Moral of the story: Your fans may be loyal, but they're probably more broke than they are loyal

@the_gratefulgamer

3 ай бұрын

This needs to be pinned

@makerarchive6502

3 ай бұрын

​@@the_gratefulgamer nah, people just don't want to go back to paying for shit.

@DolphinsFanInVA

3 ай бұрын

Maybe…. But the convenience of KZread is I can watch a variety of stuff for free, so even though I enjoy their content why pay to go to a website (no app, can’t watch on TV or game system) that has limited things to watch? Not about the money for some (though, for the VAST majority of their fans it is) but it’s what does that money get you? I am not paying $6/mo for 3 episodes of a series I like… just pay one month and binge watch stuff when there is enough…. Assuming this whole thing lasts long enough that there is that much content

@workshaw1195

3 ай бұрын

@@makerarchive6502because they can’t afford it or don’t think it’s worth it due to other expenses. End of the day, this channel is now dead

@SharmV

3 ай бұрын

@@DolphinsFanInVA comes down to - they are contractors for KZread, they don’t own their IP, KZread has to give them rules to abide by - they are KZread’s bitch :)

We will be seeing videos "Why I left WatcherTV" "The rise and fall of WatcherTV"

@pepethefrog6809

3 ай бұрын

LOL Feels like they all left Buzzfeed just to turn into something worse themselves.

@muka0301

3 ай бұрын

@pepethefrog6809 you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain

@armyb140

3 ай бұрын

@@pepethefrog6809 Now that's a reach, these three are hardly worse than buzzfeed lmao

@armyb140

3 ай бұрын

@@Shinigami344 They did other sht tho, let's not act like a paywall is the worst thing you can do to a person. You still have a choice not to pay, which normal ppl wouldn't even if they can.

@lillithlavey7203

3 ай бұрын

I feel like Shane might actually leave after all of this backlash

Steven Lim's series where he gets flown around the world to eat steak covered in gold costing thousands, plus his Tesla addiction, probably doesn't help with "production costs"

@rilmar2137

3 ай бұрын

THIS. And his videos flop in comparison with Shane and Ryan's ones.

@valkyriedarquese

3 ай бұрын

Everything about steven makes sense when you learn that he came from a rich family and is obsessed with luxury/attention. Never liked him

@michellesmith7704

Ай бұрын

They want to bring back shows that weren't successful on yt. Wonder which ones. Smh

The internet JUST saw Roosterteeth die and they decided to copy the death model

@dccoulthard

3 ай бұрын

I was thinking of Rooster Teeth, without the dick pics.

@JeskidoYT

3 ай бұрын

This is worse because RT had too much on their plates.

@drewo.127

3 ай бұрын

@@JeskidoYT and in this case, Watcher, from what I’ve heard, doesn’t have enough stuff to justify a full on streaming service!

@peytonalexander5300

3 ай бұрын

@@drewo.127They sure don’t. They basically said in their goodbye video that the idea behind this streaming service is that they need more money to develop more varied and experimental content. Which may sounds like it tracks, but the problem with that is that if not enough people subscribe to the platform (which they clearly won’t), that means by their own admission, they will not have the funding necessary to further diversify their content. They are literally fucking themselves so badly with this it’s insane.

@aritrasaha441

3 ай бұрын

Thats literally the first thought i had when i watched the video. Its such a simple point that comes first before anything. What is thier contingency plan for this i dont understand. They have been doing youtube for a long time they are pro i cant believe they didnt think this through​@@peytonalexander5300

Rhett & Link never left KZread and they grew Mythical Entertainment into a multimillion dollar company and they became wealthy in the process.

@onceyouwheeinyoucantwheeout

3 ай бұрын

Yeah they literally could have asked them for advice or heck ask their audience over this terrible idea before surprise attacking us like this…

@shanathompson9725

3 ай бұрын

Yup

@englishatheart

3 ай бұрын

But they have also become so disingenuous as well. I stopped watching them because they forgot where they came from and essentially cater to their rich fans despite it being all their fans that got them where they are. $300 for the base ticket price for Mythicon? Telling people to not scan their comics and make it available for those who can't afford to join their club to be able to see? They only care about people who can pad their already overflowing wallets. They also try too hard to pretend they care about whichever cause is the flavor of the week, and many of their videos are basically the same.

@shanathompson9725

3 ай бұрын

@@englishatheart they charge what there’s a market for but they still give us DAILY free content… two shows a DAY It’s how they make their money and I can’t be mad at them for that. Rhett and Link have never sold out to THIS extent.

@localabsurdist6661

3 ай бұрын

@@englishatheartthey are putting out multiple podcasts weekly and videos per day… you can watch this content for free… nobody forced you to pay for the extra videos, merch or events

Anyone coping that $6 "isnt a lot" is forgetting that we went ham on Elon for wanting to charge $8 a month and then trying to belittle the users by saying thats "just the cost for a cup of Starbucks". People be living paycheque to paycheque, man.

@englishatheart

3 ай бұрын

Many people don't even have paychecks because they're not able to work. For some of us, free entertainment (that they got rich off of) is the only escape from this shithole hell called life that we have. This was a big "F-you" to their fans that are barely surviving as it is.

@tangyorange_

3 ай бұрын

Also, just wanted to add that international fans exist too, for some of us it would be equivalent to 30$ a month

@charliek7896

3 ай бұрын

@@englishatheart No one is entitled to free entertainment. Be grateful for the free entertainment that you do have access to.

@Fiona-68

3 ай бұрын

I don't drink Starbucks. It's too expensive. I'm the weirdo who has one channel that I subscribe to. Hell no Watcher.

@AtlisDe

3 ай бұрын

The problem with 'its just 6.00' is that that's basically the case, if not more, for every other streaming service and genuinely everything. All these little costs add up. Not only that, but at least with Amazon prime you get a service of quick delivery fees, and a whole host of movies and shows. You're paying for essentially, one channels worth of whatever shows they produce and however much they end up shooting for the month.

Most creators: "If you cant afford to support me, just leave a like - thats enough!" Watcher: "Give us your money or get the fuck out"

They just updated saying that they aren’t taking existing content off KZread because people were freeeeeaking. They totally were planning to IMO, but panicked and backtracked and just said we were confused lol

@aritrasaha441

3 ай бұрын

U know it. They DEFINITELY werent expecting such backlash

@hiphillbert

3 ай бұрын

The video itself says they were going to take down content. If you looked at their channel, they already archived a lot of their content before evidently backtracking and editing their comment. The first couple seasons of Puppet History were taken down.

@koalaplays8855

3 ай бұрын

@@hiphillbertwatch the video again your wrong

@iluv2cheer176

3 ай бұрын

There's proof they were going to, they did an entire interview and the article had to update after a few hours because they backtracked, they also stated in the video after the trial period all the content would be locked away, they only attempted to retract that after feedback and attempted to gaslight people they hadn't said it lol.

@jenniferkirrane9718

3 ай бұрын

I was wondering how they thought they'd grow if all Watcher content was behind the paywall.

In the video they say they have 25 employees which is insane for a channel with 3 mil subs. Not to mention, Steven Lim (the guy in the kitchen) takes up like 60 to 70 percent of the channels videos and probably budget and only gets a fraction of the views the other two guys videos make. I hate to say it but if money is such an issue they may need to cut a few people out.

