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Dropout (streaming service)
Dropout (stylized as :DROPOUT) is an American comedy subscription streaming service run by the production company of the same name (formerly CollegeHumor), founded in September 2018. Its ad-free original shows are mainly composed of live play, such as Dimension 20 hosted by Brennan Lee Mulligan, and improv comedy and panel shows like Game Changer, Make Some Noise (both hosted by Dropout owner and CEO Sam Reich), and Very Important People hosted by Vic Michaelis. Dropout's series often feature a rotating cast of regular comedians and performers.
Originally founded in 1999 by Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen, then-independent website CollegeHumor was acquired by holding media and entertainment company IAC in August 2006. CollegeHumor's work originally only included editorial articles, but eventually expanded to include online video and development and production of TV shows. In 2013, the video production CollegeHumor team moved to Los Angeles to continue to create online and traditional video consisting of shows like Adam Ruins Everything and Hot Date as well as sketch and short-form comedy on its YouTube channel. However, ad revenue became increasingly scarce, with YouTube's unfavorable ad rates and an ongoing risk of CollegeHumor's content being demonetized on the platform, as well as Facebook's inflated viewership numbers not bringing in anticipated ad sales.
In the mid-2010s, CollegeHumor syndicated its content to various companies, including Condé Nast Entertainment, DailyMotion, Samsung, Vessel, and Watchable. CollegeHumor subsidiary Big Breakfast signed a deal with Verizon's go90 streaming service in 2015, which included the show Fatal Decision and a commitment of ten video clips per month for the platform. During this time, Shane Rahmani served as CollegeHumor's general manager. Fatal Decision was ultimately released on Dropout's own platform in 2025.
After starting production in 2017, CollegeHumor launched its Dropout TV video platform on September 26, 2018. CollegeHumor's then-CEO, Rich Cusick, announced the service as a "TV-MA version of CollegeHumor" that would "allow us to double down our investment into premium original content, resulting in a bigger, better, badder CollegeHumor." Dropout was also pitched as a way to allow fans to dive deeper into pre-established popular characters and shows from CollegeHumor's YouTube channel. CollegeHumor's Chief Creative Officer, Sam Reich, also claimed that the founding of Dropout was in response to difficulty in receiving advertising dollars on traditional media platforms for mature content. At launch, Dropout announced a mix of scripted and unscripted content, as well as digital comics and chat-story content and a subscriber-only Discord.
Dropout utilizes CollegeHumor spinoff Vimeo as its hosting service. Dropout officially launched native iOS and Android apps for its service in December 2018, allowing users to watch shows and also cast to smart TVs. Comics and chat stories were also integrated into the app.
After launch, Dropout saw that the unscripted and less expensive content both acquired and retained viewers, while more expensive and scripted shows neither acquired nor retained viewers, with the limited exception of WTF 101. Dimension 20 became the most popular show on the platform, followed by Um, Actually and Cartoon Hell. Game Changer, hosted by Reich, would also become a success upon launch in 2019. A year after Dropout's launch, the service had between 75,000 and 100,000 subscribers. Dropout planned to release a new original title per month in 2019, according to Sam Reich. However, the programming slate did not allow Dropout to pivot quickly enough away from scripted content and it was still not profitable by the end of 2019; Reich later noted that "we had a writer's room full of scripted comedy writers. All of us were sort of having to pivot to think about something that wasn't our primary skill set." Because Dropout was in the middle of a $30 million subscription investment, the streamer was on track to "lose" another $10 million by the end of 2019 before it would be profitable.
In January of 2020, IAC announced it had ceased financing CollegeHumor, leading to the layoff of 105 employees. IAC unsuccessfully attempted to sell CollegeHumor to numerous studios and entertainment companies at this time, reportedly seeking up to $100 million for the company; Viacom offered to buy CollegeHumor and its back catalog for $3 million. IAC ultimately sold CollegeHumor to then-Chief Creative Officer Reich in 2020, who transitioned to CEO. IAC kept a minority stake in Dropout, having been convinced by Reich it had the potential to become worth more than Viacom's offer. The deal was finalized in March 2020. Dropout ended production on scripted shows and focused on unscripted shows such as Um, Actually, Dimension 20, and Game Changer, briefly producing these series through online conference during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the July-November 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Dropout series such as Dimension 20, Game Changer and Um, Actually were initially shut down. Reich stated:
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Dropout (streaming service)
Dropout (stylized as :DROPOUT) is an American comedy subscription streaming service run by the production company of the same name (formerly CollegeHumor), founded in September 2018. Its ad-free original shows are mainly composed of live play, such as Dimension 20 hosted by Brennan Lee Mulligan, and improv comedy and panel shows like Game Changer, Make Some Noise (both hosted by Dropout owner and CEO Sam Reich), and Very Important People hosted by Vic Michaelis. Dropout's series often feature a rotating cast of regular comedians and performers.
