We’ve all considered Dropout, haven’t we? And I don’t mean the leave–it–all–for–a–digital–nomad lifestyle. (Though, yes, I can’t lie, that was a frequent thought in my freshman year before I realized that changing my major would suffice.) I mean the streaming service that offers a slate of innovative comedy shows for around five dollars a month.
This isn’t sponsored, but I will say, I’ve bought in. More than that—I’ve bought tickets to Upright Citizens Brigade shows to see comedians featured on Dropout perform in Los Angeles, fighting through horrible LA traffic just for an hour of improv. Dropout.tv is a bookmarked site on my browser, and it should be for anyone else in search of an indie comedy streamer.
That’s the up–and–coming thing, haven’t you heard? Communities with a big enough base are launching independent streamers left and right, from the much–maligned Watcher rollout to the slightly–more–sensitively–approached Try Guys transition.
But the niche streaming market isn’t made up entirely of YouTube Channels Popular in the Late 2000s/Early 2010s (I jest as if I haven’t been a loyal watcher of those YouTube channels for a decade). It’s a growing space, one that is dominating your advertisements and app store recommendations and is also bleeding over into awards season mayhem.
Dropout, which developed out of YouTube comedy giant of yore CollegeHumor, is a subscription service that launched in 2018. In the six years since its inception, it has grown from a hosting site for sketch series—like Kingpin Katie and the cult favorite Dungeons & Dragons actual play show Dimension 20—to a slew of different comedy–based shows, ranging from musical improv to comedians lecturing on whatever topic they’d like to, and most recently, launching “Dropout Presents” with Hank Green’s stand–up special Pissing Out Cancer.
And Dropout isn’t content with just being another SVoD (streaming video on demand) service. For the second year in a row, Dropout is campaigning to be nominated for the Emmys. This year, Dropout’s For Your Consideration campaign is in support of its show Game Changer (a game show where the game changes every show) in the Outstanding Game Show category, as well as submitting its host and Dropout Chief Executive Officer Sam Reich in the Outstanding Host for a Game Show category. It is also submitting Very Important People, an improvised interview show, for the Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Variety or Drama Series category, as well as submitting its host, Vic Michaelis, for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.
“[I]f we don’t get a nomination this year, the effort to try will have been worth it, in terms of the publicity it generates alone … This is more of a threat that we’re not going anywhere,” said Reich in an interview with Variety.
Niche streamers can upset the traditional streaming landscape in simpler ways, such as providing access to superfans of a specific genre to a slew of movies that just can’t be found anywhere else. Shudder describes itself as “a premium streaming service offering the best selection of horror, thriller and supernatural movies, series and specials.” It was launched in beta in 2015 by its parent company, AMC, and has since grown as a go–to streaming service for horror lovers. Its budget is smaller than a service like Netflix or Hulu, and its user base is a lot more niche. Shudder, both out of necessity and affection for its singularly–obsessed audience, contains a lot of deep cuts and B–movies—things that are cheaper to acquire and beloved by the people subscribing to the service.
Even if you don’t know much about Shudder, you’ve probably heard about some of the controversy surrounding the use of AI images in the record–breaking Late Night With the Devil, a recent release that Shudder obtained the United States distribution rights to. It has gotten in on the theatrical release game; a recent example is Skinamarink, a movie that, regardless of whether they loved or hated it, people sure had a lot of things to say about. It’s also created Shudder TV, which allows subscribers to watch livestreams together—sort of like they’re all watching traditional cable television.
Nonfiction has gotten in on the niche streamer game, too. Curiosity Stream, launched in 2015, calls itself “[t]he global entertainment brand for people who want to know more.” Its focus is on documentaries and more informational programming, ranging from a docuseries about houses narrated by Nick Offerman to a BAFTA–nominated David Attenborough documentary.
As of March 2024, Curiosity Stream reported having over 25 million paying subscribers—a not–at–all–insignificant number, and one that represents the power that indie and niche streamers are gaining. Those numbers can’t touch the numbers of giants such as Netflix, or even smaller platforms like Paramount+, but they’re proof of a market for those with such an interest in specific nerdy nonfiction topics that they’re willing to subscribe to a service dedicated to it.
In a way, the growth of indie and niche streaming services is reflective of the SVoD model becoming the new cable, with bundling options to boot. But they’re also an acknowledgment of the fact that a large number of people care deeply about genres and mediums that places like the Academy and even the general public often look down on.
These are just a handful of the niche streaming services that are having their moment. There’s a wide range of communities that niche streamers are servicing: Anime fans have been enjoying Crunchyroll for years. The Criterion Channel as a function of the Criterion Collection is the go–to place for “important” films. The attempts at mainstream success from some of the indie ones such as Dropout speak to the growing desire to find new and interesting content shining through a murky sea of mediocre Netflix originals.
Though I’m not optimistic about Game Changer’s success in the Emmys, I’m hopeful for it. It would be nice to see some shakeups in categories like Outstanding Variety Series that have been the same old, same old for years, even if that’s just in terms of what’s nominated. But the show’s mainstream success is beside the point; it’s perhaps even counter to it. The best part about these up–and–coming niche streamers is that they exist for the people who can’t find that B–movie slasher or restored classic anywhere else in the world. They’re sites for community via entertainment; for now, they’ll stay rightfully small, but mighty.