@aritrasaha441

3 ай бұрын

I think steven should become more managerial than an actual star of the channel. Other than too many spirits and worth it he just isnt that much of a fun watch. And there has to be a limit to the no. of food shows they can make like geez

@iybsky3331

3 ай бұрын

@@aritrasaha441 Yeah i agree. Most people that subbed to Watcher when they started were BuzzFeed Unsolved fans who were there for Shane and Ryan. Like I don't hate Steven but when they started posting his videos I never even bothered watching them after the first few, it just wasn't what I was looking for from the channel. I don't think it would be a horrible idea for him to just start his own channel considering how many videos under the Watcher channel belong to him.

@nothobbesmufc949

3 ай бұрын

@@aritrasaha441 but how do you get the CEO who calls himself a youtube star to step back? When he called himself that in the video I really thought I was being pranked. I didn't know who he was when Watcher started I thought he was like the accountant or something 😂

@CK-8186

3 ай бұрын

Steven Lim owns Watcher

@milkcatdog394

3 ай бұрын

Also just focus on a few projects that are doing very well- they r branching out too much with too many employees

These guys were special. They managed this perfect blend of comedy, entertainment and education in their videos. I’ve watched them since the buzzfeed unsolved days. I never in my life thought I would ever hear a negative story around Ryan and Shane’s channel, and yet here we are. Hopefully they back peddle on it.

@emmawills4112

3 ай бұрын

They just aren’t listening to the fans. They’re so focused on what ‘they’ want to create that they aren’t making content we actually want to watch. Cut “production quality, get rid of the massive office and 15 employees, make it a work from home job for the remaining 10 employees, get rid of 60% of the boring content that’s getting low views and make more ghost content w Shane and Ryan. Boom- success.

@imjustjk

3 ай бұрын

@@emmawills4112they have success. They’ve had that from the start. They want money. They want to buy more toys. I don’t think they really care about their fans. They want to cReAtE bIg ThInGs. Which is fine. But what they want and what their fans want do not match. And they’ve just shafted those fans. Their goodbye to KZread was, in effect, a TikTok style breakup. “Sorry, guys, but you’re all too poor to fund the lifestyle we deserve.”

@adrijamukherjee8147

3 ай бұрын

They just posted a backtracked video

@adrijamukherjee8147

3 ай бұрын

They just posted a backtracked video

@Savvysnek

3 ай бұрын

@@adrijamukherjee8147 just saw it. I think it's a good move to just have stuff released earlier on the streaming platform and then release it all on youtube later.

Super Rare L For Watcher

@ghostguru9156

3 ай бұрын

It sucks when the rare L is kind of a big one

@ShiroyashaVince

3 ай бұрын

@@ghostguru9156 Yeah.. it kinda sucks and soo sudden they did this

@aperson6799

3 ай бұрын

I was *really* hoping it was a joke

@ShiroyashaVince

3 ай бұрын

@@aperson6799 sadly not. I hope they cancel this dumb move

@thelivingmanpart2

3 ай бұрын

@@ShiroyashaVince the crazy thing is how cynical and narcistic it all came off as. I honestly blame Steven mostly since he is the CEO.

I don’t understand why they feel restricted by advertisers? They’re not making risqué content or taboo content and nobody was complaining about advertising Edit: and on top of that they were getting sponsored by movie studios! They were getting good ads! And people enjoyed them they had the log bros segment on too many spirits and the sax guy and professor in mystery files like they were making genuinely good and funny ads I really don’t know what more they want?

@memelord4372

3 ай бұрын

It genuinely just feels greedy they already make 50-100k on their patreon

@nothobbesmufc949

3 ай бұрын

YES!!! More ppl don't bring this up and I think it's the most telling part of the whole video. They obsess over advertisers and what they can and can't do in this nebulous censorship implication to garner our sympathy and build our anger but I see videos all the time with much more controversial topics getting sponsored. Why wouldn't they be appealing to sponsors? The studio that made The Quarry called them a great partner and something about working together again in the future.

@theannmartin

3 ай бұрын

I also don't understand. They already make content around true crime and supernatural stuff so it's not like they can't mention death etc, clearly? i have no idea what else they want to do that's so unpalatable to advertisers that they aren't doing already

@fayerawcliffe7794

3 ай бұрын

@@nothobbesmufc949 right? They don’t even just get silly little KZread sponsors they were getting full movie studios sponsoring them MULTIPLE TIMES

@fayerawcliffe7794

3 ай бұрын

@@memelord4372 oh yeah recently learned about just how much they were making off of patreon and that’s just disgusting to now pull this shit and not even give their patreons a streaming subscription

It's so ironic that they left Buzzfeed because they wanted creative control and probably didn't like the corporate structure of the company only to make a decision that is exactly corporate and soulless. It's a true slap to the face of the fans who despised Buzzfeed and folowed them to Watcher. For them. Not for production value. But for THEM. The reason why people fell in love with Buzzfeed Unsolved and probably Ghost files was to see Shane and Ryan. And then Steven is just there. Nobody watches Watcher for Steven. yet he is the CEO. Just irony.

They left a brand just to become a brand

@alshahriar6230

3 ай бұрын

To become a non-existent brand

Their fixation on ‘tv quality’ is just nonsensical. I only pay for two subs: Hulu (which covers any sort of ‘tv style’ viewing I care to do, which is minimal) and KZread premium. I consume 80% more media on KZread than anywhere else. The reason for that is because in recent years I enjoy creative independently made content way more than most things on ‘tv’ these days. I’m sure I’m not alone in that either. If I wanted to watch tv I’d pay for a cable package. Also big W to Omni for covering this so fast

@Juliamh2222

3 ай бұрын

They clearly don’t know their audience if they think WE care about TV style content. Some of the funniest moments in Watcher shows have been the sloppy, low quality scenes. Like nothing made me giggle like the awkward up-the-nose GoPro shots from Ghost files. I’d literally watch these guys film a video in a run down barn. We weren’t here for the “quality” we were here for THEM 😢

@fayerawcliffe7794

3 ай бұрын

I feel the same

@Watsabeholder

3 ай бұрын

I'll be honest, I paid for Dropout, and it's currently my favorite paid service. I also pay for yt premium, Netflix, and Hulu. Dropout just makes better content than all of them that straddles the line between TV and Internet quality. Apparently I'm not the only one that likes it either, since Dimension 20 just sold out Madison Square Garden for a live show. There's a demand for this tier and type of content, which I think doomsayers are missing.

@peeblejeeble6887

3 ай бұрын

@@Watsabeholder there’s more to the issue than just the subscription alone. Looking at the long term optics of the channel, the vast majority of fans and supporters are there for Shane and Ryan. Steven, their CEO, brings in less views and some people don’t appreciate his attitude/luxurious tastes. So they introduce this subscription service, something that to a sizable proportion of their viewerbase (older teens/college age adults) is a non-starter. And then Steven talks about wanting to bring back a show where he literally just travels and eats the most expensive foods. “Pay six bucks a month or sixty bucks a year to watch me live large!” That is the message a lot of people are taking away from this. With dropout/college humor they already had multiple talents to showcase on their platform. Watcher only has Ryan, Shane, and Steven. While I understand your opinion, I don’t think you can really compare the scope of Dropout to Watcher 1:1.

