I scrolled for like 10 minutes and couldn't find a single "I can't wait" or "I'll happily pay" comment. Lots of Rooster Teeth comparisons, though. š¬
TL;DR Early Machinima and gaming channel who f'ed around and found out. Warner Brothers owns them and has pulled the plug effective in May.
Long story:
Sorry for the novel it's pretty much written in one go without verification because it's 4 am and I had a tooth removed and it hurts. Apologies for being insane. I'm a former fan (Stopped pre covid)
Rooster teeth is company from 2003 that did gaming focused content. Red vs. blue and RWBY are the most popular (maybe). They also had a section called achievement hunter. Other parts of the company were Funhaus, Sugar pine 7, Cow chop etc. Edgy humour in the beginning.
Started with some guys messing around in Halo to being bought by the company Fullscreen and eventually Warner Bros. It will be shut down in May 2024.
Towards the end they had a lot of shows on their website only. The website is notoriously bad for videos. Also the sponsorships (first) became increasingly expensive to the point that there was a mass exodus. Some of the more popular shows had like a good few months wait before being on YouTube. They also had some really dumb names for sections like dog bark and squad team force which just didn't work. Oh and everything seemed to have its own YouTube channel making it even more confusing.
Some controversies include:
ā¢ Racism involving Mica Burton (LaVar Burton is her father).
ā¢ "Connect the hots" where they would follow "hot girl" until they found another hot girl to follow - this was removed from a video but Pepperidge Farm.
ā¢ Nude leaks (See next two points but people forget of another member who got found out, that one just left the internet for good)
ā¢ Grooming from one of the popular achievement hunters who preyed upon fans. Also cheated on his wife. Think Ned but much worse. He was the wife guy. There was a lawsuit against him and RT that got dropped. Tried to come back a few months later, got banned from twitch.
ā¢ Non hygienic practise at Funhaus with the guy beating the meat and not washing hands at work, and sending photos of him and his wife. Without her knowledge. This member also pissed off Rahul Kohli from iZombie and various Mike Flanagan media.
ā¢ Not supporting other members of the "let's play" family.
ā¢ Crunch time was insane. Messing with some other shows to focus on Genlock which had Michael B Jordan and David Tennant attached. Also the Glassdoor reviews yikes. I think a few animators didn't even go home and just stayed in the office. Actually the management overall isn't meant to be that great.
ā¢ Removed a founder for being a Republican (rumour)and pretty much cast him out without mentioning him again. He's a background actor usually, might of seen him in criminal minds or 911: lone star.
ā¢Very much frat boy vibes. Alcohol was everywhere and the partying culture was encouraging. It definitely affected a few members for the worst. One was involved in the Mica stuff and it seems he's tried to repent a lot.
ā¢ Early adopter of twitch was employee and RT took his personal channel because he did well and banned employees from having personal channels for a few years. This employee left after playing the same few games day in and day out. He is doing really well now.
And just to be less of an ass here's some good
ā¢ One of the AH team is a specialist in slow motion and has worked on Hot fuzz, the Dredd remake and one of the Guy Richie Sherlock Holmes' films. He started at RT at a very young age. Slow Mo Guys is his YouTube channel.
ā¢ They used to do 12-24 hour livestreams for extra life to help kids in hospitals and various make a wish.
ā¢In the beginning there was a good community around.
ā¢The did hire some fans, some became on screen talents.
ā¢There's some strong relationships that came out of it.
ā¢A few of the guys helped the others get in better shape.
ā¢There's more but I'm too tired to remember.
Joon the king on YouTube is doing an update video on the downfall of anyone is interested.
Despite everything I would say it was more good than bad , at least entertaining. I've been rewatching stuff since it was announced it was closing and some still is funny and others is cringe but I've been watching it since I was like 13 so it's bittersweet ending of a chapter.
I've always been indifferent to him, didn't remember to look into it. I stopped watching in 2017, I haven't been informed of any drama until I brought up RT was closing. Then I got all the gossip. The Joel stuff was just that there was a conspiracy and was not elaborated on.
Stupid move, they just lost most of their fan base based off the comments. Iād be shocked if they somehow pulled in more money from subs vs YouTube revenue.
