How is this a proper apology?? Where's the interpretative dance? Where's the gaslighting? No cringe poems?

@demetribaldwin

20 күн бұрын

ikr not even a ukulele, very disappointing

@wolvie1618

20 күн бұрын

​@@demetribaldwin I demand ukulele, I can lend them mine

@LeonBix

19 күн бұрын

Honestly though, i like the guys and im happy they realized their mistake

@KadeNoMula

19 күн бұрын

@@LeonBix It's genuine not beating around the bush. How apologies should be, straightforward.

@cabbitt

19 күн бұрын

No one is sitting on the floor or wearing white. I’m so disappointed.

"Shane finally saw a ghost, the ghost of his career." This comment had me wheezing

@emilyjades

20 күн бұрын

LMAOOO

@MayorGoldieWilson825

20 күн бұрын

Wheezing? Do you have asthma?

@Mt_BT

20 күн бұрын

This comment couldn't be more true.

@Oxipvp

20 күн бұрын

@@MayorGoldieWilson825nah they got COPD

@Peachu_n_Goma_Home

20 күн бұрын

​@@MayorGoldieWilson825 wheezing is like an inside joke from their buzzfeed days unsolved series

They left buzzfeed and then made all the financial mistakes buzzfeed made. You don't HAVE to build elaborate sets, you don't HAVE to hire all your friends, you don't HAVE to constantly travel. There are bigger channels than them that are literally just a dude in a chair.

@hydrogen3266

17 күн бұрын

But if they wanted to do that, they wouldn’t have started at Buzzfeed. It’s the same thing with the Try Guys imo, where they don’t just want to be content creators, and they don’t want to just be youtubers. They want to be media hosts/personalities and producers at their own independent production company, and youtube is just an easy way to build a fan base and get money from it. They all liked Buzzfeed, minus the lack of ownership over your work and quota system. But the Try Guys and Buzzfeed Unsolved were two of the biggest shows they ever made, so they definitely had better treatment than other staff members there. The only good transition (that I’ve seen) from Buzzfeed content into being a normal KZreadr is Safiya Nygaard, who has been pretty good at staying relevant by making fun content that often stays within a niche. She doesn’t let the jokes run old/stale, and she doesn’t make a parody out of herself. It’s a great incorporation of her real life with content, and she’s always been pretty entertaining. Her videos are also high quality while still feeling like she’s a creator, not just the host or the star personality of the video. Those kinds of things are what rub me the wrong way about Watcher and Try Guys

@dudejuice5668

12 күн бұрын

Which is a poetic saying as Charles is a good example

@merucrypoison296

10 күн бұрын

Yea I really hope they’re just terrible at managing their money rather than them just being greedy since I actually kinda care about those guys

@mangosmanda

8 күн бұрын

wendigooooonnnnn

@thewhutnow5795

8 күн бұрын

You fail to realize that there are different approaches in content creation.

the thing that has bugged me the most during this whole situation is shane's wife's tumblr post. she said something about how it's hard to pay people fairly and also make a survivable wage. girl... your wedding venue alone cost $50k and you wore THREE DIFFERENT wedding dresses. last week you posted about a $100 TOTE BAG you bought. don't pretend you're struggling or barely making a "survivable wage" edit: I'm not saying she can't spend her money how she wants to. I just think it's annoying when rich ppl act like they are struggling financially

@Maplebear1203

20 күн бұрын

Not to mention his wife doesn't work none of that money was her own it was watcher money she just wants people to keep paying for her expensive tastes while she gets to sit home and do half assed art

@littlelilac901

20 күн бұрын

Where are you seeing the three wedding dresses? I’ve only seen one and a shorter dress she wore at her reception.

@EazyDuz18

20 күн бұрын

Poor

@windws7137

20 күн бұрын

After that story addition no wonder, this pay to play strategy was brought so that their wives could buy a gucci purse😂

@arielbeck

20 күн бұрын

Rather knowing how to manage your funds the right way 🫢

How far has society come that public figures acknowledging what they did wrong while apologizing is now a high standard for an apology

@the.sketch.projekt8851

21 күн бұрын

Cause everyone is so numb to the fact that most people just ignore the criticism, double-down, attack the people critiquing, or just blatantly keep doing what they're doing that when someone actually realizes of their mistake, people think it's a needle in a haystack. Why? All we see if just the worst of the worst, so we just expect someone to be a scumbag.

@sweetcherry7759

21 күн бұрын

Bc it’s the right thing to do and it shows they listened- and that’s kinda rare

@mocapcow2933

21 күн бұрын

@@sweetcherry7759I mean if they didn’t listen, they would permanently stain their career. This is the bare minimum.

@MFBloosh

21 күн бұрын

It's different with the Watcher guys. They're actually good dudes. Most people would've just ignored their fans. Lol.

@ThatGuy-qp6dv

21 күн бұрын

R u new to KZread?? Most apologies aren't apologies. They usually go on a counter attack and double down or shift blame 😂😂😂

people LOVED the low quality shit. small office, old ass decorations, and blue and yellow text on a black screen? 10/10. it was so good cause their personalities not the quality (watcher had some bangers too ngl but they kinda ventured pretty far from the content i liked)

@AC-th4ci

19 күн бұрын

Ikr?? I stuck with Watcher for maybe a year or two when they first started, but I lost interest in Puppet History when they killed off the professor (I think it came back but I just didn't care by that point), and I was growing out of the ghost hunting/true crime videos before they even left BUN. They never put out anything else that really grabbed me-- going through their channel now it just looks like a 2015 Buzzfeed reskin. That kind of content was fun when I was 17-18, but now I'm 26 and it's not for me lol.