@nothobbesmufc949

3 ай бұрын

@@Watsabeholder They have 2.93 million subscribers.....they're not selling out madison square garden. and they're charging $60 annually or $72 if you subscribe monthly. They were initially going to paywall all of their old content as well but have already backtracked on that. No one in the comments is happy with them on that video. especially their promotion of Steven Lim reviving Worth It to travel the globe with 2 new employees while they're complaining they have no money to make episodes.

People need to realize that high quality production value isn't required to make an entertaining video. If their production costs are high, its 100% okay to cut back on it. So many youtubers I love make videos with cheap printouts, crappy green screens, make shift lighting, and I still love them! I appreciate their commitment to quality but if it's eating their funds THIS much? i dunno... maybe biting off more than they can chew

@bandit_of_trash

3 ай бұрын

Exactly. And tbh, lately I haven't been enjoying their videos as much as I used to and I think it's BECAUSE of it being way more produced now. It's like it lost the chaotic charm I fell in love with during the Buzzfeed Unsolved era.

@Ratbait_

3 ай бұрын

​@@bandit_of_trashthis like for ghost files its cool with the higher production and all but they just go into places and shout with no "evidence" and forced comedy. they don't really take it as seriously as they used to. They never took it fully serious but because its got more money into it they feel like they're forcing it to try be funny doesn't feel natural like it used to

@luiscruz7343

3 ай бұрын

Even TV watching Chappelle's show when I was a kid I saw the terrible green screens and when a character got punched or thrown it was a very obviously horrificly bad looking dummy and it made it more funny. Entertaining/funny writing will make up for said lack of production

@emmawills4112

3 ай бұрын

@@bandit_of_trashI totally agree.

@theannmartin

3 ай бұрын

they could literally be walking around an abandoned scrap yard with a hand held camera and it would probably be just as much as not more entertaining. the high production value is cool but it's not the reason anybody watches them.

I feel like if they just did a “youtube members for 5 dollars get our content early and extra content” thing so many other people have done they could have made just as much money without upsetting the whole fanbase.

@BonnerDoesYouTube

3 ай бұрын

Like Smosh

@nothobbesmufc949

3 ай бұрын

they did that on Patreon funnily enough. were getting at minimum $60k a month.

@jessicacreed7773

3 ай бұрын

Maybe they would be making more on Patreon if they promoted it like one single time on their channel lol. Apparently lots of us didn't know they had one

@spookzer16

3 ай бұрын

​@@jessicacreed7773 THEY HAD A PATREON?!

@FukaiKokoro

3 ай бұрын

They made 30- 57k a month. How is that not enough?

Didn’t expect Omni to cover the Watcher goodbye so soon.

@ayoayo1044

3 ай бұрын

Same i'm still so devastated at the original video and omni comes and rubs it in my face

@15OgLoc

3 ай бұрын

Oh wow, anyway...

@KINduz3jp

3 ай бұрын

Watcher was a continuation of Buzzfeed unsolved and a few other new shows were added for content on their channel. They decided to become more subscription based for profit. 🤷🏻‍♂️ There are good channels out there that are still free on KZread which have the original premise when they originally started. Paranormal scholar and Why Files come to mind!

@WORLD_STXR

3 ай бұрын

Same here

@chaosqrow634

3 ай бұрын

Why not? He's a drama commentary channel

Other KZreadrs: supplementary Patreon, Merch, Nebula... These guys: "aight imma head out"

@Nagarath16

3 ай бұрын

Or maybe try collab contact with Sam Reich and Dropout if Nebula and KZread membership aren't it. He could at least give advice as someone who know what to do. Probably advice being not to do this. They already had sponsors, merch and patreon.

@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034

3 ай бұрын

So true, like WHY DIDN’T THEY JUST USE NEBULA

@Anedoje

3 ай бұрын

@@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034 Probably cause nebula has a similar revenue sharing system as KZread and it’s literally the same thing as what they are doing yet closer to KZread in the sense that it is a subscription service that they don’t own 100% of

@peytonalexander5300

3 ай бұрын

@@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034Pride. Pride and ego.

@404_kayjay_not_found

3 ай бұрын

@@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034 Right? It already exists, and it already has a bunch of amazing KZreadrs over there. In a world of 'exclusivity streaming services', trying to divide and conquer is just going for broke. Or ringing in a new dawn of black sails lol.

When they said in their video that they have 25 staff members, I immediately knew they were failing financially. No way they are supporting TWENTY FIVE salaries on a few seasonal shows that get decent-ish views. And for some reason, this was their resolution. Instead of laying off a couple people and focusing more on the shows that actually get good views, they’re jumping ship and alienating 99% of their fans. To be frank, yes, I can afford the subscription, but I refuse to follow them to their new streaming service out of principle and out of support for my fellow fans. I understand why content behind a paywall exists, however, doing so often creates an environment in the content creation sphere that alienates the fans who may no longer be able to view the content they have always enjoyed for free. And I refuse to contribute to that concept. I will stand by the fans✊”Goodbye Watcher”

@nothobbesmufc949

3 ай бұрын

$60k a month minimum in just patreon. i don't think they're as financially insolvent as they're implying they are.

@chaserdynamite6637

3 ай бұрын

⁠@@nothobbesmufc949Assuming All 25 watcher staff work full time and make 14$/hr (a fairly average minimum wage), 60 thousand dollars would still be 600 dollars short of one month of employee salary’s. Now obviously not every member would be full time but theres also no way any of them are making minimum wage so their actual monthly employee wages are probably far higher than 60 thousand dollars. Their channel most likely does not get the views they would need to support employee wages alone, and it definitely does not get the views it would need to be profitable after business expenses. Especially since most of the community seem to agree that they are spending more and more money on sets and equipment (I don’t watch the channel so I can’t confirm this I just think it’s interesting to watch fairly well known KZreadrs implode like this).

@marialyar6097

3 ай бұрын

It was just very very poor financial decisions over a long period of time. Having steven be ceo was a horrible decision bc he did not manage the money well at all

@LPdedicated

3 ай бұрын

Watcher had something truly special and it didn't require high budget to be entertaining! They struck gold and ruined it with one video.

@lolaali5158

3 ай бұрын

I 100% feel the same way. Just a couple of days before the announcement, Steven announced the addition of 2 new guys to Watcher. I thought "how can this business possibly sustain all these people?" So 8-12 months from now when their staff is running around 30-35 people, the $6/mo becomes $10/mo or suddenly they drop a "we hate to do it, but we're bringing back ads..." video. You can't outrun bad business management. If Steven is the CEO, Watcher really needs to reevaluate his role in the company. If that can't be done, anyone who wants a future in the content creation space should reevaluate their role in the company. (also I can afford $6/mo, but Watcher content is not a priority. Subscription models need to die a rapid death, and we all need to draw the line somewhere)

Mind you that the whole video they're talking abt money problems just to promote a new show that will be a successor to 'Worth It' where Steven eats absurdly expensive food

@TheWaslijn

3 ай бұрын

I get the feeling like that show is why they are having money problems, lmao

@isaacdunaway7149

3 ай бұрын

Their most expensive videos are all Steven's, yet his stuff only gets a fraction of the views that Ryan and Shane's stuff gets. This paywall streaming service seems to be Steven's idea too,. Especially considering how uncomfortable Shane looked and how Ryan seemed to be forcing it throughout this video. It's a shame to see Ryan and Shane probably lose everything they've built over the last decade solely because they gave their friend way too much power over the company

@pinkbunny6218

3 ай бұрын

It really doesn't matter at this point what they do going forward Steven has committed career sewiside. His new Worth It spin off will absolutely flop now and the people will most likely only gravitate towards Shane because we know he is against stuff like this. "Steal from the rich". Steven might as well sell his tesla. All that caviar and gold plated burgers got to his ego.

