YouTubers turn to subscriptions and e-commerce as coronavirus pandemic dries up advertising income

Two days before his first trip abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began, Jerry Dyer went live on YouTube to discuss his itinerary. Dyer is a middle-aged British entrepreneur who makes a living by filming videos of planes taking off and landing. Big Jet TV, his entertainment company catering to hardcore plane enthusiasts, has attracted more than 85,000 devoted followers on YouTube.

Sporting a Big Jet T-shirt and hat, Dyer told his fans about his upcoming plans for visiting Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, the third-busiest transit hub in Europe.

He discussed the finer points of its runways and identified the big goal of the adventure: laying eyes on a juicy Emirates 747 freighter. He gestured to a map of the airport. “Just look at that,” he said. “That’s the Dutch – a whole car park there specifically for plane spotters.” Basically, heaven. 

As viewers in the chat room babbled excitedly, Dyer reminded them that videos from the trip would only be available to his “first class” and “super class” members who pay either US$4.99 or US$19.99 a month for access to special Big Jet programming and other perks. “This is the standard procedure we do when we go overseas,” he said.

Since December, the number of people who pay for Big Jet TV has more than doubled, climbing to 4,000 from about 1,700. Dyer and his business manager, Gilly Prestwood, make close to US$20,000 a month from subscriptions, of which they bring home roughly US$14,000 after YouTube takes its 30 per cent cut. “We’ve built a great model,” Dyer said.

Not long ago, trying to charge viewers to watch your videos on YouTube would have been something else – a career ender. The site is the largest advertising supported video portal on the planet and beloved by its more than two billion users, in part, because they can watch a steady stream of music, late-night clips and how-to videos for free.