@niranjanrajesh1058

19 күн бұрын

Nothing compares to buzzfeed unsolved, especially pre covid buzzfeed unsolved. That period of unsolved was pure gold. So good. So entertaining. Two dudes talking, black screen. Just amazing

@midnight1116

19 күн бұрын

I only watch Watcher for Shane and Ryan's mystery and ghost files.

@Jessa8891

19 күн бұрын

This! Why do they need sets, videographers, etc? You can also get amazing quality on smartphones now. Spending all this money just to make the videos is ridiculous.

@Tucan_Cam

19 күн бұрын

1000% agree

You touched on what the community suspects is going on: mismanagement behind the scenes. Specifically, the impression we get is that they've hired too many people, and have wildly inflated production budgets. As an example: they've got a lets-play series called Survival Mode. How many people do you think need to be involved in making a lets-play series? There's two people on screen, plus an editor, plus to be generous maybe someone to handle the lights, cameras, and microphones. Four people tops, right? For their latest Survival Mode episode, on top of the 2 people on screen/playing the games, they had a director, producer, tech director, editor, post-production supervisor, production coordinator, gaffer, camera operator, sound mixer, PA, DIT, and assistant editor. That's 14 people working on one episode of a lets-play. (There were more people credited, but I'm limiting this to people who presumably had hands on producing *that episode*, unlike for example the logo designer, executive producers, head of development, and head of production.) Thanks to u/Shitfaced-Crusader on reddit who raised this to the greater community's attention

@ferinzz

19 күн бұрын

PLEASE tell me it's at least the best let's play ever with dynamic lighting effects and multiple cameras and amazing editing that doesn't rely on the game itself. Because otherwise wtf is a director going to do? The game is the director. And I just went to look at it and it's the most basic shit ever...

@jeongin6014

19 күн бұрын

@@ferinzz ur gonna hate this but the game is the main part along with shane and ryan joking about, theres some lighting changes throughout and some light editing here and there but literally no use for that many ppl 😭

@wingdingdoes6687

19 күн бұрын

I'm all for creating new jobs,,,, but that's INSANE

@Giawulf

19 күн бұрын

Thats insane. To put it in perspective...when Gametheory does their GTNotLive vids, aka their let's plays...they have a team of four: Matt on the couch as the host, Ash as cameraperson, audio tech, and co-host, an Editor in post-production, and I believe one additional audio/video tech person. GT is also a huge channel like Watchers, so the fact that Watchers is using a team of 14 people for a lets play vid whereas Game Theory, a channel of similar size, does it with a team of four is insane mismanagement on Watchers' part.

@IrrelevantKoby

19 күн бұрын

I've seen higher production quality LPs done by just a single person and they were full LPs on top of that instead of just mostly one offs that Watcher was doing

The comment section on Watcher's announcement was majestic. It turns out you either die an independent youtube channel or live long enough to see yourself become Buzzfeed again.

@Big.aziza_not.tha_lil_1

21 күн бұрын

Crazy how I licked my lips while eating pizza as a twin girl 😘

@LeBimbo

21 күн бұрын

nice copy & paste

@chrisrosado754

21 күн бұрын

Me when I steal someone else's comment for likes (stolen from Philip Defranco video)

@rememberpickles

21 күн бұрын

Whoa. That's some truth.

@elfinflame6244

21 күн бұрын

Or cheat on your wife with a coworkee

I would have paid $6 to see the absolute chaos crisis-mode the office must have been in the whole weekend

@KyrusSupaul

21 күн бұрын

Nice copy and paste

@noway377

21 күн бұрын

I imagine a lot of pissing, shitting, and crying. 😂

@lunamiku4166

21 күн бұрын

I bet $6 a lot of pointing who's fault this shit happened in their office Also gonna wagger that this definitely made their relationship with each other on thin ice

@swiftlyjer-pdf

21 күн бұрын

delete this before they see it

@noway377

21 күн бұрын

@@swiftlyjer-pdf delete it before they delete it first

When they were describing Ghost Files costs thats when it clicked for me. I watched their supernatural on buzzfeed and was really enjoying it, but with watcher it didn't hit the same... thats probably because on buzzfeed they went in maybe couple of people and a few small cameras on tripod. You can tell ryan was actually scared there. I bet its less scary when you go into an abandoned building with crew of 15 people and lots of equipment. Didn't feel genuine for me anymore

@mrsgunsage01

18 күн бұрын

Yeah I watched Ghost Files a few times but it wasn't as good as Unsolved. I actually hadn't even thought of them for a year or so until this hit.

@oliviap.1370

17 күн бұрын

I think part of that is also that at the start of buzzfeed, he was a random dude who had no real experience with going into these haunted places. Exposure therapy is a real thing, overtime the more people are exposed to/experience their fears the less they're scared of them. He went from having no experience to being a bona-fide ghost hunter. Of course he's not as scared, he's been in dozens of haunted places by now.

@summy1300

17 күн бұрын

@@oliviap.1370 yes, I agree, this also plays a big role in this. It's not realistic for everyone to continue with every episode like its their first. That's why it just doesn't hit the same

“We need to pay our employees a fair wage” *brings on two more people and starts up worth it again*

@kaeyaliker

18 күн бұрын

it's insane to me that andrew and adam even agreed to join this whole mess... it makes me feel like steven/ryan/shane were so unaware about their audience's perception of them, they appeared confident enough for others to accept whatever offer they'd make i just can't wrap my mind around the fact that there were so many important figures in a room and everyone just agreed with the leaving youtube idea, like, no one said a thing??? specially andrew. dude always seemed to be so down to earth and idk? wise? lmfao it's just weird

@caitchri2426

16 күн бұрын

“We need to pay our employees a fair wage.” *LIVES IN CALIFORNIA MAKING CONTENT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CALIFORNIA* Guys, just move your business somewhere more cost effective … your 1mil salaries would go much further literally 100miles east.