@wickednikki1303

3 ай бұрын

I didnt even watch it then…never been a fan of steven. So im not paying for a subscription to something i only watch a portion of.

@localabsurdist6661

3 ай бұрын

Tbh I don’t think Steven’s are the most expensive. They have an unnecessary high number of employees for Ryan’s and Shane’s videos… they have enough time to do most of the research themselves, the same goes for the writing and they don’t need that many camera and sound people… also they have unnecessary employees like Ryan’s cousin. He appeared in some of the videos but it was never explained what he actually does and all he filmed was some backlash content (which they really don’t need another person for)

They should’ve got rid of Lim years ago and went back to basics. Most of us preferred it over the high production content anyway.

@camillajefferson386

3 ай бұрын

nailed it. i do not understand why Lim is there so prominently. it was always Ryan and Shane!

@pepethefrog6809

3 ай бұрын

@@camillajefferson386 Yeah, most likely Lim's idea. But I still can't believe Ryan and Shane thought this was gonna be a good thing.

@beebeelicious

3 ай бұрын

Exactly 💯

@desmeisme

3 ай бұрын

He’s a good guy but I agree

@ThomasinaJefferson-ke7xs

3 ай бұрын

@@desmeisme doesn’t seem like it.

What they're not realizing is that most subscribers were there for the chemistry between Ryan and Shane ... No one asked for better production value... And definitely no one asked to help support Steven eating $300 blueberries or whatever....it was cool when it was on BuzzFeeds dime ... Not the same when you're using the money of your subscribers to buy obnoxiously expensive food

@graciesweeney8259

3 ай бұрын

Fr, this is youtube, we aren’t expecting a million dollar production budget, we want authenticity, charisma, and jokes. And with the food stuff, who watches that? Like thats such an old idea, buzzfeed already drilled that trend into the ground. I dont get why creators prioritize visual effects over staying within their budget?

The part that really made it bad for me was when they said "everyone and anyone" can afford $6 a month. No, i will choose to feed my cat than watch a single channel

@angelnatt

3 ай бұрын

after hearing that, all i've been thinking is - you know what IS affordable to everyone and anyone? youtube 😂

@Michadoo

3 ай бұрын

I can afford it but it's just not a good deal. $6 for one channel??? Insane

apparently they already had a patreon and pretty much at minimum got $55k-100k a month from it.

@SunniDae333

3 ай бұрын

Damn

@GayVampireNearU

3 ай бұрын

WOW IM SO DISAPPOINTED BY THEM GENUINELY

@ghostguru9156

3 ай бұрын

I’ve lost so much respect for them wtf

@BewareOfMpreg

3 ай бұрын

Steven Lim needs to pay for his tesla!

@dinkumthinkum4247

3 ай бұрын

They tried to expand too quickly, hired too many people.

What’s crazy is that they DO get sponsors and they do ads! Idk why they decided to do this. They should have just advertised patreon more and did like. Some exclusive videos there (which they don’t currently).

@generichuman2044

3 ай бұрын

Not just any sponsors either. They've had entire videos sponsored by major film, TV and game studios. Add a $75,000+ a month Patreon and youtube ads to that and they are making a large amount of money. It's clear that they are out of their depth with the size of the company and number of employees. They're clearly overspending and managing the finances poorly

@izabelasiczek3547

3 ай бұрын

Exactly check how much they were getting per month just from patreon thousands!! Only from that and then they saying now I know you pay patreon but you also have to pay 5.99 if you want to watch out content

@kaylaabendroth1174

3 ай бұрын

@@izabelasiczek3547yeah they were making at the least 60k a month just from patreon

@LindaC616

3 ай бұрын

​@@izabelasiczek3547they walked that back today in an apology video. Patreons will be refunded. New material will still premiere on the new platform but after one month it will be available for free on youtube. Old content will be left on KZread. What's happening is that as someone above said, they are hiring their old friends as BuzzFeed slowly dies, and they have too many people and too big of a budget

They screwed up paywalling everything; they should have just started doing exclusive content and slowed down on the YT side, nobody bitches about Float Plane and Nebula.

@memelord4372

3 ай бұрын

they already do exclusive content on patreon with 11k patrons lol I couldn't believe it when i found out.

@FukaiKokoro

3 ай бұрын

They made around 30-57,000 a MONTH. They didn't need to do this.

@Sabbathtage

3 ай бұрын

That's what Dropout did and they still left up all their old stuff and continues to post episodes and even whole seasons of previously paywalled seasons on KZread for free.

@kirameki

3 ай бұрын

And Nebula at least let's you have more bang for your buck so you get a ton of content from different creators. I'm not paying 6 bucks for a single creators content. 😂

@LindaC616

3 ай бұрын

They walked everything back in an apology video today

One of the most delusional goodbyes in history

As a Watcher fan i was surprised to learn that they have 25 employees. I'm betting the financial strain in doing so caused them to come up with this bad take.

@IronWangCreates

3 ай бұрын

I don’t even think the try guys had that many employees when they first restarted their brand on their own. I’d be curious to see how many staff members they had before the moved out of the house to their current office

I’m so annoyed at how hard they tried to tell us how expensive it was to do what they do. Like this was just so tone deaf and so poorly planned and executed on their part. I feel like I lost a lot of respect for them over this. I wouldn’t even consider paying for their patreon at all.

making more merch would've literally solved that problem without killing their careers

@rumpeltyltskyn

3 ай бұрын

Or literally… telling people about their Patreon

@minthe8851

3 ай бұрын

@@rumpeltyltskyn they already had a patreon???? oh hell naw

@rumpeltyltskyn

3 ай бұрын

@@minthe8851 Someone said (tho I have no way to confirm this so don’t quote me) that they were routinely making between $55k-$100k a month on it

@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034

3 ай бұрын

Or move to Nebula

@aritrasaha441

3 ай бұрын

​@@minthe8851they did!

Its just so sad to see how their OVERSPENDING resulting in their company not being sustainable has now turned into : lets make our fans pay for all of it without having a choice. edit: Also le tme remind you they already had a PATREON, merch, live shows and ofc ad revenue and sponsors.

@skSk-eb4zg

3 ай бұрын

A patreon that barely anyone even knew about

@nothobbesmufc949

3 ай бұрын

@@skSk-eb4zg it's all over their youtube channel so I don't see how ppl missed it. and they DID shill it. so again....I don't get how ppl didn't know about it. they often posted "hey if you subscribe you get stuff 24 hours early!!" or said it in videos so....yeah I don't see how ppl missed that.

