Dropout is a subscription streaming service that Sam Reich bought from IAC in 2020 and grew to more than 1 million subscribers on unscripted comedy. Variety reported that subscribers rose 31% from 2024 to 2025 and that the monthly price rose from $5.99 to $6.99 in 2025. Fast Company reported in 2024 that about 85% of gross revenue comes from subscriptions.
Last updated: October 2026. Subscriber counts come from company statements and press interviews with Reich. Dropout has not published audited figures.
What is Dropout and who owns it?
Dropout is the streaming service and production company that grew out of CollegeHumor, launched as a subscription service in 2018. Wikipedia reports that on January 8, 2020 it was announced Reich was acquiring CollegeHumor from IAC, including Dropout, and the company later rebranded from CollegeHumor to Dropout in September 2023. An AOL-syndicated profile reports that Dimension 20 host Brennan Lee Mulligan is a minority owner.
How does Dropout make money?
Dropout makes about 85% of its gross revenue from subscriptions, according to Fast Company. Variety reports a price of $6.99 a month after an April 2025 increase, an annual price of $69.99 and a higher-priced Superfan tier at $129.99 a year, and Reich said the plan is not to raise the base price by more than $1 a year.
Price terms reward loyalty. NPR reports subscribers keep the price they signed up at while they stay subscribed. Other revenue includes live events, and Fast Company reports Dropout partnered with Live Nation on Dimension 20 shows, including a planned Madison Square Garden date in January 2025.
Reich is also extending the shows into products. Popverse reported in May 2026 that Reich told Variety a Game Changer board game was in development and that Dropout was working on how Dimension 20 would translate to board games and digital games.
How fast has Dropout grown?
Dropout grew from between 75,000 and 100,000 subscribers a year after launch to more than 1 million by 2025. The table lists each reported point.
| Period | Reported subscribers | Reported staff | Source |
|---|
| One year after the 2018 launch | 75,000 to 100,000 | Not reported | Wikipedia entry on Dropout, citing Vulture |
| Late 2023 | Mid six figures | 17 full-time | Variety |
| February 2024 | Mid hundreds of thousands | About 20 | NPR |
| 2025 | More than 1 million, up 31% from 2024 | Not reported | Variety |
| Later profile | More than 1 million | 40 full-time | AOL-syndicated profile |
Reich told Variety he thinks the audience for comedy is large enough that Dropout could grow to 5 million or 10 million subscribers. That is his projection, not a forecast Dropout has published.
Why did unscripted content work for Dropout?
Unscripted content worked for Dropout because it cost less to make and held subscribers longer than scripted shows did. Reich told NPR that Dropout decided to be good at its own thing instead of competing with Netflix on premium scripted programming. The core titles are Dimension 20, a tabletop role-playing show, and Game Changer, a game show that Reich hosts.
Reich framed the strategy to Variety in 2026 as being something for someone, in contrast to streamers that try to be everything to everyone.
What is Dropout doing next?
Dropout is moving from unscripted comedy toward a wider comedy catalog, with Emmy submissions and animation plans. Variety reports Dropout made 11 Emmy submissions across Game Changer and Very Important People in 2026, and that Reich describes the brand moving from unscripted alt comedy to alt comedy, with possible animation, horror and scripted work for Dimension 20.
What can other creator studios learn from Dropout?
Other creator studios can learn to build around formats that repeat, price for retention and keep headcount small. The table translates Dropout's choices into checks a studio can run.
| Dropout choice | What it did | Check for another studio |
|---|
| Unscripted formats | Lowered cost and kept subscribers | Can a show be batch-recorded and renewed each season? |
| Price lock plus a small annual increase cap | Rewards long tenure and limits churn from price shocks | Does pricing reward staying subscribed? |
| Superfan tier | Lets the most loyal members pay more without raising the base price | Is there a paid tier for the top few percent of fans? |
| Live events and games | Extends the best formats beyond the screen | Does a top format sell tickets or products? |
For how platforms pay creators, see How Creators Get Paid. For other owner-operated creator companies, see the Creator Holding Company Index and the Creator Operators Directory.
What is the main lesson of Dropout?
Dropout shows that a small studio can run a profitable subscription service by owning a few formats that viewers return to. Reich moved the company away from expensive scripted shows, and subscribers grew from the mid six figures in late 2023 to more than 1 million by 2025. A studio that wants the same result should decide what a subscriber returns for before it decides how big to grow.