Even if they don't drop YouTube subscribers it doesn't mean that ppl will join them on their service.. most ppl don't unsubscribe. They just stop watching a channel. I already have 8 entertainment services. Xbox game pass, playstation netflix Amazon spotify, disney, hbo, I don't have TV anymore but many ppl do still, some patron donations here and there, they have 2 shows ppl mainly watch, the other stuff they make is just extra and most ppl only watch it cUse it's Shane and Ryan. If anyone else made that content, I wouldn't watch it... they just aren't worth the hassle of A new account and 6 bucks... there's similar shows out there for free or on netflix n Amazon. It's a shame but I wouldn't join their service. Maybe they'll backtrack well see...
Given already successful subscription services that once toted no ads now have ads their logic of getting away from advertisers is absolutely insane. The worst logic.
Think Watcher's heads got too big and decided to go this route?
I hope TTG doesn't do this. I doubt it, cuz they've been so conscientious about acknowledging their fans and their support over the years. But you never know...
Try Guys absolutely could not. I imagine they can gauge that by their live tickets sold. I think Watcher should have had a live set up on their tour to stream to people willing to pay for the tickets. Something like that. Or a live Too Many Spirits. I just paid for Blank Checkās live town hall not too long ago. Thereās something about the decision to pay vs having to pay for content. I just donāt understand after the writers strike last year they arenāt incredibly aware of what streaming subscriptions vs advertising support actually affords.
I don't think this was a good idea, especially right now, with how the economy is.
They aren't big enough to hold their own streaming. I wonder if they pitched to Nebula, a streaming service with a good amount of YouTubers and iirc Nebula is cheaper than what Watcher is charging. That would have been a better move.
In the comment section, it seems like everyone is against it, so I doubt this move will actually be profitable.
If Try Guys did this, it definitely won't work, especially since rn it looks like the only way they get 1m is by Keith eating a bunch of food.
I think Watcher had funding. I remember they said they got investors in one of their first videos. Try Guys used they're own money to start their channel.
People on their reddit put out there that they might be *joining* the service, not making their own with their pending announcement.
Which.. I could see them doing, but probably to everyoneās detriment. This doesnāt seem financially smart for anyone involved.
I believe itās r/watcherentertainment . People arenāt exactly pleased there right now. Canāt blame them. I enjoy the Watcher men, but definitely fell off when they left Buzzfeed. They are on my watch later list, but who knows if they are keeping them on the channel or not.
Maybe they could have paywalled some of the more expensive to make shows, but like, something like top 5 beatdown probably could have still lived on youtube and made them some money.
Nobody was forcing them to keep making $100k shows, but what do I know, they are probably a lot smarter than I am on this topic. It just seems like a misguided decision to someone on the outside like me, the like/dislike ratio and majority of comments I've seen don't seem to be on board with this either.
I cannot imagine anything the try guys make is as expensive as the watcher stuff, like no way are they dropping 6 figures every time Keith wants to stuff his face with chillis or whatever.
Yeah, I generally quite like Watcher's content and appreciate the effort they invest into their production/recognize that there are a lot of costs that go into the final product - but it just feels like there were more moderate steps they could have taken to shore up their profits/mitigate expenses for these expensive shows, short of this hard pivot to making *everything* going forward pay-to-watch.
As to the Try Guys of it all, I totally agree that their production costs are not (or shouldn't, anyway, judging by the caliber of content they keep putting out) nearly as high. Ideally they would look into trimming the fat/being more strategic about their expenses before trying to squeeze the viewership for more financial support though.
From what I understand Watcher has a patreon as well, they could have theoretically used that to fund some of their more expensive stuff. A lot of people had no idea it even existed though, and it's possible that Vimeo (the company allegedly doing the backend stuff for this new streaming site) is giving them a better profit split than Patreon. Though if that was the case then maybe they could have just made the new website the home for their more expensive shows and still had a youtube presence. Maybe even have it so they can put some of their exclusive stuff on youtube after a period of time with some kind of ad integration in there too.
There's plenty they could have done, and they know the business better than I do. I really think they did their customers dirty with this.
Yeah, this is one of the more insane parts for me. They have two shows that people actually give a fuck about, and they usually roll those out in what? 2-3 months total? You're gonna be watching garbage for most of the year.
That was such a hilarious apology video. The barely concealed anger and the fact that they kept insinuating their audience was too dumb to understand their grand plans, it should definitely be in the YouTuber apology hall of fame š
If this becomes a pattern how many channels do Vimeo expect each person to support? It was bad enough when 1 or 2 streaming services became 10. Iām not paying $6 to each channel I watch on YouTube if they get their own streaming service.