@gigicilla7

3 ай бұрын

​@@skSk-eb4zgeven with so few of their subscribers knowing about the patreon they still have 12k monthly subscribers there. The minimum subscription price is $5 a month, meaning if all $12 k of those people are only doing $5 a month they are getting $60k a month. Imagine if they actually plugged their patreon

@gigicilla7

3 ай бұрын

​@@nothobbesmufc949they don't advertise it as much as they should. Its usually a one sentence plug that they do, but there aren't nearly enough advertisements of the content there. They should have tried pushing it more before literally ditching the entire platform

@kaylaabendroth1174

3 ай бұрын

@@skSk-eb4zgthey have at least 12k followers making at least 60k a month, seems like enough people heard about it to me

Funny thing is, they have a patreon. They just never tell anyone. So why do this? As a watcher fan its a dumb decision anyway.

@hiphillbert

3 ай бұрын

If I knew they had a Patreon earlier, I'm sure I'd have supported it. The fact that we are FORCED to pay is not the correct way to gain funding.

@memelord4372

3 ай бұрын

@@hiphillbert dude yeah they don't promote it and they have 11k patrons which is at least 50k a month and that's if everyone is subbed to the lowest tier.

@Fraise1300

3 ай бұрын

The worst part for me is that they're moving all the patreon content apart from the podcasts onto the new streaming service.. so that means I have to pay for both. Make it make sense? Like give the patrons a discount or something? IDK. I haven't completely made my mind on this, but I don't think they thought it through.

@hiphillbert

3 ай бұрын

@@memelord4372 I remember hearing them talk about they wanted to use moving dolly cameras for Mystery Files to be dynamic but it's those sort of minute details that truly no one cares for that are wasting the fans' dollars. I would've fixed the usage of funds before anything else.

@squirreltactics

3 ай бұрын

@@Fraise1300 Keep in mind that Patreon takes a piece, so hosting it on their own site keeps that money inhouse, plus they aren't making as much as people think they are on Patreon. Still a terrible idea.

To say that I'm angry about all this is an understatement. I am absolutely furious and depressed. I have been watching them for years and never expected them to do something so selfish and horrible. Needless to say, I disliked the farewell video and unsubbed; I feel like others might do the same. Ryan, Shane, Steven, if any of you are reading these comments and want to come back, just know that the damage has already been done.

@lisavandenhoven5672

3 ай бұрын

They lost 20k subscribers today, according to Social Blade. Edit to add: Make that 40K on the first day, and another 30K the next day.

@skSk-eb4zg

3 ай бұрын

its crazy, they were at 3M and they single-handedly ruined their own business. Im glad people aren't reacting well though. Maybe the overflow of angry reactions will be enough that they rethink their decision

@jenn-un1lq

3 ай бұрын

i did the same thing. disliked and unsubbed. so many of us...

@LPdedicated

3 ай бұрын

I'm so disappointed and heartbroken! I've supported this channel since the beginning, and I even supported their patreon! They struck gold when they created Watcher. The format was perfect! They were killing it with their creativity and authenticity. I've always respected them as creators but I lost a lot of that respect today.

I honestly feel like content creators need to stop thinking "how can we make our content bigger and better?" , when the audience never asked for or needed that. We were fine with simply Shane and Ryan joking with each other in a basement style space, talking about history and cases. I loved Buzzfeed Unsolved, Puppet History and Mystery Files, but those were the only ones I watched. I feel like they should've thought the opposite and "go back to their roots" sort of speak when making videos. I prefer the sit down ones rather than big production. I don't need to see tv-quality or Netflix content from them. I don't need them to travel the world or eat expensive gold leaf food. As someone commented on their video, they should've just had everything free with ads on their website or a patreon with early released videos and exclusive content like bts. Very disappointed in them.

@PassTheMarmalade1957

3 ай бұрын

I had been getting a vibe for a while that Ryan in particular was bored with the Unsolved clones they had made, as well as with Puppet History. It feels like they started pouring their focus into production because they no longer actually care much about the content they're making, but the real solution to that is obviously *make different content.* I get that audiences can sometimes just want the same old thing, but these guys had such a following from their personalities alone. The backbone of Unsolved was their dynamic, not the night-vision ghost hunting or the true crime stories. They had such favour with their fans that they could have made new shows that weren't just the same old, and people would have supported it if they said it was their passion project.

I love Ryan and Shane, they do some of the best content here on KZread imo. That being said, I think annoucing the rest of your content being put behind a paywall during a time where the cost of living is at an all time high is not a good move. I'm so sad about this bc I genuinely ADORE their content from their Buzzfeed Unsolved series all the way to Ghost Files.

@turkeyman631

3 ай бұрын

I mean terrible politicians with no economic knowledge aside, there are too many subscription-based platforms now and it's completely oversaturated even if we had competent people in charge of our country. It's just such a weird thing to do, love their content, but paying as much as I would something like Hulu or Netflix just for their videos? Crazy.

@juliamontez545

3 ай бұрын

This.. this is why I say goodbye too.

@eddiethetired

3 ай бұрын

It isn't even just the rest they are going to be removing all their content from KZread. Which honestly makes the slap in the face hurt a bit more.

@mariapaz6379

3 ай бұрын

I know that this strategy can be done, Dropout being the poster child of its success and smosh also pulling off some good pay per view successes as well. But in those cases you have older channels, with much bigger audiences, with more content and experience as well. Here, i cannot help but feel like the guys at watcher are jumping the gun.

@MizuHime07

3 ай бұрын

I'll be honest, I might pay for their service because I really love their history and ghost content. But I'll wait it out to see what they will say because of the backlash.

My disappointment is immeasurable as a former Shaniac.

@jenniferkirrane9718

3 ай бұрын

I was a Shaniac too.

@laurakirkland4157

3 ай бұрын

Former,"sigh/sniffle" Shaniac here as well. I can't afford to be one anymore. 😢

@intanayu8674

3 ай бұрын

Shane is the most dissapointing rn for letting this happens

@TheBenjaman

3 ай бұрын

All hail the watcher ),:

@jamie1602

3 ай бұрын

Fence sitter and somehow I knew this was gonna happen. Nothing stays this good for that long.

So from what ive read in the comments for the announcement video (28kLike/96kDislikes as of my comment btw) the guy Steven Lim, the asian dude from buzzfeeds Worth It series, is the CEO of the company, and an out of touch rich kid. A lot of people are commenting about how badly any of the Worth IT style content on Watcher has been performing, and how no one has been watching Watcher for that content in the first place. That's the popular sentiment ive seen so far. I remember loving Worth It, but with the fact that Watchers biggest draw was ghost hunting and mystery themed content i can see how just shoehorning in the old buzzfeed food videos would not be conducive to good performing videos. They should have made a separate channel for that content.

@theannmartin

3 ай бұрын

They seem hell bent on bringing back Worth It type shows but don't seem to get that while that was cool in 2014, seeing someone try to make the "most expensive version of tacos with wagu beef" is not fun or cute anymore, not when so many people struggle to make ends meet

@Nel_Annette

3 ай бұрын

@@theannmartin It's utterly tone-deaf content to make when so many people figure that money could go somewhere far more useful.

@Tensen01

3 ай бұрын

He complained on a podcast that he couldn't afford a second Tesla...

