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Kylie Jenner’s channel for Whalerock was the most popular, early figures indicated. Each channel costs $3 monthly.

LOS ANGELES — And you thought the Kardashian-Jenner sisters had peaked.

Following the cut-out-the-middleman model pioneered by Glenn Beck, who left Fox News in 2011 to start his own subscription-based Internet channel and made a fortune, a media company called Whalerock Industries on Sept. 14 introduced four similar offerings for Kim Kardashian West, Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner.

Available via the web and mobile apps, the four celebrity channels each charge $3 a month for access to exclusive images, video diaries and beauty tutorials, among other offerings. (The apps also have limited free content.)

More than one million subscribers have signed up so far, and downloads of the apps far exceed that number, according to people with knowledge of the private data, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A spokeswoman for Whalerock declined to comment.

If Whalerock, which owns an interest in each channel, can keep those subscribers happy for a year — an enormous “if” at this early stage — the channels represent a new annual business of at least $36 million. That figure had some media analysts’ jaws dropping on Tuesday. A few of them had previously questioned Whalerock’s plans, asking whether these reality television stars weren’t already grossly overexposed.

“Impressive!” Rich Greenfield, an analyst at BTIG Research, wrote on Twitter, noting that Kylie Jenner’s subscription service hit No. 9 on Apple’s list of top-grossing apps. A Whalerock technical issue, which was quickly fixed, made early download numbers briefly available last week, indicating that Kylie Jenner’s channel was by far the most popular. Ms. Kardashian West, whose mobile game generated $75 million last year, had far fewer subscriptions, with some fans complaining about the fee.

Notably, Mr. Greenfield was not an initial naysayer. In February, when Lloyd Braun, a former ABC and Yahoo executive who owns Whalerock, unveiled his company’s plans, Mr. Greenfield said, “For the artists who have the chutzpah to break free of the traditional models, there is a huge opportunity.”

Still, these personalized channels remain unproven territory, Mr. Greenfield said on Tuesday. “We’re at the very early stage of this exploding,” he said in a telephone interview. “They will succeed or fail based on the engagement and enthusiasm of the celebrity.”

Viewed more broadly, the early success of the four new channels signals a continued shift in power toward talent and away from traditional media companies. Whalerock’s promise to the Kardashian-Jenners involves turning the tables: Instead of using social media to promote a reality show on a traditional cable network, why not use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to drive viewers to their own channels?

The sisters have said they will continue to make “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” for NBCUniversal’s E! network. But when it comes time for an inevitable new series, that may well be offered through their new personalized services.

Whalerock’s social media-based campaign to drive interest in the channels is only beginning; a channel dedicated to Kourtney Kardashian is still to come, for instance.

Subscriptions are just one way the sisters and Whalerock intend to make money from the channels. They also plan to sell advertising, generate product-placement fees and experiment with microtransactions.

For instance, if Ms. Kardashian West mentions favorite moisturizers — “Click here to purchase one for yourself” — she wants to make deals with retailers to share some of the revenue.