they are not getting any ads...
On January 25 2012 23:34 Primadog wrote: The "live" factor matters a ton in which viewership ceiling you can potentially hit. Personally, I don't see any way for your timeslot to hit 10k, while both EU and NA are sleeping (to be sure, I was convinced you couldn't even hit 4k, and was pleasantly proven wrong). I believe back when GSL still airs on twitch, they peaked at around 13k.
Just wanted to note in regards to the GSL, we don't know the actual numbers because a lot of people use Gom player ([particularly hardcore fans) as well; however, back when they aired the preliminaries without the gom player, they peak >20k viewers.
EDIT: Anyways, I'm a huge fan of the FXO team and FXOpen invitational and intend to tune into every single bit of it. =]
Really cool of you guys to release numbers like this as they're interesting to see. I hope you hit your 10k target for next week, but it'll be tough I think with your timeslot. I'll be tuning in to see MKP win another FXOpenis!
Going to say now, despite what some in the thread have said, FXO offers some pretty awesome reasons to subscribe. I know I stay awake waiting for the day a Leenock jacket maybe becomes mine.
Hey all, not trying to be a stick in the mud but just want to remind everyone that we promoted the FXO event to the TwitchTV front page, which has a history of adding 10's of thousands of uniques within a short hour or two.
This is important in the overall revenue calculations because promoted views do not receive advertisements and do not generate ad-revenue. This comes into play for both CSL and FXO, but Xeris I think its a bit more relevant for you cuz we had you promoted for a good portion of the CSL event.
I really don't know why more people don't watch the event. Good casters, top quality games, excellent player list, and excellent production. Also, only 66 subs means a great chance to win stuff. 1+% chance to win 10 days in FXO house is cool. Also, it's awesome that Boss posted the numbers, I hope after this thread more people will watch and sub so that we can get more in the future.
P.S. Early congrats to marineking for winning FXO invitational series #5!
I'm not sure I can adequately explain why but I don't really watch any team organised tournament. I'd much rather watch tournaments that are independently organised either because I just may not be a fan of the particular host team or just that a lot of the time the hosts put all their team in it automatically. The exception for me was the EG masters team tournament just because there was no alternative team tourney at the time.
Sometimes it just feels more like an advertising exercise than a "real" tournament. Obviously these reasons may be irrational and I haven't given it a great deal of thought anyway but never the less I just don't enjoy them as much.
I'm Happy to be one of those 66 Subscribers. But wow, only 66 people. It's only 4.99. And they are some great games to watch.
On a side note, The raffles are only for Subscribers who are "on-line" at the time of the drawing. I can rarely watch live QQ. I would of subscribed raffle or no raffle. But I would of loved to get in on some of that raffle action too somehow.
Hey,
We actually don't require you to be on-line at the time of the drawing. We have a complete list of subscribers Twitch.tv accounts thanks to twitch's awesome system. If your not on-line we will contact you
On January 26 2012 01:19 mrGRAPE wrote: Now that the figures are all up, wouldn't it be time to wash it all down and get prepared for the next round of streams with some good ol' teh tarik? =)
@FXOboss
Whats with the tek tarik obsession? Haha
It's a really awesome drink that will perk and sharpen your senses when prepared by a skilled brewer - or a regular hot drink machine.
I'm Happy to be one of those 66 Subscribers. But wow, only 66 people. It's only 4.99. And they are some great games to watch.
On a side note, The raffles are only for Subscribers who are "on-line" at the time of the drawing. I can rarely watch live QQ. I would of subscribed raffle or no raffle. But I would of loved to get in on some of that raffle action too somehow.
Hey,
We actually don't require you to be on-line at the time of the drawing. We have a complete list of subscribers Twitch.tv accounts thanks to twitch's awesome system. If your not on-line we will contact you
Sorry, I must of misheard the casters then. But cool bean knowing I had a 1 in 66 chance of winning lol.
On January 26 2012 10:22 Chexx wrote: Interesting to see the figures. Please keep the picture in picture feature that was awesome! 8500$ production costs incl. prizes?
Yes, the 5k prize + production costs for the event. If someone wants to cover the prize they are more than welcome ^_^
This invitational event is definitely one of my favorite new tournaments. The major highlights of course are the great players and the format. I also like the feel of the overall production mostly due to the FXO team bumpers telling us we're watching FXO TV. If I had one complaint I'd say that said bumpers are a bit lower in production quality than they should be (probably due to whatever camera was used, but I'm not an expert on that kind of thing).
Anyway, I'll keep watching as long as you guys keep streaming.
On January 26 2012 06:32 FishStix wrote: Hey all, not trying to be a stick in the mud but just want to remind everyone that we promoted the FXO event to the TwitchTV front page, which has a history of adding 10's of thousands of uniques within a short hour or two.
This is important in the overall revenue calculations because promoted views do not receive advertisements and do not generate ad-revenue. This comes into play for both CSL and FXO, but Xeris I think its a bit more relevant for you cuz we had you promoted for a good portion of the CSL event.
On January 26 2012 06:42 ampson wrote: I really don't know why more people don't watch the event. Good casters, top quality games, excellent player list, and excellent production. Also, only 66 subs means a great chance to win stuff. 1+% chance to win 10 days in FXO house is cool. Also, it's awesome that Boss posted the numbers, I hope after this thread more people will watch and sub so that we can get more in the future.
P.S. Early congrats to marineking for winning FXO invitational series #5!
Can only speak for myself and everything sounds/sounded awesome but I simple didn't know that the tournament was actually going on for some reason.
On January 26 2012 01:46 FXOpen wrote: I am unsure of your CSL LAN. But we broadcast for 48 hours straight.
Ooh, welp that could be it then, but still I'd imagine you guys have a higher CPM rate than the avg featured stream. Could be wrong tho
I wonder if the higher-than-expected CPM can be a result of that 24-hour ad cycle as explained by Kevin previously,
On January 05 2012 09:36 vinlin wrote: - Frequency Cap - High paying advertisers usually only allow companies to show their ad 1-3 times per day to a unique viewer. This is to prevent over-exposure of their brand and ensure higher performance. Frequency caps can be as low as none (as in they will allow a company to show their ad as many times as possible) or 1 per day. The ones you see over and over are usually the lower paying CPM ads.
Since FXOpenIS is generally the first show of the day for most viewers. Perhaps they get a higher than normal share of the high value CPMs compared to the CSL lan?
I think an update will be great now that the MLG drama is raging on So please FXOBOSS if you would share the final numbers now that the tournament is over.
i think you should just double the commercials. so long as you ran them next to each other i dont thinks its a big deal. especially with all this talk about ppv that s going on now, with jedriths rant and MLG, i think you could get away with it. if you end up making more than you need to then you can always show less commercials later on in the series.
One reason why the commercial pause far exceeds any commercial length is the delay from resolution transcoding. Every layer of resolution downscaling (1080p 720p 480p 360p 240p) result in several seconds delay (in a chain, that can be up to half a minute), while ads are triggered instantenously. If a broadcaster is not careful on when he runs a commercial, he can easily cut off the end game or game start of some viewing segment.
EPT