@tommyhappel8479

3 ай бұрын

28k and counting x $60 is how much?

@raestiffler5859

3 ай бұрын

I was a mega fan of BUN and Supernatural. I never watched a single thing with Stephen in it until I was forced to if Shane or Ryan was in the video. I think they made everything TOO high quality (for me) when they created Watcher. Too corporate and sanitized feeling. But I did try to watch the Mystery File and Too Many Spirits and Puppet History but it never recaptured the magic of Buzzfeed Unsolved or Ruining History (which IMO was way better than Puppet History). I haven’t watched Watcher in ages, which sucks because I did really like Ryan and Shane. They’re the first KZreadrs I became a genuine fan of and the only fandom I’ve been apart of practically since the beginning. This really sucks

Shane And Ryan were both for me one of the funniest duos in all of youtube i loved them so much when i first got into their buzzfeed unsolved series Murder cases etc was just one of the best feelings ever binging those seasons. Those were a few high quality vids from buzzfeed before they left buzzfeed

This came out 3 hours after the watcher goodbye video, Omni works at god speed😭

@AstarionWifey

3 ай бұрын

He deserves our $6 😂❤

This sets a horrible precedent if, against all odds, it ends up being successful. Imagine if all the big youtubers decide to make their own streaming service 💀

@LindaC616

3 ай бұрын

It won't. They realized their mistake already and posted an apology video today and walked most of it back. They will still have a new platform, but material will Premiere there and after 1 month will be free on KZread

This has happened before. When RoosterTeeth was at its peak, the company attempted to put RWBY and RVB on its website to migrate its audience from KZread during the Adpocalypse. The attempt resulted in a massive fall-off in views and weakened the brand.

@PeriwinklePig

3 ай бұрын

God, I remember how Rooster Teeth tried spinning the story by claiming that more people watched the most recent volume of RWBY (which I think was 5 at the time?) on their website than on KZread, whilst conveniently leaving out the detail that said volume wasn't uploaded onto KZread _a year_ after it had aired on their site, which would have an obvious impact on its views.

@nothobbesmufc949

3 ай бұрын

@@PeriwinklePig ngl that's actually really funny. Scummy af but REALLY funny.

@PeriwinklePig

3 ай бұрын

@@nothobbesmufc949 Tbf as frustrating as that was, there was humor to had in how Rooster Teeth was immediately eviscerated for such a blatantly false claim.

So, they tried to do what College Humor/Dropout was FORCED to do and literally had to perform miracles to succeed? I love Shane and Ryan. Buzzfeed unsolved, Puppet History and Are you Scared but this is not it.

@wrenwhite8402

3 ай бұрын

Plus, college humor produces enough content to actually justify them having a subscription service. A cast of 15+ comedians making a massive variety of shows is totally worth it! Three guys covering crime and eating expensive food definitely is not worth it

@jacquiv8084

3 ай бұрын

Not to mention that dropout was originally just EXTRA content. Like they were still releasing all their normal (sketch comedy videos) on KZread! Dropout was just longer, more elaborate NEW (or revitalized) stuff! (Then of course they collapsed and manged to successfully pivot!)

@radiowlet

3 ай бұрын

dropout is way more worth the 6 bucks than this. dropout are understanding of people that cant afford, they literally responded to the netflix pw sharing fiasco by saying you should share your pw with a friend who cant afford it because itd be nice. meanwhile we're being told "anyone can afford $6." I can't but if I could itd be money better spent on dropout

@shaycat13

3 ай бұрын

Dropout is so worth the amount I'm paying man just Dimension 20 alone is great but there are so many other shows that are great

@Sabbathtage

3 ай бұрын

And they release stuff for free on KZread. I was shocked last week to find one of my favorite seasons of Dimension 20, Neverafter, was released on KZread for free.

came here from watcher, wanting to see what you had to say about it. when you got to saying "they'll start a patreon," i sighed so hard. they already have one. it's incredibly sad that they haven't just... increased advertising for their patreon, rather than... well. all of this.

Dude they HAVE a Patreon. The fact that so few people even knew they did says so much of how bad their budget thinking is…

@marikamiddelkoop7105

3 ай бұрын

Their patreon has over 12k members and a minimum of $5 a month. That's at least $60k a month and $720k a year BEFORE ad revenue, merchandise, brand deals, or live shows. They're either morons or super greedy.

i deadass thought those were the trash taste guys on the thumbnail

@Gatchu137

3 ай бұрын

From left to right: Garnt, Joey, Connor

@AzA609

3 ай бұрын

Except these guys are all Trash and no Taste.

@thsudy

3 ай бұрын

Tbh it does look like someone wanted to make them but wi AI

@deezgod45

3 ай бұрын

the end one looks like connor

@stratosphere94

3 ай бұрын

Omg DEAD. I mean I guess they also are an Asian dude, half Asian dude and a white dude 😆

We had this with Rooster teeth and Dropout/CollegeHumor but they were actual groups with multiple projects which could actually help with this. Now these guys idk if they could make this successful

@mariapaz6379

3 ай бұрын

i was thinking of this exact comparison, but College humor is way older than the watcher, already had an audience for a page outside KZread, and had a bigger catalog of shows. Plus they have so much stuff that they can put a lot of it on youtube for free and still make the subscription worth it. Love the guys at the watcher, but i dont think they have the numbers.

@rumpeltyltskyn

3 ай бұрын

I love(d) Watcher, but they do NOT have that much stuff they have like, a handful of shows, like two seasons of each. And each season is like. 4 episodes.

@honeyswann

3 ай бұрын

Not to mention the audience is built of older people. Watcher’s audience is gen z and young millennials. They can’t afford this much.

@Watsabeholder

3 ай бұрын

@@honeyswann I am their audience. I can afford this.

@salvsays

3 ай бұрын

@@Watsabeholderyou are probably ryan shane or steven you are all over everyone’s comments and are the only person rooting for this. Stop. You are one person in a literal sea of people saying they hate this move. Their like to dislike ration on their vid is crazy. You have to know youre on the wrong side of this.

I really hope the Watcher reverses this move. My family and I watch this channel every week, Ghost Files and Mystery Files are amazing shows. It's just really dumb that they thought that people were okay with putting everything under a paywall. It's ridiculous. I will be surprise if we don't see a response within the next 24 hours haha.

one thing I've noticed about the whole situation is that while some people are pretty mad (and still very respectful which does speak to the community they've built) the majority of the reaction I've seen has been more disappointment, very literally "we're not mad (well maybe a little), but mostly just disappointed"

i loved their content so much, this genuinely saddens me. even if they DO reverse it, i feel that people probably arent gonna really trust them after this.

As a (former) Watcher fan, I just want to point out to you Omni. . . They HAVE a patreon already with over 12k members paying for content. They f-ed up really bad with this move. If they had issues with their budget, they needed to cut stuff back (get rid of video series that don't do well, cut back on sets, promote their patreon more, ect) before going this route. 🤷‍♀️

@gigicilla7

3 ай бұрын

With 12k patreon subscribers, with their minimum subscription being $5 a month, they make at least $60k a month. If they're burning through that they making poor financial decisions

@LPdedicated

3 ай бұрын

I'm so disappointed and heartbroken! I've supported this channel since the beginning, and I even supported their patreon! They struck gold when they created Watcher. The format was perfect! They were killing it with their creativity and authenticity. I've always respected them as creators, but I lost a lot of that respect today.

