The 800 Pound Gorilla in the Room

How One Comedy Label is Disrupting the D2C Media Space with On-Demand Streaming

800 Pound Gorilla Media Groupis the world's largest comedy label, producing specials from some of the biggest names in stand-up comedy, like Kelsey Cook, Matt Braunger, and Drew Lynch.

They’ve long relied on traditional video platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and Moment House to distribute recorded shows or host live streams, but realized the opportunity to provide content directly to fans through a property they own, maintain, and can directly monetize – their website.

Evaluating solutions

The team prioritized finding a platform that was flexible enough to offer both pay-per-view (PPV) and on-demand content – and could offer various monetization options.

That's when they discovered Single's Video on Demand product for Shopify, which makes it easy to integrate both pay-per-view and on-demand content into any online storefront on Shopify.

Content is sold just like any other product, except unlike purchasing a physical product that is delivered by mail, customers access it directly on their device – for free, through rentals, as a paid purchase, or even behind a membership for subscription-based content (like Netflix or Amazon Prime).

The 800 pound solution

The team at 800 Pound Gorilla chose Single to set up their shop with various video options – viewers can watch specials for free, directly from the home page (using Single's easy-to-use video blocks for Shopify) or buy, rent, and watch specials right from their webstore.

The beauty for 800 Pound Gorilla is the ability to bring fans to one single place - and customize the experience with their own branding, pricing, and payment options. As an added bonus, they can place official merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, phone cases) below the videos, which increases product sales.

A new standard for content delivery:

By moving to Single, 800 Pound Gorilla can package and deliver their content however they want. Now, their shop is not only a great place to purchase merch and stream content; it also offers a variety of free specialsfor viewers to then discover new specials or comedians and cast content to any device.

The team also leverages Single's Video on Demand product to boost in-store and streaming sales, providing fans with exclusive on-demand content before it's available elsewhere.

“Single’s Video on Demand product has changed how we distribute and monetize our content. Our ability to provide both pay-per-view and on-demand options allows us to give our audience their own experience while still directly supporting our label and comedians,” said Ian Adkins, Founding Member at 800PGM. “Plus, we can easily sell merch along with our content with Single, making our shop the ultimate destination for everything related to comedy.”