Originally founded in 1999 by Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen, then-independent website CollegeHumor was acquired by holding media and entertainment company IAC in August 2006. CollegeHumor's work originally only included editorial articles, but eventually expanded to include online video and development and production of TV shows. In 2013, the video production CollegeHumor team moved to Los Angeles to continue to create online and traditional video consisting of shows like Adam Ruins Everything and Hot Date as well as sketch and short-form comedy on its YouTube channel. However, ad revenue became increasingly scarce, with YouTube's unfavorable ad rates and an ongoing risk of CollegeHumor's content being demonetized on the platform, as well as Facebook's inflated viewership numbers not bringing in anticipated ad sales.
In the mid-2010s, CollegeHumor syndicated its content to various companies, including Condé Nast Entertainment, DailyMotion, Samsung, Vessel, and Watchable. CollegeHumor subsidiary Big Breakfast signed a deal with Verizon's go90 streaming service in 2015, which included the show Fatal Decision and a commitment of ten video clips per month for the platform. During this time, Shane Rahmani served as CollegeHumor's general manager. Fatal Decision was ultimately released on Dropout's own platform in 2025.
After starting production in 2017, CollegeHumor launched its Dropout TV video platform on September 26, 2018. CollegeHumor's then-CEO, Rich Cusick, announced the service as a "TV-MA version of CollegeHumor" that would "allow us to double down our investment into premium original content, resulting in a bigger, better, badder CollegeHumor." Dropout was also pitched as a way to allow fans to dive deeper into pre-established popular characters and shows from CollegeHumor's YouTube channel. CollegeHumor's Chief Creative Officer, Sam Reich, also claimed that the founding of Dropout was in response to difficulty in receiving advertising dollars on traditional media platforms for mature content. At launch, Dropout announced a mix of scripted and unscripted content, as well as digital comics and chat-story content and a subscriber-only Discord.
Dropout utilizes CollegeHumor spinoff Vimeo as its hosting service. Dropout officially launched native iOS and Android apps for its service in December 2018, allowing users to watch shows and also cast to smart TVs. Comics and chat stories were also integrated into the app.
After launch, Dropout saw that the unscripted and less expensive content both acquired and retained viewers, while more expensive and scripted shows neither acquired nor retained viewers, with the limited exception of WTF 101. Dimension 20 became the most popular show on the platform, followed by Um, Actually and Cartoon Hell. Game Changer, hosted by Reich, would also become a success upon launch in 2019. A year after Dropout's launch, the service had between 75,000 and 100,000 subscribers. Dropout planned to release a new original title per month in 2019, according to Sam Reich. However, the programming slate did not allow Dropout to pivot quickly enough away from scripted content and it was still not profitable by the end of 2019; Reich later noted that "we had a writer's room full of scripted comedy writers. All of us were sort of having to pivot to think about something that wasn't our primary skill set." Because Dropout was in the middle of a $30 million subscription investment, the streamer was on track to "lose" another $10 million by the end of 2019 before it would be profitable.
In January of 2020, IAC announced it had ceased financing CollegeHumor, leading to the layoff of 105 employees. IAC unsuccessfully attempted to sell CollegeHumor to numerous studios and entertainment companies at this time, reportedly seeking up to $100 million for the company; Viacom offered to buy CollegeHumor and its back catalog for $3 million. IAC ultimately sold CollegeHumor to then-Chief Creative Officer Reich in 2020, who transitioned to CEO. IAC kept a minority stake in Dropout, having been convinced by Reich it had the potential to become worth more than Viacom's offer. The deal was finalized in March 2020. Dropout ended production on scripted shows and focused on unscripted shows such as Um, Actually, Dimension 20, and Game Changer, briefly producing these series through online conference during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the July-November 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Dropout series such as Dimension 20, Game Changer and Um, Actually were initially shut down. Reich stated: