Hey BV, the problem with streaming at high bit rates is one I spoke of earlier...it's not that surfers don't have the internet speed to stream at 3 mb a second, it's that the surfers computer takes the heavy load on their computer for a stream that size.
So if you were to watch one of my original streams that was encoded at a variable rate of 2 to 6 mb per second, and you were the average guy out there with a decent computer and a cable modem, you would be writing me complaining.
Why? Because you would probably have more than a few programs running in the background. (A lot of people have half their cpu running after they boot up and all the damn startup programs come on) and that wouldn't be enough to run the vids.
When I first did it, I looked at all my vids that were encoded at that "high" variable rate. Worked fine on all my machines including my laptop. So when people wrote me complaining I was trying to troubleshoot with them about their internet connection, thinking that was the problem.
Then, one day, it happened to me! The vid started "stuttering" and buffering. I was in a panic and had my guy checking the server and we were looking at the flash server admin and then pinging and tracerouting back to the server and from the server...But everything seemed to be fine.
Then I realized that my antivirus was doing it weekly "full scan" And that was all it took to take away just enough resources from my computer to fuck the stream up.
That's why you have to carefully tweak out the settings and get down into the 1000 to 1500 kps range. The h264 compression is a world better than all of the compression files we used before.
It took me a couple of months of struggling and then wrapping my head around it. I couldn't stop thinking that the higher the bit rate, the better. But it honestly just doesn't need to be that high. And if you do encode that high to stream, you're going to have problems on the user side as I just described.
By the way, I went out last night. Worked my ass off all week and sat at home trick or treating with the kids on Halloween. So last night at 9:30 p.m. Pacific time I went out to the Red Rooster swingers club here in Vegas and fucked the living hell out a tall brunette with incredible legs and ass. She's a gym rat who concentrates on her legs...but I digress...
Between 9:30 p.m. when I left and 8:30 a.m. Pacific time when I got back home...I have had 7,106 unique hits to Claudia-Marie.Com Not big compared to the mega sites. But that's because affiliates are out there still throwing their traffic at the wrong places
Out of that I had 18 joins, 3 VOD sales, and 31 rebills for a 1:338 ratio and $1,201.82 net profit.
So to get back to the original predictions about the paysite business: Yes, the subscription paysite model does still work. You just have to give them a reason to WANT to be in your members area. Not just some porn vids and pictures that they can and do see everywhere.
I'm pretty sure that BV, Barefootsies, tony404, and some of these other "small" guys are still rolling right along. And they always will. Even BlackVaginaFinder, who has pissed me off to no end with his disrespectful comments to me....he has found a niche and knows it inside and out and his customers get exactly what they want from him.
I think that the above mentioned people are going to need to start protecting their content a little more closely though. The tubes and torrents have just about played out all the stuff from Porn Valley. Niche guys may be next on the list.
If nothing else, at least hire removeyourcontent.com At least that can keep some semblance of sanity and sales to your sites by keeping your content to a minimum on tubes and torrents.
<spam> Any big tit affiliates that I don't have yet...if you want to make good money with a site that retains (and yes Vegas Ken, by protecting the content on a solo girl site you INCREASE retention because the members pretty much fall in love with the girl) then come on over and sign up at SoloSlutCash.Com and start promoting Claudia-Marie.Com </spam>