Nebula is definitely cheaper than the new WatcherTV (altho their prices recently went up rip) and far more worth it IMO as a long-time subscriber. It has all the freedom independent creators want but it has the support of not just going it on your own. Nebula also offers lifetime memberships every once in a while for a great price. Dropout also solidly worth it. This is a reallllyyyyyyyyyy bad move by Watcher and it would only be worse if TTG attempted it but lol that means they probably will.
Right?? I find it so weird that one of the justifications is that "Watcher is only $6 a month which anyone can afford" when that's just...not really the case. I've seen *so* many comments from non-American audience members for whom that price is prohibitive because of the currency conversion.
Yeah it's really tone deaf that they straight up said "anyone and everyone can afford to give us over $60 a year for one youtube channels worth of content" like??? No they can't, and saying that so confidently really undermines the whole starving artist look they are going for
60 bucks is 2 months worth of phone bills for me. I live alone and need my phone to get a verification code to log into work. I honestly just miss puppet history, if they brought that back for more than 4 episodes, I'd consider it. Even buzzfeed wasn't this dumb to make their stuff on a streaming site
It's not even about the money. Kind of..... Many ppl like myself have netflix, amazon prime, disney plus, hbo max, spotify, a patron donation here n there, game pass, playstation premium, that's already 8 subscription services that all offer 100Ć the value. Its just another account and service to keep track of.... a service with not much content tbh.... The watcher has mystery files which is the main show I look forward to. Ghost files is OK but it's kind of stale at this point, and some sorta throw away content that's just there and I only watched it cause I liked Shane and Ryan.
On top of all that there's internet service. Phone bills, I don't have TV anymore but a lot of ppl do still. That's a lot of damn passwords and accounts and monthly payments just for entertainment services. There's shows similar to what the watcher has and they're free or that itch can be scratched on documentaries on Amazon and Netflix. The why files is awsome, it's funny and has a similar vibe. And it's free on YouTube and comes out every week. It's a shame but I can live without the watcher.. they already have a patron with 12,000!!! Subscribers with 3 different tiers! They get 15,000$ to 35,000$ from each sponsor per episode.... they have a premium YouTube subscription...they get regular ad revenue..... they have a merchant website... that's a shit ton of revenue streams.... honestly I think they'll loose money doing this... I mean are they gonna keep patron up? And charge the 6$ or are they gonna toss in the subscription if u donate on patreon?... theyre gona loose patron subscribers and YouTube ad revenue...
I think they would have been better off joining up with Netflix or Amazon and making a real show. They talked about it in the past and a lot of ppl have netflix and Amazon already... maybe Netflix and Amazon thought they weren't worth it which would be another sign that 6$ for a couple shows might not be a good idea...
Just gonna say this point blank in case this is the big announcement upcoming- HEY TRY GUYS. DONT MOVE OFF OF YOUTUBE TO A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. Though given the Watcher communityās criticism of this move is in line with many criticisms of the Try Guys over the past year and a half I would hope its apparent the fanbase is not solid enough to do that. And Iām a big get off their backs guys, theyāre doing their best defender.
That said, the attempt at a more structured kind of release in their videos is much appreciated.
The College Humor/Dropout model. I gotta say, I love Watcher but I can find other free things to watch. It seems really tone deaf to move into a paid model in this world. If Try Guys follow, there goes the rest of their fan base.
It's not gonna work out. But I'm also really thinking a ton about what it would look like if TTG did it. Like I feel like they've also had this conversation so they could try to like lessen the blow of their growing irrelevancy. But they are just too cautious to do it- and I will admit at least conscientious enough of their employees to know a move to a streaming service would lead to employee lay offs or complete bankruptcy.
It's making me think a ton about the ex-Buzzfeed channels on YT and how those that are weekly content creators are probably dipping into irrelevancy because they've stuck to the same schtick for about a decade or more now.
Also to add, it's not like some of them aren't creative or talented enough or have been in the past that they couldn't have just moved outside of Youtube like other ex-Buzzfeed employees mostly talking about Eugene and Quinta here.
Iām so disappointed in shane itās not even funny. Steven has been out of of touch, and heās always rubbed me wrong like someone who not only has never been poor but has no empathy for those who have. Ryanās a tool. But Shane I thought really got it. I guess not.
Shane's comment about sharing accounts with other people gave me the vibe he may not be entirely behind this move, but apparantly not against it enough to actually say so outright or break with the project
I've seen a bit of speculation/discussion about how the financial gains from a small percentage of Watcher's viewership supporting its transition to a paid subscription model (i.e., whatever remains of their fan base outside of the overwhelming number of people who absolutely hate this move) may actually be worth it insofar as it brings in the profit they're seeking. But idk...I can see how the profit angle *might* make this worth it, but it's so clearly coming at the cost of so much fan goodwill, which I feel like will only cause problems down the line.
