DJ live streaming and video mix hosting service Chew.tv is in crisis after pirates used its servers to illegally rebroadcast a major sporting event late last year, leaving the company facing a huge bill it can’t afford to pay.
According to the Chew team, despite their managing to negotiate the extra fee down with the service provider and negotiating time to repay, the current number of paying subscribers does not bringing in anywhere near enough revenue to cover the costs.
Sadly, that leaves a stark choice as Chew.tv sees it: Close down the service, convert all its free users to paying subscribers quickly, or find a buyer. The situation is worsened by current investors getting cold feet.
The company is asking its subscribers to vote for the option they feel would be best, but currently it looks like the service carrying on as we know it is unlikely – a real shame, because it offered something unique for DJs (a bit like the “Mixcloud of video DJ mixes”, with a bit of Facebook Live tacked on, and all completely legal).
• Want to help? Chew has posted a blog post outlining the ways you can get involved here.
Do you use Chew.tv? What do you think they should do? Feel free to give your views in the comments.
Phil Morse
