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Emma Approved

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an successful web series must be in want of wider release and acclaim. So, it is with Pemberley Digital‘s obscenely popular The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approves. The indie production company is now partnering with Starz Digital Media to bundle the popular YouTube series into episodes and seasons that can be purchased VOD.

Some of you are probably saying, “Say what?” And that’s cool. We’ve got the low down on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Emma Approves and why this deal could be interesting for the future of YouTube content and streaming.

What are “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries?” And Why Are They Such A Big Deal?

In 2012, Hank Green (as in The Fault In Our Stars author John Green’s brother) and Bernie Su thought it would be interesting to adapt Jane Austen’s timeless classic, Pride & Prejudice, for our digital age. They conceived the novel as a web series shot in episodic vlog format. This would take the Regency-era drama into today’s online confessional age. It also took Pride & Prejudice to a rabid new audience.

The wild success of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries inspired fan fiction, rabid acclaim, and a spin-off book. Oh, and the series has netted over 60 million views on YouTube and over 350,000 unique subscribers.

So, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is kind of a big deal, huh? But it’s not like a big, BIG, deal, is it?

Well, yes. If you consider that an episode of Girls only pulls in an average of 632,000 viewersand the premiere episode of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries boasts 1,728,736 unique views (and counting), you could say that it’s a big deal. And a potentially big money-making deal.

Now, an average episode of Girls pulls 4.6 million viewers a week when you tie in repeat screenings, HBO GO and on Demand views. So, if Pemberley Digital content were to be presented in a way that made it easier to reach non-YouTube viewers, it, too, could make an even bigger pop culture impact.

The series already boosted its viewership and revenue by going onto iTunes, so imagine if it was presented in a manner that was easier to watch if you don’t have internet or the patience to sort through hundreds of YouTube lists and ads. Oh wait, Starz Digital is doing that.

As of this Monday, you can purchase the series on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Xbox, NOOK, CinemaNow and Vudu in seasons or single 15-minute episodes. Seasons are priced at $5.99 (SD) and $7.99 (HD), and individual episodes for $0.99 (SD) and $1.99 (HD).

But I’ve never heard of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries before reading this. Why should I care?

Starz Digital’s decision to sell The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Pemberely’s new series, Emma Approves, is a strategic move to take pre-existing web series and to make them both more accessible to streaming audiences and to make them more lucrative for their producers.

Basically, get ready for corporations to plunder YouTube for great free series, tie them together like television series and sell them to you. So, this is one of those landmark deals that signals this shift in streaming commerce.

…but why would I buy something I can watch for free on YouTube?