Is Paid for Subscription dead?

Subscription iconBe prepared, this article contains nostalgia!  In the old days, I subscribed to many things, The Beano, Movie Maker magazine, fan clubs and so on. It was a thrilled each month to receive something through the post, almost unexpected and addressed exclusively to me. When the Internet arrived, you could do the same online and there was still a tingle of excitement when an email arrived to announce the latest newsletter or some other content was waiting for you to download.

Of course, that still goes on, but originally this service was paid for up front, not a free subscription.

Now, I am curious;  it seems to be the law that everything on the Internet, and most especially video content, has to be free. I am not including recent feature films and hot off the press television series here, although if you know where to look, even they are available without paying. Totally illegal, I hasten to add.

The reason I ask is that I am attempting to find a financial method to pay for the continuation of the Bald Explorer series. As you may be aware, I have a Kickstarter fund-raiser currently on the go to try to bring in enough money to make another episode. Whether it succeeds or not in achieving this, that will only give the Bald Explorer fan base with one more  programme.  Britain is full of exciting places to go to, amazing stories to tell and lives to discover.  Is there another way to fund the series?

I am curious what my audience think. Would a paid for subscription, in principle, be doable or is the very concept these days objectionable. Would a monthly delivered ten minute mini programme be of interest, available to download privately, and yours to keep for ever warrant a fee of,  say £10 a year? And would anyone subscribe?

If you have any thoughts, please do comment below. Thank you very much.

NB: If you look down in the comments below, Ross suggests a pre-ordered DVD might be a sensible way to fund an episode. I am curious, would viewers be interested in that mechanism?  An episode would be approximately 45 minutes in length, with behind the scenes footage and outtakes. And what price would you expect to pay? Thanks.

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