@yubelwish

8 күн бұрын

​@caitchri2426 you're asking them to *gasp* make sacrifices and stay in budget?

@caitchri2426

7 күн бұрын

@@yubelwish unspeakable horror

they were at their best when it was just blue and yellow text on a screen. they really never needed more production value than that

@Sheridan2LT

20 күн бұрын

Ikr?? That's when I watched them the most! I mean of course they had production value still, using stock images in a clever way, really good video editing etc., but they don't need an insanely high budget.

@Robisquick

20 күн бұрын

I'm betting that the format didn't bring in new viewers enough or it got played out. Sure we have a nostalgia bias, but no matter how great the original style is, the appetites of the viewers, especially considering there are always new young kids coming onto youtube, there almost certainly has to be a refreshing element. Only in very very rare cases can one stay true to the same exact format and maintain for more than a couple years. But who knows. Hard to deconstruct and be sure

@crispeggies

20 күн бұрын

@Robisquick im sure that flashier/higher production value videos made it easier to attract newer & younger viewers. if they never changed i know that i personally never would have complained

@chelsear9483

20 күн бұрын

@@Robisquickactually they left because Unsolved was not allowing them to provide their own input into any of the videos and was making it harder and harder for them. They talked about it before. I do miss the text on the video but they might not be able to do that because it could be property of Unsolved.

@ihswap

20 күн бұрын

Never heard of this channel. Is it like a spiritual successor to Buzzfeed's unsolved?

I think they shot themselves in the foot pretty badly here. One of the things that separated Watcher from other KZreadrs or entertainment ventures was their extremely loyal and active fanbase. If the situation was that they needed money right now or the channel would shut down, they genuinely could've just asked the fanbase point blank and the fans would've been there. Now, no matter how loyal the fans were originally, there's always gonna be a bad taste left in your mouth when you think of the company.

@madisontutone9810

19 күн бұрын

That is exactly how I feel! Like I don’t watch every video but even id try and chip in if they just flat out asked and I own multiple pieces of merch too. But like even with this apology being good I just can’t look at them the same

@Just_Reading_Comments

17 күн бұрын

Maybe if they weren’t spending ~$250,000 on a wedding and other extravagances they wouldn’t need to try and milk their fanbase for more money.

@maryhough8041

15 күн бұрын

Exactly, a simple “hey, wanna donate so we can work on production value?” Woulda sufficed.

They should've posted the apology on the Watcher platform and put the preview on KZread.

@clarknelson5875

19 күн бұрын

Lol that's a good one

No ukulele, apology declined.

@anxietyonline1947

21 күн бұрын

Top comment.

@ItsJustSeb

21 күн бұрын

Absolutely agree.

@440-fishermandrock8

21 күн бұрын

That dude likes dudes 😂😂😂

@DontReadMyPicture93

21 күн бұрын

*Don’t read my name…😮*

@bimapriambada1098

21 күн бұрын

It fell off massively tbh

You’re right about their ads. Their fan base has actually complimented them on their sponsored bits several times and said they watch them willingly because of how fun they are. I can’t believe they would find it hard to get sponsors at all.

@adrianaheiler9794

21 күн бұрын

The ads on the last Mystery Files season maybe even got more compliments than the actual content, I saw loads of people getting really invested in them.

@AnAngryFetus

21 күн бұрын

I love Professor Morris Ashley and his story. I want to see if he can find love after his time with his beautiful, estranged, Italian wife, Bianca Sophia.

@vita_pulchra_est

21 күн бұрын

The way I look at it is that they want full control on whether or not the videos will be monetized or not. KZread can at any time say "were changing the rules to monetization" and they wont have a say about the matter. Not to say their solution to this risk makes good sense for the audience.

@Goblinboyo162

21 күн бұрын

@CleanserSquadSigma HEY EVERYONE this mf spelt asked wrong what a loser! Let’s all point and laugh at him!🫵🤣

@showaker4755

21 күн бұрын

there are a few content creators who's ads are either too funny to skip or blend in pretty well to the skit they are doing. Ryan George's can be funny sometimes and Zach Star blends his with his skits.

One of the comments on their video stood out to me: “It was funny when you ate gold leaf ice cream on Buzzfeed’s dime, but it’s less funny when it’s our money” They wanted more money, plain and simple. These buzzfeed alumni are used to a cushier lifestyle, but someone else was supplying the money back then. Now they’re treating their fans like their former employer; an infinite cash cow.

@j.artiste8596

21 күн бұрын

Fire everyone except Shane, Ryan and ONE cameraman. Go back to ghost hunting and storytelling (in a small studio). I will be sending them a bill for financial advice. 😂

@Aceofspades2006

21 күн бұрын

If u can find the comment again but there @ cus you know credit. :)

@sgt.lincolnosiris4111

21 күн бұрын

​@@Aceofspades2006this isn't high school. No one cares.

@Van-ff6tq

21 күн бұрын

Best comment I’ve seen thus far

@NoodleVerse

21 күн бұрын

To be fair it's been 5 years since they left buzzfeed so i doubt that they are still used to a cushier lifestyle at this point, this argument would've made sense if it was only a year after they left, but after 5 years i don't think it holds much water. Though was still a very surprising and very bad move from them, never would have thought that about them

can’t believe they said they would have to end the channel if they didn’t do this??? there were A LOT of other options, cut your own salaries, fire some of your staff if necessary. their audience already throws TONS of money at them, they said it themselves, live shows merch patreon etc., it’s not the audience’s responsibility to pay your 25 employees. could’ve just made some necessary cut backs but instead greed took over and permanently damaged their brand. sad really.

