Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 1 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
The Teaching Company
The Teaching Company, doing business as The Great Courses Plus and formerly Wondrium, is an educational media production company which produces courses, documentaries, and series. The company distributes their content globally through a mix of direct-to-consumer models, such as their streaming service Wondrium.com and TheGreatCourses.com, as well as distribution through third party platforms like the Apple TV app, Audible, Amazon Prime, and Roku.
The Teaching Company, founded by Tom Rollins in 1990, changed its name to The Great Courses and then to Wondrium before returning to The Great Courses. It is currently owned by Brentwood Associates PE and is headquartered in Chantilly which is west of Fairfax, Virginia.
In 1990, the company was founded by Thomas M. Rollins, former chief counsel of the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources. He had been inspired by a 10-hour video-taped lecture series by Irving Younger which he watched to prepare for an exam while at Harvard Law School. He recruited professors and experts to record lectures, with the first courses covering psychology, political theory, and Shakespeare.
By 2000, the company was well-established, with about $20 million (USD) in annual revenue. In October 2006, the company was acquired by Brentwood Associates, a private equity investment firm. After the acquisition, over 6,000 hours of content were digitized, and the number of courses circulated rose from 20 million to 70 million. Sales increased more than 35% the first year and continued to grow at a double-digit pace. The company added indirect distribution channels like Netflix and Audible to their business model in 2013.
The company introduced its online subscription service in 2015 called The Great Courses Plus, which gave consumers streaming access to the majority of The Great Courses content library through a web browser or iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, or Fire TV app. A year later, it introduced The Great Courses Signature Collection, a subset of Great Courses content offered as a subscription video service through third party platforms like Comcast, Apple TV, and Roku Channels.
In 2016, the firm earned $150 million in annual revenue. In April 2021, the company announced the rebranding of its global streaming platform from the Great Courses Plus to Wondrium. Along with the rebranding, the company announced 1,000 hours of new content sourced from licensing agreements with Kino Lorber, MagellanTV, and Craftsy. In 2024, the company abandoned the Wondrium name and rebranded again, changing the name back to The Great Courses Plus.
As of 2021, it included over 7,500 hours of content in the format of documentaries, independent films, docuseries, short-form series, featurettes, courses, and tutorials. There are over 1,200 titles with more than 26,000 lectures.
The Great Courses Plus produces educational video and audio content with the promise of learning outcomes. The Wondrium line of content also focuses on learning experiences outside of the influence of traditional university curriculum and takes other forms of content outside of courses such as documentaries, docuseries, and travelogues. The Great Courses line of content typically features University level experts and professors presenting in-depth learning across multiple lectures. Courses are developed by the experts and the company's production team. Many of the programs' episodes are around thirty minutes.
The Teaching Company
The Teaching Company, doing business as The Great Courses Plus and formerly Wondrium, is an educational media production company which produces courses, documentaries, and series. The company distributes their content globally through a mix of direct-to-consumer models, such as their streaming service Wondrium.com and TheGreatCourses.com, as well as distribution through third party platforms like the Apple TV app, Audible, Amazon Prime, and Roku.
The Teaching Company, founded by Tom Rollins in 1990, changed its name to The Great Courses and then to Wondrium before returning to The Great Courses. It is currently owned by Brentwood Associates PE and is headquartered in Chantilly which is west of Fairfax, Virginia.
In 1990, the company was founded by Thomas M. Rollins, former chief counsel of the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources. He had been inspired by a 10-hour video-taped lecture series by Irving Younger which he watched to prepare for an exam while at Harvard Law School. He recruited professors and experts to record lectures, with the first courses covering psychology, political theory, and Shakespeare.
By 2000, the company was well-established, with about $20 million (USD) in annual revenue. In October 2006, the company was acquired by Brentwood Associates, a private equity investment firm. After the acquisition, over 6,000 hours of content were digitized, and the number of courses circulated rose from 20 million to 70 million. Sales increased more than 35% the first year and continued to grow at a double-digit pace. The company added indirect distribution channels like Netflix and Audible to their business model in 2013.
The company introduced its online subscription service in 2015 called The Great Courses Plus, which gave consumers streaming access to the majority of The Great Courses content library through a web browser or iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, or Fire TV app. A year later, it introduced The Great Courses Signature Collection, a subset of Great Courses content offered as a subscription video service through third party platforms like Comcast, Apple TV, and Roku Channels.
In 2016, the firm earned $150 million in annual revenue. In April 2021, the company announced the rebranding of its global streaming platform from the Great Courses Plus to Wondrium. Along with the rebranding, the company announced 1,000 hours of new content sourced from licensing agreements with Kino Lorber, MagellanTV, and Craftsy. In 2024, the company abandoned the Wondrium name and rebranded again, changing the name back to The Great Courses Plus.
As of 2021, it included over 7,500 hours of content in the format of documentaries, independent films, docuseries, short-form series, featurettes, courses, and tutorials. There are over 1,200 titles with more than 26,000 lectures.
The Great Courses Plus produces educational video and audio content with the promise of learning outcomes. The Wondrium line of content also focuses on learning experiences outside of the influence of traditional university curriculum and takes other forms of content outside of courses such as documentaries, docuseries, and travelogues. The Great Courses line of content typically features University level experts and professors presenting in-depth learning across multiple lectures. Courses are developed by the experts and the company's production team. Many of the programs' episodes are around thirty minutes.
Recent media
Recent media