How to use Pricing Models & Commercial Groups in an Offer

The most important component of an Offer is the Rights Type and Pricing Model. Generally speaking, an Offer is determined by License Region, License Period and Rights. In Vuulr, the Pricing Model of an Offer is tied directly to the Rights requested in the Offer.

This article explains how Rights & Pricing Models can be used in an Offer. As well as how Commercial Groups can be used for more complex Offers involving multiple Rights Type & Pricing Models.

Supported Pricing Models

In addition to Flat Rate pricing, Vuulr also supports pricing based on a revenue-share basis. We call this Performance Pricing. Performance pricing provides you with the flexibility to negotiate the license terms needed. 

Here are the Pricing Models we support:

1. Flat Rate
2. Performance - By Viewer Count
3. Performance - By Stream Length
4. By Advertising Revenue Share
5. By Subscriber Revenue Share
6. By Share of Transaction Revenue

Read more about how to use the various Pricing Models below. 

Offer Currency

Prior to setting the Rights Types and Pricing Models, a currency must be selected. Offers can be represented in one of several currencies. United States Dollars is the default currency. The currency can be changed in subsequent Counter Offers.

Available Pricing Models by Rights Types

On Vuulr, the Rights Type(s) selected will determine which Pricing Models are available.

Click to learn more about our supported Rights Types and how to select Rights Types.

If multiple Rights Formats are selected, then the least common denominator of Pricing Models will be made available.

For example, if Pay TV and A-VOD are selected, then only Flat Rate will be available to be selected. By Viewer Count, By Stream Length, and By Share of Advertising Revenue will not be available.

Likewise, if S-VOD and A-VOD are selected, then only By Viewer Count and By Stream Length will be available to be selected. By Advertising Share of Revenue or By Subscriber Share of Revenue will not be available

To get around this constraint, Commercial Groups can be used to construct an Offer with a combination of different Rights Types and Pricing Models.

Using Commercial Groups 

A Commercial Group consists of the desired Rights Type(s) and a Pricing Model. Using multiple Commercial Groups allow for a more complicated structured Offer that involves multiple Rights Types and Pricing Models. This is useful in cases where multiple platforms are involved where the licensed content is to be exhibited on.

Most Offers will only need one Commercial Group, this is created automatically when an Offer is initiated. As only one Pricing Model can be selected in a given Commercial Group, we allow for two or more Commercial Groups to be created.

For example, say a Buyer has a Free to Air channel and an Advertising-supported VOD (A-VOD) platform they wish to license a film for. While the Buyer may want to simply offer a fixed price for the entire license (covering both platforms), it may, however, make more sense to structure the offer utilizing two Pricing Models: (1) By Flat Rate, to cover the Free to Air channel, and (2) by one of the performance or revenue-share models for A-VOD platform.

To create a new Commercial Group, at the bottom of the existing Commercial Groups is a blue button "Create New Commercial Group". 

Clicking this button will create a new Commercial Group where one or more Rights Type(s) can be selected and the relevant Pricing Model can be selected.

**Note: All Commercial Groups in an Offer will be represented in the same currency. You cannot, for example, have one Commercial Group in US Dollars, and another Commercial Group in Euros. 

Using Various Pricing Models 

Learn how to use the various Pricing Models in an Offer by clicking on the links below. 

Flat Rate  |   Performance - By Viewer Count  |  Performance - By Stream Length  |  By Advertising Revenue Share  |  By Subscriber Revenue Share   |  By Share of Transaction Revenue

To learn how to use the Pricing Models in a Request For Proposal (RFP), click here.

Flat Rate

The Flat Rate model is the simplest Pricing Model as it representing a firm, fixed price for the offer. The amount specified can be for the "Entire Package", meaning, for the entire duration of the licensed content, be it a Film or an entire TV Series, "Per Episode", if the content is a TV Series, and Per Hour. In the latter two options, the system will automatically calculate the final amount.

Performance - By Viewer Count

The Buyer may wish to pay by performance of the content, and specifically, by the number of unique views. 

With this Pricing Model, the following values will need to be provided:

1. The amount (e.g. $) that will be paid for each unique view.

2. What a "unique view" is can be configured by selecting from 5, 30, or 60 (continuous) seconds of viewing.

3. An estimated range of unique viewers who could likely stream this content on a monthly basis. Providing this information is primarily meant to provide the Seller an indication of what the potential revenue could be. The values provided here are not binding in the Offer and are for indicative purposes only.

An estimated revenue range will be calculated based on the amount to pay per view, and the estimated viewers per month range. Again, these values are not binding.

4. Finally, should the Buyer wish to offer (or the Seller request) a minimum guarantee, one can be set in the Pricing Model. It is not required to submit the offer. If selected, it will become part of the Offer.

A Minimum Guarantee per month or for the entire License period can be set.

Performance - By Stream Length

The Buyer may wish to pay by performance of the content, and specifically, by the total stream length (represented in number of minutes). 

With this Pricing Model, the following values will need to be provided:

1. The amount (e.g. $) that will be paid for each minute streamed.

2. An estimated range of minutes streamed on a monthly basis. Providing this information is primarily meant to provide the Seller an indication of what the potential revenue could be. The values provided here are not binding in the Offer and are for indicative purposes only.

An estimated revenue range will be calculated based on the amount to pay per streamed minute, and the estimated number of minutes streamed per month range. Again, these values are not binding.

3. Finally, should the Buyer wish to offer (or the Seller request) a minimum guarantee, one can be set in the Pricing Model. It is not required to submit the offer. If selected, it will become part of the Offer.

A Minimum Guarantee per month or for the entire License period can be set.

By Advertising Revenue Share

The Buyer may wish to pay a percentage of the Net Revenue earned while streaming the content. This is useful for A-VOD platforms where Ad Revenue is earned while content is streamed to the consumer. 

With this Pricing Model, the following values will need to be provided:

1. The revenue percentage to be shared by the Buyer to the Seller out of the Net Revenue earned by the Buyer while streaming the content.

2. An estimated range of Net Revenue expected to be earned by the Buyer's platform on a monthly basis. Providing this information is primarily meant to provide the Seller an indication of what the potential revenue could be. The values provided here are not binding in the Offer and are for indicative purposes only.

An estimated revenue range will be calculated based on the revenue share percentage selected, and the estimated net revenue per month range. Again, these values are not binding.

3. Finally, should the Buyer wish to offer (or the Seller request) a minimum guarantee, one can be set in the Pricing Model. It is not required to submit the offer. If selected, it will become part of the Offer.

A Minimum Guarantee per month or for the entire License period can be set.

By Subscriber Revenue Share

The Buyer may wish to pay a percentage of the Net Subscriber Revenue earned while streaming the content. This is useful for S-VOD platforms where Subscriber Revenue is earned while content is streamed to the consumer. 

With this Pricing Model, the following values will need to be provided:

1. The revenue percentage to be shared by the Buyer to the Seller out of the Net Subscriber Revenue earned by the Buyer while streaming the content.

2. An estimated range of Net Revenue expected to be earned by the Buyer's platform on a monthly basis. Providing this information is primarily meant to provide the Seller an indication of what the potential revenue could be. The values provided here are not binding in the Offer and are for indicative purposes only.

An estimated revenue range will be calculated based on the revenue share percentage selected, and the estimated net revenue per month range. Again, these values are not binding.

3. Finally, should the Buyer wish to offer (or the Seller request) a minimum guarantee, one can be set in the Pricing Model. It is not required to submit the offer. If selected, it will become part of the Offer.

A Minimum Guarantee per month or for the entire License period can be set.

By Share of Transaction Revenue

The Buyer may wish to pay a percentage of the Net Revenue earned as a result of a transaction. This is useful for EST and T-VOD platforms where transactional revenue is earned on a per-acquisition basis. 

With this Pricing Model, the following values will need to be provided:

1. The range of fee the Buyer will charge to its end-customers for the transaction. The values in the range can be the same, however a range allows for variable pricing.

2. The revenue percentage to be shared by the Buyer to the Seller out of the Net Revenue earned by the Buyer on a transactional basis the content.

3. An estimated range of transactions expected on the Buyer's platform on a monthly basis. Providing this information is primarily meant to provide the Seller an indication of what the potential revenue could be. The values provided here are not binding in the Offer and are for indicative purposes only.

An estimated revenue range will be calculated based on the revenue share percentage selected, and the estimated net revenue per month range. Again, these values are not binding.

3. Finally, should the Buyer wish to offer (or the Seller request) a minimum guarantee, one can be set in the Pricing Model. It is not required to submit the offer. If selected, it will become part of the Offer.

A Minimum Guarantee per month or for the entire License period can be set.