@Lozza685

18 күн бұрын

I agree fully there but just want to point out something. Customers going into a restaurant to eat are expected to pay waiters in America by way of tips. A waiter/servers salary from their employers is that small and pitiful that customers are expected to give the servers a tip. Isn’t what watcher asking of it’s fan base the same as what is expected of customers in a restaurant? My thought to your comment of it’s not the audience’s responsibility to pay their staff, it’s not a customers responsibility to pay a waiters wage either. It’s the employers,

@lillymae9637

18 күн бұрын

@@Lozza685 i agree with you but unfortunately employers refuse to pay their servers a living wage, that’s the way it’s been for a long time i don’t see it changing any time soon

@bcjfzoufljvlhfoyyf8860

18 күн бұрын

@@Lozza685what they’re doing is closer to having a meal served by a person that’s only slightly underpaid bc of seniority/popularity, getting ample tips(patreon) and now adding an automatic tip onto your check on top of it all. i have no problem tipping but we patrons shouldn’t have to pay for more than just our meal to ensure their server made enough money to buy their own. and on top of that when a person just adds a tip for me to give them that leaves a very bitter taste. Watcher is now expecting and demanding viewers to pay for ANY of their new content, which is so much more entitled than just having a patreon where supporters CHOOSE to further support you and often get a special thank you video.

This reminds me of when the fine bros tried to trademark the word “react.” It showed that they were completely out of touch with their audience and now it’s how people remember them. I doubt people will just forget this.

@caylei9967

17 күн бұрын

I forgot about them actually (fine bros)

I do fully believe that they are mismanaging their money and don’t know how to budget properly. None of these 3 guys know anything about running a business. Shane and Ryan fully backed out of their executive roles in the company to make Steven the sole CEO. And Steven, frankly, is the one whose content specifically revolved around buying, eating, and/or making very expensive food. From my perspective, he doesn’t have the best grasp on sound financial decision making. Honestly Charlie, you should get in contact with them and see what the hell is going on over at watcher hq 💀

@tea9047

21 күн бұрын

yeah, like worth it was fine cause it was all off buzzfeed money but i don’t think he fully realizes that this isn’t buzzfeed anymore and the people aren’t gonna be happy with him eating gold and truffles in his tesla off viewers money 💀💀

@Cattrix999

21 күн бұрын

lol, I've watched Shane and Ryan's content and if Steven has been involved in their content.. cool. But I have never watched anything Steven has produced. It just doesn't interest me.

@dotdedo

21 күн бұрын

Honestly he could write off all that expensive food as a tax write off in the United States if it was in a monetized video. So if he’s smart enough to do that at least he’s getting a fat return every year which is even worse

@intothepale3551

21 күн бұрын

I didn't realize Steven is now in charge, that explains a lot in a very worrying way.

@moonbeams4999

21 күн бұрын

I'd pay money for Charlie and MatPat to drop in on Watcher to provide financial guidance like a reality show.

Charlie missed that they don’t have 3 tiers on Patreon, they actually have 4. The highest isn’t $25/month it’s ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS A MONTH.

@Nunyabisness86

21 күн бұрын

Omg who is rich enough in this economy to pay for that shit

@weeklyfont

21 күн бұрын

no parasocial relationship that doesnt involve showing feet is worth half that much

@nnnmmmable

21 күн бұрын

​@@Nunyabisness86A person who is rich enough. Seriously.

@amberskies4187

21 күн бұрын

bro what-

@km2766

21 күн бұрын

100?! I hope there is ejaculation.on video

I work on independent films that can get really high production value with just a small fraction of the budget watcher has. I call total BS on their excuse that they need more money in order to provide that quality. What I’m seeing is a huge mismanagement of funds and resources. They need to cut back on the ridiculous amount of money they’re spending before they start asking for more.

@wolfgangwaxlobster3046

12 күн бұрын

Greed. Greed is the word you’re looking for

The thing with the $6, is that it legitimately ISN'T that much, that's 1 cup of coffee a month. But the problem is that there is already 500 other services who are begging for $5-10 a month, INCLUDING THEM WITH THEIR PATREON. If they were one of 4 services in the world asking for a $6 sub, that would be one thing, but since it's one of so many (and again, they already had a different subscription that they asked people to partake in) that left such the bad taste.

@ramseyzev5179

19 күн бұрын

and they completely forgot about conversion for outside rhe us. a fan from the Philippines on the goodbye video said $6 usd is more than a day and a half of normal wages there

@kristin123a

19 күн бұрын

If they at least made a deal or shared service with like 3-4 other channels it could've made sense, but did they really expect to earn big bucks from this? Would't it be better to make the prices on patreon higher or smt? Or even ask for direct donations? Or sell each episode for like $1?

@theflyingdutchguy9870

19 күн бұрын

you buy $6 cups of coffee?!?!? i doubt a cup of coffee i drink costs less than 1

@blandcoffeeamv4107

18 күн бұрын

​@@ramseyzev5179So, so, so true! My husband earned 400€ a month (conversion rates between Euro and Dollar are not that crazy) which could provide for a family of 4! Imagine more than 10% of your wage go to that! When you can feed so many people on your wage.