You know what's crazy Dropout from College Humor has done something similar. However, they kind of had to do it by force. College Humor left all of their old videos on KZread and created all new content for DropOut. Giving fans the option to watch the old stuff and invest in the new stuff if they want to.

@awesome00ification

3 ай бұрын

dropout also has a BUNCH of content. i’ve been paying for it for a few months and still haven’t watched everything i want to. i finish catching up on watcher in like three days.

@missdreavus649

3 ай бұрын

Dropout is insanely cheap and account sharing is encouraged.

@wrenwhite8402

3 ай бұрын

Dropout also has way more content then watcher will ever be able to produce, and that content is varied. They have a wildly successful dnd series, a bunch of improv shows, and a bajillion other things that are all super worth it

@rue6914

3 ай бұрын

College humor! A name I haven't heard in a while. I'm gonna check out Dropout now.

" guys we missed the mark " is one of the most Ryan things to say and yall dont even watch his content like that but that sounds like Ryan all over

Even going back to buzzfeed would’ve been a better decision than this

Damn, I used to watch these guys religiously and saw their “goodbye” video pop up on my homepage. I thought that it was sad they were leaving, but didn’t watch it assuming they were just not going to make content anymore. It’s kinda more sad knowing that they are putting everything behind a paywall :/ making the people that basically built their channel pay for where they are at now

They ain't worried about me not watching then neither am i..

Yeah this feels like big self sabotage Sucks because I actually really liked their content, but now they’re locking content behind a paywall instead of selling more merch, or taking more sponsorships, or really anything else to make more money. Maybe it’s just me but I would rather watch a RAID sponsorship every vid than have the vids locked behind a paywall subscription service. I know it worked for College Humor, not confident this will work for watcher.

@nothobbesmufc949

3 ай бұрын

KiraTV has hilarious RAID sponsorships where he basically trolls them 😂"I love a game I can sit and let play itself while I do something else." drops a book adn money falls out of it "Thanks RAID!"

I thought it was a clever April Fool's joke, posted 3 weeks late to catch everyone off guard. But they actually have the subscription pay form on their site now. Welp, it was fun while it lasted.

Dat lil intro in the beginning is tuff

@DogDadInTraining

3 ай бұрын

off topic but i love your username

@soodle_noup_3890

3 ай бұрын

@@DogDadInTraining Thanks lol 😂

It’s a shame. I loved buzzfeed unsolved with these guys. Literally the only good buzzfeed thing.

@ES2X1

3 ай бұрын

To be fair, they left Buzzfeed like 2 years ago - it's why they started Watcher, cause their Buzzfeed Unsolved videos were like the top favorites, but they didn't have much control over what they could cover and say either.

@frankdobs

3 ай бұрын

@@ES2X1 maybe that was a good things as the content has been bland on watcher

I've been a fan of Ryan and Shane since their BU days and this news is hard to swallow. Frickin bogus of them. RIP Watcher, I guess...

Yeahhh Like idk why they want us to be emotional about this because Steven (one of the stars) owns a Tesla and they have 25 employees and they have 11,000 patreons where the minimum subscription is 5 dollars and they have merch where most of it was above 20 dollars and can cost up to 125 SOOO I literally don't know what they expected. Still I don't think they'll give up. They've always been very passionate and despite saying they were making this change for their fans, it's clearly their vision. So I 100% believe they will go for it anyways.

and you know what's more stupid is that they could've still done the site idea but like for exclusive videos that are really good quality. like how do they really expect people to go to the site in the future when we start forgetting about them?

@Ratbait_

3 ай бұрын

They have patron not sure if they have exclusive videos on there but I know you would get videos like a day or 2 early

@meatrockball3243

3 ай бұрын

@@Ratbait_ that's a fair way too! Just so many other ways for them to potentially make money they didn't need to go this hard into this idea it's bizarre.

What you haven’t mentioned is the post Steven, their CEO, made. It was so snarky and even says “for those who want to keep watching us” as if they weren’t the reason people WONT BE ABLE TO WATCH.

These guys used to have heart. I adored them since they were on buzzfeed and watched them when I needed comfort. This really hurt. Also. They have a Patreon. The people who are gonna pay already are! It’s such a crazy decision.

I needed this video Omni, thank you. I love Watcher and was one of the 1% of people that almost got swayed by the emotional twist they gave their video. I'm a super impulsive and emotional person, and if it wasn't for the comment section and this video, I legit almost let myself get scammed. I literally had my wallet out and ready, refreshed my youtube feed, and this was the first thing I saw. I was like, "ope, alright let me think this over a sec." X'D

@allie7726

3 ай бұрын

You are too good of a fan ❤ and Watcher does not deserve your loyalty. I hated how they put on the emotional music to try and manipulate more of their audience over to the website. I'm glad you didn't end up subing to the website, I heard the website has been having error messages and security systems have been flagging the website as not safe. I hope they turn this around and change their mind and just advertise hard for their Patreon, OR try to get one of their shows on a streaming service that already exists- like Amazon prime or Netflix. They could then get funding and their viewers would get more for their money than just a few videos.

@jamie1602

3 ай бұрын

I was almost that person but they've been making a lot of seasons of shows shorter and canceling things lately. It's less entertainment and we have to pay for less. I'm not paying for less and I'm not getting in to "vote back" a show I liked. That's a stupid idea. Just run things better and MAYBE I'll join patreon.

I said in the tweet based off of view count they were getting between $3500 and $20000 a vid that's good money

@RigbyIsTheMan

3 ай бұрын

Goddamn, they don't need more money

@eliotwildermann

3 ай бұрын

@RigbyIsTheMan those numbers don't even include sponsorship videos which they have done and definitely pays more a video than KZread

@numberonecrate

3 ай бұрын

dont forget the merch sales as well, which im assuming isnt gonna be a consistent money maker for very long after this

@eliotwildermann

3 ай бұрын

@@numberonecrate yup I forgot about that 😅

@Qusai2c

3 ай бұрын

Don’t forget their tours, international tours

It’s outta touch because of the content they’re entertaining but their content is literally making drinks, reading urban legends, and ghost hunting nothing that should be super super expensive especially since they have their equipment already…they’re not doing anything that someone can find a KZreadr that’s giving that out for free and probably just as entertaining. As Shane and Ryan

@emmanuelashak

3 ай бұрын

their content is more than sustainable, not to mention they have merch, sponsors paying them, AS WELL AS A PATREON WITH THOUSANDS OF SUBSCRIPTIONS..at this point they’re just more interested in the money than keeping their loyal fan base

Ryan and Shane are an incredible Duo, I’ve been following them for damn near 8 years, across 7 different shows, but this is where I draw the line, I’m not going to pay to watch the type of content I’ve even watching for free for this long, even if they completely backtrack this, I think I’m just too hurt to continue supporting them. Oh and by the way they do have sponsorships, and a patreon that they never talk about , this is greed

"We dont want multi billionaire cooperations pay for our content, we want the people who are just trying to pay rent to pay for it"

Matpat didn’t completely leave KZread btw, he’s just no longer the host of his theory channels 🤷‍♂️, matpat has said numerous times that he’s still going to be around, it’s like people didn’t actually pay attention during his announcement video 🤷‍♂️

@ninjdraw8305

3 ай бұрын

Buddy, pal, when people say that they mean he wont be center stage.