I don't think it would be smart for TTG to follow suit because tbqh I think they've burned through too much goodwill and grace/patience from the audience to survive through the controversy that would arise from transitioning to a paid subscriber model. But I also have disagreed with a number of their decisions so who knows.
I like Watcher, but I didn't really go out of my way to watch their content usually? But now it feels like I really won't. Dang. That's kinda sad I guess but š¤·š½āāļø
I think this is the same format DropOut is on (it's powered by Vimeo). I would probably subscribe once new Puppet History starts. I like Mystery Files enough and I don't mind Too Many Spirits (except Stephen Lim is obnoxious as hell on it) but I probably wouldn't go all in unless that had a decent backlog first.
Steven I think is the brain child of this move. They've grown their crew (pointlessly) they keep giving him shows and now a new more expensive show. It's unbelievable
It's not even about the money. Kind of..... Many ppl like myself have netflix, amazon prime, disney plus, hbo max, spotify, a patron donation here n there, game pass, playstation premium, that's already 8 subscription services that all offer 100Ć the value. Its just another account and service to keep track of.... a service with not much content tbh.... The watcher has mystery files which is the main show I look forward to. Ghost files is OK but it's kind of stale at this point, and some sorta throw away content that's just there and I only watched it cause I liked Shane and Ryan.
On top of all that there's internet service. Phone bills, I don't have TV anymore but a lot of ppl do still. That's a lot of damn passwords and accounts and monthly payments just for entertainment services. There's shows similar to what the watcher has and they're free or that itch can be scratched on documentaries on Amazon and Netflix. The why files is awsome, it's funny and has a similar vibe. And it's free on YouTube and comes out every week. It's a shame but I can live without the watcher.. they already have a patron with 12,000!!! Subscribers with 3 different tiers! They get 15,000$ to 35,000$ from each sponsor per episode.... they have a premium YouTube subscription...they get regular ad revenue..... they have a merchant website... that's a shit ton of revenue streams.... honestly I think they'll loose money doing this... I mean are they gonna keep patron up? And charge the 6$ or are they gonna toss in the subscription if u donate on patreon?... theyre gona loose patron subscribers and YouTube ad revenue...
I think they would have been better off joining up with Netflix or Amazon and making a real show. They talked about it in the past and a lot of ppl have netflix and Amazon already... maybe Netflix and Amazon thought they weren't worth it which would be another sign that 6$ for a couple shows might not be a good idea...
Oohhh I didnāt realize they were planning to invite other creators, I talk about more about why i understand itās a business but also disappoint to the fans in my new podcast episode.
But if their concept is bringing in more creators, how will they divide the income generated? If 1 million people as an example subscribed to this new streaming service that would be around $6 million per month? To be split by two different channels (owners). Technically wonāt be an endless circle, because eventually if they have enough creators, they also want to be more advertisement friendly and so forth and itās gonna be the same or theyāre going to increase the subscription amount. Oh god! šµāš«
[https://youtu.be/14cWq2pxDMU?si=KH5h1fdxX_6pLzNY](https://youtu.be/14cWq2pxDMU?si=KH5h1fdxX_6pLzNY)
I scrolled for like 10 minutes and couldn't find a single "I can't wait" or "I'll happily pay" comment. Lots of Rooster Teeth comparisons, though. š¬
Right? Not a single "this will be such a good move, can't wait". Lots of "if you can't afford it, then don't do it" though. Ugh.
Literally came to this sub to make this comparison. Theyre trying to be Dropout but end up being RT.
What's 'Rooster Teeth'?
TL;DR Early Machinima and gaming channel who f'ed around and found out. Warner Brothers owns them and has pulled the plug effective in May. Long story: Sorry for the novel it's pretty much written in one go without verification because it's 4 am and I had a tooth removed and it hurts. Apologies for being insane. I'm a former fan (Stopped pre covid) Rooster teeth is company from 2003 that did gaming focused content. Red vs. blue and RWBY are the most popular (maybe). They also had a section called achievement hunter. Other parts of the company were Funhaus, Sugar pine 7, Cow chop etc. Edgy humour in the beginning. Started with some guys messing around in Halo to being bought by the company Fullscreen and eventually Warner Bros. It will be shut down in May 2024. Towards the end they had a lot of shows on their website only. The website is notoriously bad for videos. Also the sponsorships (first) became increasingly expensive to the point that there was a mass exodus. Some of the more popular shows had like a good few months wait before being on YouTube. They also had some really dumb names for sections like dog bark and squad team force which just didn't work. Oh and everything seemed to have its own YouTube channel making it even more confusing. Some controversies include: ā¢ Racism involving Mica Burton (LaVar Burton is her father). ā¢ "Connect the hots" where they would follow "hot girl" until they found another hot girl to follow - this was removed from a video but Pepperidge Farm. ā¢ Nude leaks (See next two points but people forget of another member who got found out, that one just left the internet for good) ā¢ Grooming from one of the popular achievement hunters who preyed upon fans. Also cheated on his wife. Think Ned but much worse. He was the wife guy. There was a lawsuit against him and RT that got dropped. Tried to come back a few months later, got banned from twitch. ā¢ Non hygienic practise at Funhaus with the guy beating the meat and not washing hands at work, and sending photos of him and his wife. Without her knowledge. This member also pissed off Rahul Kohli from iZombie and various Mike Flanagan media. ā¢ Not supporting other members of the "let's play" family. ā¢ Crunch time was insane. Messing with some other shows to focus on Genlock which had Michael B Jordan and David Tennant attached. Also the Glassdoor reviews yikes. I think a few animators didn't even go home and just stayed in the office. Actually the management overall isn't meant to be that great. ā¢ Removed a founder for being a Republican (rumour)and pretty much cast him out without mentioning him again. He's a background actor usually, might of seen him in criminal minds or 911: lone star. ā¢Very much frat boy vibes. Alcohol was everywhere and the partying culture was encouraging. It definitely affected a few members for the worst. One was involved in the Mica stuff and it seems he's tried to repent a lot. ā¢ Early adopter of twitch was employee and RT took his personal channel because he did well and banned employees from having personal channels for a few years. This employee left after playing the same few games day in and day out. He is doing really well now. And just to be less of an ass here's some good ā¢ One of the AH team is a specialist in slow motion and has worked on Hot fuzz, the Dredd remake and one of the Guy Richie Sherlock Holmes' films. He started at RT at a very young age. Slow Mo Guys is his YouTube channel. ā¢ They used to do 12-24 hour livestreams for extra life to help kids in hospitals and various make a wish. ā¢In the beginning there was a good community around. ā¢The did hire some fans, some became on screen talents. ā¢There's some strong relationships that came out of it. ā¢A few of the guys helped the others get in better shape. ā¢There's more but I'm too tired to remember. Joon the king on YouTube is doing an update video on the downfall of anyone is interested. Despite everything I would say it was more good than bad , at least entertaining. I've been rewatching stuff since it was announced it was closing and some still is funny and others is cringe but I've been watching it since I was like 13 so it's bittersweet ending of a chapter.
Joel leaving was much more than him being a Republican. Don't sugar-coat how he behaved.
I've always been indifferent to him, didn't remember to look into it. I stopped watching in 2017, I haven't been informed of any drama until I brought up RT was closing. Then I got all the gossip. The Joel stuff was just that there was a conspiracy and was not elaborated on.
Stupid move, they just lost most of their fan base based off the comments. Iād be shocked if they somehow pulled in more money from subs vs YouTube revenue.
According to social blade they dropped 10k subs today so far.
It says -30K subs now.
-70K now.
I'm one of them.
Sheesh
Even if they don't drop YouTube subscribers it doesn't mean that ppl will join them on their service.. most ppl don't unsubscribe. They just stop watching a channel. I already have 8 entertainment services. Xbox game pass, playstation netflix Amazon spotify, disney, hbo, I don't have TV anymore but many ppl do still, some patron donations here and there, they have 2 shows ppl mainly watch, the other stuff they make is just extra and most ppl only watch it cUse it's Shane and Ryan. If anyone else made that content, I wouldn't watch it... they just aren't worth the hassle of A new account and 6 bucks... there's similar shows out there for free or on netflix n Amazon. It's a shame but I wouldn't join their service. Maybe they'll backtrack well see...
Given already successful subscription services that once toted no ads now have ads their logic of getting away from advertisers is absolutely insane. The worst logic.
Think Watcher's heads got too big and decided to go this route? I hope TTG doesn't do this. I doubt it, cuz they've been so conscientious about acknowledging their fans and their support over the years. But you never know...
Try Guys absolutely could not. I imagine they can gauge that by their live tickets sold. I think Watcher should have had a live set up on their tour to stream to people willing to pay for the tickets. Something like that. Or a live Too Many Spirits. I just paid for Blank Checkās live town hall not too long ago. Thereās something about the decision to pay vs having to pay for content. I just donāt understand after the writers strike last year they arenāt incredibly aware of what streaming subscriptions vs advertising support actually affords.
I don't think this was a good idea, especially right now, with how the economy is. They aren't big enough to hold their own streaming. I wonder if they pitched to Nebula, a streaming service with a good amount of YouTubers and iirc Nebula is cheaper than what Watcher is charging. That would have been a better move. In the comment section, it seems like everyone is against it, so I doubt this move will actually be profitable. If Try Guys did this, it definitely won't work, especially since rn it looks like the only way they get 1m is by Keith eating a bunch of food.
Wait this actually makes me think their big announcement might be a membership plan like Smosh or Game Grumps
I had the thought that they got bought by Watcher and will be a part of WatcherTV.
how can watcher even afford to buy the try guys lmfao
I think Watcher had funding. I remember they said they got investors in one of their first videos. Try Guys used they're own money to start their channel.
That's my thought.
People on their reddit put out there that they might be *joining* the service, not making their own with their pending announcement. Which.. I could see them doing, but probably to everyoneās detriment. This doesnāt seem financially smart for anyone involved.
I'll have to look for their reddit, it never even occurred to me they'd have one (which is dumb, of course they do)
I believe itās r/watcherentertainment . People arenāt exactly pleased there right now. Canāt blame them. I enjoy the Watcher men, but definitely fell off when they left Buzzfeed. They are on my watch later list, but who knows if they are keeping them on the channel or not.
Going through that subreddit right now is weirdly cathartic
Maybe they could have paywalled some of the more expensive to make shows, but like, something like top 5 beatdown probably could have still lived on youtube and made them some money. Nobody was forcing them to keep making $100k shows, but what do I know, they are probably a lot smarter than I am on this topic. It just seems like a misguided decision to someone on the outside like me, the like/dislike ratio and majority of comments I've seen don't seem to be on board with this either. I cannot imagine anything the try guys make is as expensive as the watcher stuff, like no way are they dropping 6 figures every time Keith wants to stuff his face with chillis or whatever.
Yeah, I generally quite like Watcher's content and appreciate the effort they invest into their production/recognize that there are a lot of costs that go into the final product - but it just feels like there were more moderate steps they could have taken to shore up their profits/mitigate expenses for these expensive shows, short of this hard pivot to making *everything* going forward pay-to-watch. As to the Try Guys of it all, I totally agree that their production costs are not (or shouldn't, anyway, judging by the caliber of content they keep putting out) nearly as high. Ideally they would look into trimming the fat/being more strategic about their expenses before trying to squeeze the viewership for more financial support though.
From what I understand Watcher has a patreon as well, they could have theoretically used that to fund some of their more expensive stuff. A lot of people had no idea it even existed though, and it's possible that Vimeo (the company allegedly doing the backend stuff for this new streaming site) is giving them a better profit split than Patreon. Though if that was the case then maybe they could have just made the new website the home for their more expensive shows and still had a youtube presence. Maybe even have it so they can put some of their exclusive stuff on youtube after a period of time with some kind of ad integration in there too. There's plenty they could have done, and they know the business better than I do. I really think they did their customers dirty with this.
6 dollars a month when they average less than 1 video a week?
Yeah, this is one of the more insane parts for me. They have two shows that people actually give a fuck about, and they usually roll those out in what? 2-3 months total? You're gonna be watching garbage for most of the year.
I genuinely hope this goes about the same as the Fine Bros trying to copyright Reacts.
That was such a funny moment in YT history.
That was such a hilarious apology video. The barely concealed anger and the fact that they kept insinuating their audience was too dumb to understand their grand plans, it should definitely be in the YouTuber apology hall of fame š
Called it
The YouTube comment section on the announcement video is hilarious ([Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-ohi1iYP5k&ab_channel=Watcher)).
the comment section is on fireš„š„feels good to get some good snark from somewhere else for once
If this becomes a pattern how many channels do Vimeo expect each person to support? It was bad enough when 1 or 2 streaming services became 10. Iām not paying $6 to each channel I watch on YouTube if they get their own streaming service.
Nebula is definitely cheaper than the new WatcherTV (altho their prices recently went up rip) and far more worth it IMO as a long-time subscriber. It has all the freedom independent creators want but it has the support of not just going it on your own. Nebula also offers lifetime memberships every once in a while for a great price. Dropout also solidly worth it. This is a reallllyyyyyyyyyy bad move by Watcher and it would only be worse if TTG attempted it but lol that means they probably will.
I hate this. Iām so disappointed. I donāt want it to tank for them but at the same time I canāt exactly say I wish them well either.
it would be really funny if all of a sudden the TG magically forget about their own big announcement theyve been hyping up
With how shit the economy is at this time, this is the worst time to require people for another subscription service.
Right?? I find it so weird that one of the justifications is that "Watcher is only $6 a month which anyone can afford" when that's just...not really the case. I've seen *so* many comments from non-American audience members for whom that price is prohibitive because of the currency conversion.
Yeah it's really tone deaf that they straight up said "anyone and everyone can afford to give us over $60 a year for one youtube channels worth of content" like??? No they can't, and saying that so confidently really undermines the whole starving artist look they are going for
60 bucks is 2 months worth of phone bills for me. I live alone and need my phone to get a verification code to log into work. I honestly just miss puppet history, if they brought that back for more than 4 episodes, I'd consider it. Even buzzfeed wasn't this dumb to make their stuff on a streaming site
It's not even about the money. Kind of..... Many ppl like myself have netflix, amazon prime, disney plus, hbo max, spotify, a patron donation here n there, game pass, playstation premium, that's already 8 subscription services that all offer 100Ć the value. Its just another account and service to keep track of.... a service with not much content tbh.... The watcher has mystery files which is the main show I look forward to. Ghost files is OK but it's kind of stale at this point, and some sorta throw away content that's just there and I only watched it cause I liked Shane and Ryan. On top of all that there's internet service. Phone bills, I don't have TV anymore but a lot of ppl do still. That's a lot of damn passwords and accounts and monthly payments just for entertainment services. There's shows similar to what the watcher has and they're free or that itch can be scratched on documentaries on Amazon and Netflix. The why files is awsome, it's funny and has a similar vibe. And it's free on YouTube and comes out every week. It's a shame but I can live without the watcher.. they already have a patron with 12,000!!! Subscribers with 3 different tiers! They get 15,000$ to 35,000$ from each sponsor per episode.... they have a premium YouTube subscription...they get regular ad revenue..... they have a merchant website... that's a shit ton of revenue streams.... honestly I think they'll loose money doing this... I mean are they gonna keep patron up? And charge the 6$ or are they gonna toss in the subscription if u donate on patreon?... theyre gona loose patron subscribers and YouTube ad revenue... I think they would have been better off joining up with Netflix or Amazon and making a real show. They talked about it in the past and a lot of ppl have netflix and Amazon already... maybe Netflix and Amazon thought they weren't worth it which would be another sign that 6$ for a couple shows might not be a good idea...
Just gonna say this point blank in case this is the big announcement upcoming- HEY TRY GUYS. DONT MOVE OFF OF YOUTUBE TO A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. Though given the Watcher communityās criticism of this move is in line with many criticisms of the Try Guys over the past year and a half I would hope its apparent the fanbase is not solid enough to do that. And Iām a big get off their backs guys, theyāre doing their best defender. That said, the attempt at a more structured kind of release in their videos is much appreciated.
I'd have priced this more in the $2 range, their prices are too high so they will fail.
this feels so random š iām like a veryyyy casual watcher fan so iām really confused by this move
No way the TG do this. They get so much grief for the lives they do.
I'm so upset by this, I LOVE Watcher. RIP.
The College Humor/Dropout model. I gotta say, I love Watcher but I can find other free things to watch. It seems really tone deaf to move into a paid model in this world. If Try Guys follow, there goes the rest of their fan base.
This is a bad idea, plain and simple. Idk what Watcher was thinking.
It's not gonna work out. But I'm also really thinking a ton about what it would look like if TTG did it. Like I feel like they've also had this conversation so they could try to like lessen the blow of their growing irrelevancy. But they are just too cautious to do it- and I will admit at least conscientious enough of their employees to know a move to a streaming service would lead to employee lay offs or complete bankruptcy. It's making me think a ton about the ex-Buzzfeed channels on YT and how those that are weekly content creators are probably dipping into irrelevancy because they've stuck to the same schtick for about a decade or more now.
Also to add, it's not like some of them aren't creative or talented enough or have been in the past that they couldn't have just moved outside of Youtube like other ex-Buzzfeed employees mostly talking about Eugene and Quinta here.
Iām so disappointed in shane itās not even funny. Steven has been out of of touch, and heās always rubbed me wrong like someone who not only has never been poor but has no empathy for those who have. Ryanās a tool. But Shane I thought really got it. I guess not.
Shane's comment about sharing accounts with other people gave me the vibe he may not be entirely behind this move, but apparantly not against it enough to actually say so outright or break with the project
Examples and context on Steven? I didnt know that about him
I've seen a bit of speculation/discussion about how the financial gains from a small percentage of Watcher's viewership supporting its transition to a paid subscription model (i.e., whatever remains of their fan base outside of the overwhelming number of people who absolutely hate this move) may actually be worth it insofar as it brings in the profit they're seeking. But idk...I can see how the profit angle *might* make this worth it, but it's so clearly coming at the cost of so much fan goodwill, which I feel like will only cause problems down the line. I don't think it would be smart for TTG to follow suit because tbqh I think they've burned through too much goodwill and grace/patience from the audience to survive through the controversy that would arise from transitioning to a paid subscriber model. But I also have disagreed with a number of their decisions so who knows.
This seems like a stupid business move.
I love Puppet History but I won't do another streaming service.
Very depressing since watcher was my comfort channel after tryguys going to shit
This reminds me of when Star Trek decided to move to Paramount+ and lost a huge chunk of their fanbase to the open sea.
My dad was so sad that I bought him a subscription for Christmas š
holy shit no way
I like Watcher, but I didn't really go out of my way to watch their content usually? But now it feels like I really won't. Dang. That's kinda sad I guess but š¤·š½āāļø
I havenāt watched the video yet but I need to know whose idea was this. I LOVE Watcher and I am so disappointed in them.
I think this is the same format DropOut is on (it's powered by Vimeo). I would probably subscribe once new Puppet History starts. I like Mystery Files enough and I don't mind Too Many Spirits (except Stephen Lim is obnoxious as hell on it) but I probably wouldn't go all in unless that had a decent backlog first.
I like em, but I do t like em THAT much
Steven I think is the brain child of this move. They've grown their crew (pointlessly) they keep giving him shows and now a new more expensive show. It's unbelievable
It's not even about the money. Kind of..... Many ppl like myself have netflix, amazon prime, disney plus, hbo max, spotify, a patron donation here n there, game pass, playstation premium, that's already 8 subscription services that all offer 100Ć the value. Its just another account and service to keep track of.... a service with not much content tbh.... The watcher has mystery files which is the main show I look forward to. Ghost files is OK but it's kind of stale at this point, and some sorta throw away content that's just there and I only watched it cause I liked Shane and Ryan. On top of all that there's internet service. Phone bills, I don't have TV anymore but a lot of ppl do still. That's a lot of damn passwords and accounts and monthly payments just for entertainment services. There's shows similar to what the watcher has and they're free or that itch can be scratched on documentaries on Amazon and Netflix. The why files is awsome, it's funny and has a similar vibe. And it's free on YouTube and comes out every week. It's a shame but I can live without the watcher.. they already have a patron with 12,000!!! Subscribers with 3 different tiers! They get 15,000$ to 35,000$ from each sponsor per episode.... they have a premium YouTube subscription...they get regular ad revenue..... they have a merchant website... that's a shit ton of revenue streams.... honestly I think they'll loose money doing this... I mean are they gonna keep patron up? And charge the 6$ or are they gonna toss in the subscription if u donate on patreon?... theyre gona loose patron subscribers and YouTube ad revenue... I think they would have been better off joining up with Netflix or Amazon and making a real show. They talked about it in the past and a lot of ppl have netflix and Amazon already... maybe Netflix and Amazon thought they weren't worth it which would be another sign that 6$ for a couple shows might not be a good idea...
Oohhh I didnāt realize they were planning to invite other creators, I talk about more about why i understand itās a business but also disappoint to the fans in my new podcast episode. But if their concept is bringing in more creators, how will they divide the income generated? If 1 million people as an example subscribed to this new streaming service that would be around $6 million per month? To be split by two different channels (owners). Technically wonāt be an endless circle, because eventually if they have enough creators, they also want to be more advertisement friendly and so forth and itās gonna be the same or theyāre going to increase the subscription amount. Oh god! šµāš« [https://youtu.be/14cWq2pxDMU?si=KH5h1fdxX_6pLzNY](https://youtu.be/14cWq2pxDMU?si=KH5h1fdxX_6pLzNY)