@mirandoromero

17 күн бұрын

Minimum wage in my state is $7. I make $15 at a really good job. They're asking for an hour of work for some people

25 employees and not even one capable finance manager

@sarahm.8013

19 күн бұрын

there's just friends and family in that company. no finance manager

@slickricky769

19 күн бұрын

its not so much the channel... they are living extravagant lives so they keep paying themselves a "liveable wage" you know one that enough to to host as couple 100k wedding

@SonjaHamburg

19 күн бұрын

​@@sarahm.8013for their apology video alone, they credit like 2 directors of photography, a creative director, multiple editors, a production coordinator,... . That's not "i hire some friends&family". That is thinking they are a tv channel!

@millawitt1882

19 күн бұрын

😂

@sarahm.8013

17 күн бұрын

@@SonjaHamburg and even all that for an apology video is crazy.

saw a comment under the apology vid that said if they’re struggling this much to produce videos even with patreon, sponsors, merch, live shows, and everything else so much so that they felt like they needed to launch this separate subscription service in the first place, it’s not a matter of making more money, it’s a matter of spending less. this hits the nail on the head for me, so many ppl are saying they’re just there for the chemistry between shane and ryan and don’t care about production quality, and it seems like watcher either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about this and both their finances and their intentions with their content seem to be horribly misguided, like they don’t know what their audience is even there to see in the first place

@idontwantahandlethough

21 күн бұрын

there's 100% some suits messing things up from behind the scenes, I guarantee it

@helalakeoffire

21 күн бұрын

​@@idontwantahandlethoughagree!

@carsongxd

21 күн бұрын

Your comment brings up a good point. If they’re struggling, they should ask for help in a more humane and compassionate way. Not push away the majority of their viewers by putting up a literal pay-WALL.

@charlidvds3296

21 күн бұрын

Agree completely. If they need help financially they could come up with a new show and ask for crowd funding. The fan base would put money on anything as long as they get something out of it for not much… like buzzfeed unsolved was peak for me and although they were being funded it was cheaper than what they are doing now.

@ihuntgroomers

21 күн бұрын

Democrats and progressives generally don't run successful businesses, the ones that do are lying and are conservatives 😂 so just like vice and buzzfeed these guys will fail no matter how much support they have or how many views they get . Democrats can mess up a wet dream . Shame the content is good , they just need a conservative to run the business .

The way you can CLEARLY tell they made Steven read the bit about insensitivity around the cost and he didn’t want to 😭

@cici7051

15 күн бұрын

Why? Can you explain please I don’t get it

@ddr1706

13 күн бұрын

Me neither

2 things people: 1. Don’t spend more than you earn. 2. Don’t think you’re bigger than KZread - there’s thousands of stories out there… but millions of others who can tell them.

@hydrogen3266

17 күн бұрын

Right. If you can’t make the content because you can’t afford it, don’t make it. Their fans would rather see them make something of lower production value than feel abandoned or forced to pay them a subscription for their content

I think they need to hire a CEO with legitimate experience. This has been a disaster and 100% could've been avoided with more oversight and business acumen.

@_boogatti_

21 күн бұрын

Apparently up until recently they were doing fine with Steven as the head, especially at the start. They did videos around the process of making their company. But I suppose reviving his old content of traveling and eating expensive stuff threw a wrench in the machine.

@RazielDeTam

21 күн бұрын

I guess, they actually hired a CEO, and that's his genius Idea

@GlacialScion

21 күн бұрын

"Business acumen" is how you get decisions like this in the first place.

@LostMane

21 күн бұрын

@@GlacialScion facts

@TableForOne1976

21 күн бұрын

@@RazielDeTamSteven Lim is their CEO. In terms of business acumen, he is a ten year old in a 33 year old’s body.

Imagine if they paywalled the apology. That would have been galaxy brain tier.

@martinmcwilliams

19 күн бұрын

Linus ltt levels of not reading room if they did that lol

@sarahm.8013

19 күн бұрын

they actually did that on patreon when the one on the left admitted to being friends with people that are "kinda racist and homophobic"

The dude in the middle is absolutely being held at knife point

@VV-er3zg

18 күн бұрын

he's always been the self-righteous one ("eat the rich" yet privileged type of guy), I assume it's a bit of an ego hit to be in this position

@danielwood8135

18 күн бұрын

@@VV-er3zg Beautiful, love to see it

@cheese.strings.for.breakfast

18 күн бұрын

😂😂😂😂

@VV-er3zg

17 күн бұрын

@@danielwood8135 meeeee tooo 😋

@rezhaadriantanuharja3389

15 күн бұрын

That knife has a name: his impending wedding bill, rumored to be around 50K+ USD

If I had a dollar for each time some ex-buzzfeed employees made a company, resulting in 3 men talking seriously on a couch, I'd have 2, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

@GW42329

21 күн бұрын

Copied comment from the watcher apology video.

@kyleellis1825

21 күн бұрын

If I had a nickel for everytime someone has repurposed this quote in another uninspired way, I'd be rich. Which is hilarious considering the quote was about something be slightly unusual, not so common you hear it multiple times a day.

@nate9948

21 күн бұрын

@@GW42329 oh this comment has been around for a while, seen the same exact comment years ago, kids these days dont know how to be original

@Avaa-vanilla995

21 күн бұрын

​@kyleellis1825 it's just a silly little thing from Phineas and Ferb

@CaLypSO4456

21 күн бұрын

I saw this word for word on twitter

Maybe they need a ukulele

@Big.aziza_not.tha_lil_1

21 күн бұрын

Crazy how I licked my lips while eating pizza as a twin girl 😘

@Austin_Jason

21 күн бұрын

My parents said if I hit 20k they'd buy me a professional camera begging you guys literally begging nshshe

21 күн бұрын

Don't translate ฉันจะสมัครรับข้อมูลใครก็ตามที่สมัครรับข้อมูลฉันและชอบความคิดเห็นนี้.

