stage6
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Stage6 was a high-definition video sharing website run by DivX, Inc., launched in public beta in 2006. Unlike YouTube, it let users upload very large, high-quality video files encoded in DivX and Xvid codecs, which could be downloaded easily and played back on over 70 million certified devices from major manufacturers. By early 2008 it had over 17 million monthly unique visitors and 360 million page views, beloved by users and praised by journalists for its 'stunning video quality'. DivX shut the site down on February 28, 2008.
02 / stage6 FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
DivX said continuing Stage6 required operating expenditure, management attention and resources it could no longer provide. The supported reason is the service’s unsustainable resource burden, not an assumed finding about piracy.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Service launched
DivX, Inc. launched Stage6 in public beta as a high-quality video sharing site for large DivX/Xvid-encoded files.
- Spin-off attempt, UMG lawsuit
In July 2007 DivX explored spinning Stage6 off as a separate company; in October 2007 Universal Music Group sued DivX for copyright infringement over music videos posted on Stage6.
- Shutdown
On February 25, 2008 DivX announced it would shut down Stage6 because it could no longer provide the attention and resources required - huge bandwidth and hosting costs made the site financially unjustifiable; the site went offline on February 28, 2008, directing users to a Veoh welcome page.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
On February 25, 2008 DivX, Inc. announced it would cease operating Stage6.com on February 28, 2008, after an exploration of strategic options (spin-off or sale) that began in July 2007 produced no deal.
- 02
The company said the site's huge hosting and bandwidth costs could not be financially justified; an October 2007 Universal Music Group copyright-infringement lawsuit over music videos on the site added legal pressure.
- 03
The site was shut down for good on February 28, 2008 (some records say February 26 announcement), directing the community to a Veoh welcome page.