They’re hoping that 50,000 fans(or so) of the 3mil subscribers goes to their site. It’s really gross cause they could have monetized this in so many other ways. Look at H3. They created a successful clothing brand that basically pays for whatever. If Watcher came out with their clothing brand. Or even said “hey we are struggling. We need feedback. We need to monetize this somehow.” Then people would support them. Also I don’t think the majority of their fan base likes Lins stuff. The foodie part doesn’t seem to fit the other vibe of spooky, mystery, history, type stuff. Idk it’s weird. I unsubscribed. It seems like a cash grab.

@jessieo7953

3 ай бұрын

Yes!! Why didn’t they either reach out to fans with a survey or just be honest about their finances- or break off from Steven (buy him out or something) so they wouldn’t have to carry his dead weight anymore? Really messed up.

They didn’t even think about fans outside of the USA! Exchange rates sucks for South Africans and it’s even worse in some other countries.

The wild thing is that they already have a Patreon, but they never advertise for it.

They could have gone to Sam Reich from Dropout aka CollegeHumor to ask for collab or joining forces - or at least advice how to do it right - because he has been there and learned hard way how these things are done. Dropout and Watcher are almost perfect collab to have. Instead they did a BomerCorporation move, and only accepted reason for that is that the financial backers forced them to do this. Overall their company is hiring people way too fast in a short timeline and that is not a good thing, especially when they are based in expensive city. They didn't even try Nebula or many other options. They did have sponsors and patron, but I don't think they had membership in KZread. Weird. But what do I know... I'm just under educated young millennial from outside USA, all what most financial backers hate, because it's their cultural sport. So they don't probably even think of me as part of their audience.

I love the way your chuckle sounds, I think it brings me joy. 😅 maybe this “watcher” situation isn’t a total loss if I found a new person to watch here

@InfernoOmni

3 ай бұрын

😄

I only followed Buzzfeed for them and then followed when they left and made the Watcher channel. I was so proud of them and I felt so betrayed by this simply cause NO ONE asked for this, we didn’t even need higher production. They literally have a show where they tell a story during video chat and everyone loves it. They sit by a fire and get drunk and it’s great! Theres ways to do low budget content. I love them, I don’t think they’re bad people, I’m just disappointed that their goals are so far off from what the fans want. We don’t want a tv show, just wanted to listen to them goof around!

I knew it. I had commented on how someone was going to report on it from how HUGELY it blew up. The comment to like ratio was crazyyy

@nothobbesmufc949

3 ай бұрын

it's so much worse now 😂

What’s crazy is they could have done both, keep posting on KZread and have a subscription for fans who are willing to pay for stuff like maybe bonus content and bts. Linus tech tips does this with float plane and it’s gone great for them. Just such a dumb move and feels like a betrayal to an audience. It doesn’t even make sense you lose a large chunk of your fan base and you stunt your growth cause you’ll never get new fans.

The FIRE intro is FIRE

@ItsWindHere

3 ай бұрын

Came here to say this!

... why is it that this situation is reminding me of what happened with the creator of The Fairly Odd Parents and Danny Phantom?

@darrenm.7980

3 ай бұрын

oaxis still hasn't come out btw

I loved that during watching this video on their channel, I got an ad for RocketMoney where they talk about “cancelling sneaky or forgotten subscriptions” 😂😂😂

I gotta say, I'm a huge fan of Watcher and today's really sucked with all this news. But, seeing how quickly you made this video and its relatively high quality is a pleasant surprise

This is actually crazy. They definitely have a Patreon so this is just... Yikes

Shane saying people can share the subscription and Steven looking unimpressed. Ya, thinking Shane didn’t want any part of this 😢

@t.ris_

3 ай бұрын

I pray he didn’t, it’s just so unlike him. But even if he did, it wouldn’t hurt anymore tbh- I’m over it now

I liked ghost files the most when it was just Shane and Ryan filming each other in a haunted location with maybe one extra camera person. Idk where they got this “high production value” goal from when literally no one was watching for that

Let's be honest, they're not making enough to cover Steven's vlogging videos. That's why they had to say goodbye. Btw, the dislike is over the 200k.. So ya. It's as ratio'd as their X post. Waiting for their KZread apology vid in a few hours. Btw Omni, they DO have a Pateron. They actually earn quite a lot there. But like I said, prolly not enough to fund Steven's lifestyle.

Their 'Goodbye KZread' video has just passed 103,000 dislikes! Wow!

@leedelee3305

3 ай бұрын

The also lost 30,000 subscribers! Ouch

the fact this guy put out such a well put together video so quick is crazy

@vanessac1721

3 ай бұрын

He must have 25 staff 😂😂😂😂

These guys started on Buzzfeed and they where so successful on Buzzfeed they made a whole channel centered around them. Buzzfeed Unsolved was massively successful. It’s where they got their Watcher channel name, they did an episode where someone referred to themself as The Watcher. When they saw they had all this pull they left Buzzfeed and made their own channel. Now they’re throwing it all away where they could have just stayed with Buzzfeed.

@Coercioner

3 ай бұрын

Them splitting from buzzfeed was a good idea, them doing this, was not.

@avalecto

3 ай бұрын

yeah idk about this take, buzzfeed isn't exactly great to their employees

@jenniferkirrane9718

3 ай бұрын

I really wish they kept doing unsolved, but I'm sure they didn't want to give money to Buzzfeed. Mystery Files is nowhere near as good as unsolved. I wasn't a fan of unsolved supernatural. Spirit boxes are hard for me to listen to.

I don't even watch these guys and I'm upset with them

@MarioMasterProductions

3 ай бұрын

Same here, trying to appise everyone, and everyone hates it. It keeps happening...

@drewo.127

3 ай бұрын

@@MarioMasterProductionsif you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one!

@MarioMasterProductions

3 ай бұрын

@@drewo.127 Yes, exactly!

I understand wanting to have a separate platform to upload your videos on, so you can earn more money. People do that all the time, but they leave their videos available on KZread or other free content platforms, and then they just make special content specifically to be locked behind that paywall. They don't just take ALL of their content and put it behind the paywall. Why'd they think that would work????

You hit the mark with them coming out with the apology, Omni.

Watcher is a fun channel to watch. Really enjoy the Mystery Files stuff. And now they've killed their channel and careers.

Can't wait for Omni to hit us with the Omniflix Era of content. Jokes aside, that intro is HEAT my dude!

I liked the mystery vids and puppet history a lot. I won’t miss any of their food related content

You were close, Omni, “we messed up” is so close to “we missed the mark”; potato/potato. I’m impressed.

12:31 the fact that they just posted an apology an hour ago and the first words uttered was, "We messed up." this is hilarious.

They. Had. A. Patreon They never advertised it. Also the sponsers they got were insane! They had Disney, for one episode for ghost files they had an the state of Montana sponser them

Anyone else think he was sliding into a sponsor when he started talking about how people have a bunch of subscriptions 😂