@Sirdilophosaurusthethird2.0

21 күн бұрын

@@Austin_Jason nerd

@PWRGEUTTP

21 күн бұрын

Didn't ask. My content is far superior and has more value than anything this youtuber has ever produced so get over it!

Watcher: “We are going through financial strive, thus we need more money from our fans!!!” Also Watcher: *hires two people to continue a series which causes major financial costs, to reboot a show that had its own channel that flopped due to lack of funds…* 🤔🤔🤔

@Crystalised24

16 күн бұрын

This is what I feel like a lot of people aren’t connecting, like they make this announcement as soon as they hire on the two guys associated with making content that involves buying the most expensive food/service and it’s just a coincidence?? Seems a lil fishy

As someone who works in market research, it’s absolutely BAFFLING to me that they didn’t poll their audience on this idea first. It seems like the way the “goodbye KZread” video was led up to and the entire concept of that video was very insincere and not transparent, which left people feeling ambushed and then thrown away. If they had asked their patreon members and their KZread audience what they thought about a potential streaming service, they could’ve gauged the audience reaction and also introduced everyone to the idea in a more gradual way, but instead they hit everyone with it out of left field once the decision had already been made. Especially when they’ve created a community that feels a close personal connection to them, it really feels like a betrayal to leave them out of decisions like this. I just want to know if they consulted with a professional about this move or did it on their own, cause they either need a refund or to hire a pro lmfao

@morfy2581

3 күн бұрын

They wanted to jump in the sudden goodbye train, joining MatPat and TomScott.

"really odd mismanagement" It's this one. Everything I've glimpsed from their behind the scenes makes it seem like they have no idea how to manage their money as a business and they aren't hiring anyone to do that. Ghost Files should not be taking six figures an episode to produce.

@blademasterzero

21 күн бұрын

A correction from another comment. I’ve heard it’s actually only six figures a season instead, which while less is still a massive amount

@davidlazerz8564

21 күн бұрын

@@blademasterzero If they are paying a living wage to a few people to work on it then that seems reasonable. If they are wasting 90% of it on extra shit then yea thats dumb.

@Anne-fn4po

21 күн бұрын

​@@davidlazerz8564yeah the problem is it's not "a few" people that work on it but they have So Many employees (which can be seen listed in credit under videos), they really don't need that many at all or to spend so much on production/equipment

@Ducks23

21 күн бұрын

⁠@@davidlazerz8564 a livable wage according to data and news articles for LA is 110k, which is insane. They said they have 25 ppl hired. At 110k that’s 2.75MM a year. Even if you drop the salary to 80k that’s 2MM a year. 25 employees on salary for a KZread channel that produces 4-6 videos a month in ridiculous. That isn’t a few people. They are bloated and more than likely paying significantly more than similar roles at other companies. Their operating expenses are too high before you get into the rest of the balance sheet. They don’t know how to run a business. They need to drastically increase their revenue (which probably was the result of their original announcement) to keep their current staff, less people at current salary levels or cheaper labor. That should be the first step before they optimize their whole production to reduce costs.

@nicka5040

21 күн бұрын

@@davidlazerz8564 They credited 17 people including a Gaffer/Lighting in a cheap Let's-play video and only put out on average a video a week. lol.

The funny thing is, if they had just made a kickstarter or crowdfund and stated, "hey this is how much this show costs to make, please help us raise the money we need for the season and then we'll go do it" with direct promises of what that money was for, they would've easily hit targets, like no question, especially if it was Puppet History or Ghost Files related. Asking people to pay for a nebulous idea including content they don't want was the wrong move when they could've easily focused on direct funding to things they want.

@Mr-Spood

21 күн бұрын

@ZackM-sx7tccreep

@booxwee3804

21 күн бұрын

@ZackM-sx7tcThats kinda creepy..

@charlieseen

21 күн бұрын

​@ZackM-sx7tc Brother, as a woman, if you start a sentence off with "Not to be a creep, but", whatever you're saying or typing should stay as an inside thought 😭

@acookie7548

21 күн бұрын

wasn't one of the options after subscription being able to vote for which show to revive? from a list of shows that literally died the first time?

@marandabolish

21 күн бұрын

You're right. If one of your shows is watching someone eat literal gold maybe people don't want to see that if it means they now have to pay to see the content people want to see.

i just feel like they so easily dismissed all youtube viewers who dont pay them like "if ure unable to afford a little 6 dollars subscription we dont need you to see our content BYE" like okay bye im not returning even after the apology 🤷🏻‍♂️

@EvaSofie

18 күн бұрын

They said they’re keeping the videos on KZread and will post new stuff to KZread so what do you mean

@sana6057

18 күн бұрын

@@EvaSofie i meant their original idea of only releasing the videos on their own platform

@EvaSofie

18 күн бұрын

@@sana6057 which they aren’t doing anymore

@honeybeestims

17 күн бұрын

Honestly, they might just be really out of touch and somehow genuinely not know that $6 wasn’t affordable to everyone. I don’t watch their stuff, but that’s how I perceived it

@sarahm.8013

14 күн бұрын

@@EvaSofie the rich la men do not care about you that's what op is trying to say.

Surely no one believes they’re genuinely sorry because they messed up? They’re apologising because they’ve realised they’re gonna lose subs and money from it.

@aidanwiehl2397

18 күн бұрын

If you can't accept a well formulated apology such as this one, you can't accept any. I find that sort of sad. I do think they are sorry

@Maplebear1203

17 күн бұрын

@@aidanwiehl2397 it took to long and was to calculated for it to feel like anything more than "sorry we tried to blatantly demand more money we'll try to be less obvious next time"

@DebtSentence

17 күн бұрын

​@@aidanwiehl2397A bunch of millionaires begging for money in the most obviously manipulative tone possible. These people are extremely calculated but act like their greed was a mistake. The business is making easily a million dollars yearly, and they cry about expensive in the thousands.

@GalinaEv

13 күн бұрын

Anyone reading from the promt instead of saying it in thier own words - is insincere to me

@hegone3290

6 күн бұрын

​@aidanwiehl2397 Ryan and Shane? Sure, that could be sincere. Steven, however, you could tell he was reading off a paper and most likely wasn't sincere.

Even the demons that possess Shane knew they fucked up.

@wiseguy1512

21 күн бұрын

Even the goat wanted his bridge back

@Its_like_the_T-Rex

21 күн бұрын

Is it weird I read that in my inner Morgan Freeman voice.

@katethevampire

21 күн бұрын

Guys the demons made them do this trust me 😰😰😰

@peregrintook310

21 күн бұрын

My favorite comment from the og video was “maybe that fortune teller that told Ryan that he was going to die, meant his entire career…” 😂😂😂

@LizLuvsCupcakes

21 күн бұрын

"Shane, you have stepped in it this time, you are ON YOUR OWN." "You can have your bridge back???" "Maybe someone will rent it from you for six dollars a month."

The fact that they also just hired more people for Steven's show but they say they worry about paying ,in Shane's wife's words, livable wages but are paying new people and are worried about the pay is wild to me, like how can you hire more people when yall are having trouble with the people you already have

@JACpotatos

21 күн бұрын

They're just worried that they won't be able to keep their $1M salaries 😂

@Kiterpuss

21 күн бұрын

I get the impression a lot of this fuss is specifically because of Steven and his own goals steamrolling the other guys. He took the lead in the original video announcement and some of the verbiage by Shane and Ryan in this apology feel VERY pointed. Lots of unspoken "I told you so."

@sneakysnail9225

21 күн бұрын

Yeah with how big they were there's no way they couldn't pay their workers unless they were spending it on luxuries 💀💀💀

@NightQueen01

21 күн бұрын

They wanted to bring on the guys from Worth It. Which Steven and Ryan wrote for Buzzfeed and was as successful, if not more successful than UnSolved. Hiring the two guys from that show would be worth it in my eyes specifically Andrew, he's very charismatic and has quite the following of his own. They could all make really good popular content together. They will make more money with Andrew and Adam, I just think they failed to realise they would need to make budget cuts else where to support the new talent.

@masterdon187

21 күн бұрын

Welcome to the corporate world. my last company they kept delaying our pay rise for over 2 years saying lack of funds but kept hiring new people with higher salary. And what do you know they lost 7 of the original members within 6 months. Companies have the money but refuse to take a dip in profit for a better workplace

I love how Ryan just looks scared, Shanes face exudes pure "told you so", and Steven is just barely holding on, watching his dream of even more money crumble before him.

@vanlifebae

19 күн бұрын

😂😂😂 this is too accurate

@vanlifebae

19 күн бұрын

Lol this is too accurate

@DocAcher

14 күн бұрын

Yeeeep. Steven is the one who's been pushing for it, I'm sure, and now it's all crashing down on him

I have to admit, I'm also shocked how genuine this apology is. They took accountability for everything, addressed all the feedback and concerns, didn't try to deflect or act like they're right, and explained things pretty clearly. I'm in agreement that it's baffling why they thought this was necessary to make a separate platform for further profit when they aren't struggling, but they at least were quick to react and course correct instead of doubling down on it and blame their fans. So good on them for that.

@DocAcher

14 күн бұрын

I agree. I thought it was a sincere apology that also addressed people's concerns with appropriate solutions... It is weird though why they felt like a private platform sub model was needed though? I seriously question the decisions of their ceo on this... and I'd be curious about what type of contracts Shane and Ryan have agreed to with him.

I like how Charlie has been on KZread so long that he's basically the world's foremost expert on critiquing KZread Apologies.

@Surannhealz

20 күн бұрын

He is well known for his Cr1TiKaL thinking 😎

@dumpyyummy

20 күн бұрын

​@@Surannhealz good one😂👏

@AndrewCreatez

20 күн бұрын

​@@Surannhealz👏😑

@dangernugget4731

20 күн бұрын

There's actually a channel that analyzes and scores KZreadr apologies! The creator specializes in psych or something

@hellthehedgehog

19 күн бұрын

There’s a 10+ hour compilation of him reacting to KZreadr apologies, it’s beautiful

The funniest thing to me is that their patreon already existed at nearly the same price and we already got content early through it. This whole thing could've been avoided if they just upped the patreon price by one dollar, released ad-free content a month early rather than a day early, and advertised it more on their KZread channel. And Patreon has a comment section so the community would be more engaged and still get to discuss new episodes as they come out.

@chrispalumbo5556

21 күн бұрын

True, but through their own website they wouldn't have to share a cut of the money with Patreon

@Freexnme

21 күн бұрын

@@chrispalumbo5556 WatcherTV is on Vimeo, which costs $1 per subscriber.

@pazz

21 күн бұрын

Yeah, but that way they wouldn't get BOTH income streams.

@MenacingWhims

21 күн бұрын

@@chrispalumbo5556 it wasn't their own website. They are paying vimeo. So still giving up a percentage of revenue

@janelbbuck

21 күн бұрын

Buuut moooom, daaaad they want their own site 👶. Jokes aside, I get they really wanna own their media to the *bone.* But they really don’t NEED too yet. And honestly they can’t yet, the audience doesn’t want that.

They apologized not because they betrayed their supporters, but got hurt where it counts- financially:(

@Big.aziza_not.tha_lil_1

21 күн бұрын

Crazy how I licked my lips while eating pizza as a twin girl 😘

@bro...

21 күн бұрын

@@Big.aziza_not.tha_lil_1 bruh why under my comment

@TheDamagedKoda

21 күн бұрын

Yeah it's just shady greedy people

@BluCarnage

21 күн бұрын

Ya don't say?

@user-oz4xx5rg9o

21 күн бұрын

how you know that you baldy

Whoever is managing their money needs to be investigated for embezzlement if they're blowing through all that money so fast :/

Their goodbye video started with a shot of Watcher Headquarters IN HOLLYWOOD. 🤦🏻‍♂️

I’m SO glad they apologized. Everyone needs to take a book out of the sonic movie and LISTEN TO THEIR AUDIENCE

@whatswiththisnewhandlesthing

21 күн бұрын

There should be a scale from the Saints Row Reboot to the Sonic Movie to categorise how to handle that shit

@DontReadMyPicture93

21 күн бұрын

*Don’t read my name…😮*

@lightseyedea763

21 күн бұрын

​@@whatswiththisnewhandlesthinggod don't remind me of the SR reboot... one of my favorite series man

@stinkybumwhole2653

21 күн бұрын

That was a fake out to draw attention to the movie

@Woter_X

21 күн бұрын

You should not be needing an apology from the Internet. Like seriously what is wrong with you? I think you need to put your phone down and get in touch with actual human beings. Anybody who is needing an apology from somebody on a free platform is completely out of touch.

When Smosh was going down, they literally sold their company in order to provide free entertainment to their fans while still being able to do what they wanted creatively. I think it's frustrating that their first thought was not to get a financial manager, business manager, even a damn media/marketing manager or look within their company to see what they could do but rather impose it on their fans. Saying we're taking away all your content if you don't pay us is wildly horrible marketing strategy to introduce a new product.

@MoHaziq93

21 күн бұрын

Smosh is such a good example. They have way more mouths to feed and much lesser views during that era. They survived without paywalling and now became bigger than ever before.

@kieira

21 күн бұрын

Because Steven's tesla isnt going to paid itself, or you know...Steven's lets go eat to the most expensive restaurant we can find and make a video of me eating a 1000 dollars hamburger, for the channel of course. Also, who has extra money to hire a financial manager or a business manager? Steven first needs to hire his buddies from back of Buzzfeed to work on his lets eat expensive food show.

@RoeBoats

21 күн бұрын

the best example I've come across so far. Big props to smosh for not giving up and always trying to keep their fans happy. Now I'm even more bothered by the whole Watcher situation considering what Smosh went through.

@Alex-sl1hm

21 күн бұрын

I was wondering if they were going through something similar to smosh. Perhaps they already sold watcher and are owned by a scammy company or already have a manager who is taking way more than their fair share(?) That's the only way I can see their maths making sense...

@VIXVIIIMCMXCVII

21 күн бұрын

Smosh fucking sucks though

what ultimately confuses me and I haven't really seen anyone talking about is the cost of creating and managing an entirely new streaming platform, like to operate they need their current staff to dedicate more time to managing it or hiring new staff to solely focus on it or outsourcing to a company. I understand that this way all profits go to them and they don't have to pay an already established streaming platform to host their shows and receive a smaller cut but I honestly don't see how that would cost them more than creating a whole new platform, maybe I'm ill-informed but from the outside I don't get it it would have made more sense and honestly probably been more lucrative and well received if they just had their episodes go up early on their patreon, they would probably get more people signing up and paying more money at different tiers rather than a solid $5.99 from everyone and wouldn't have the added cost of making an entirely new platform

I think one of my biggest problems is they introduced these changes in a way that fits the format of “I’m talking to you as a friend and not a customer.” I feel like they prooooobably knew this might not go over so well, so they had this “month early + ad free” on the back burner. This is a good business decision! When making big changes, it’s good to have the same changes but to a lesser extent just in case people don’t like it. To then make the business decision into this idea of speaking to you, their FRIENDS, from the couch in plain clothes trying to be comfy and casual and saying we are sooooo sorry we never thought this could happen…. It feels very disingenuous.

@ShoujoJo-us3py

19 күн бұрын

At the same time what should they do? Wear formal clothes and do a deep bow?

@DebtSentence

17 күн бұрын

Cmon friend (person they don't know who is on average a random teenager) give us more money so we can make even more profit. KZreadrs hate para-social relationships until tax season comes around

I still can't get behind "we weren't going to survive, we were going to have to lay off employees and eventually shutter without this pay wall", when they are also expanding by hiring two more, I'm sure expensive, on screen talents.

@semperaugustus661

21 күн бұрын

It seems like it is their own fault. They grew too big too fast and are afraid to make the necessary changes because they don't want to fire anyone. So instead they are making everyone else pay for their mistake.

@Bloodclatburner

21 күн бұрын

@@semperaugustus661 not that they grew too fast, they just want everything to be super high quality when thats not what we care about. We care about the personalities not the set of the shows or the animations. they seen to have this idea that more people equals higher quality which isnt true

@niccolom4556

21 күн бұрын

God forbid they want to grow, huh?

@Karragh

21 күн бұрын

@@niccolom4556 You have to have natural growth. If we take them at their word that the company is bleeding money and on the verge of shuttering and costing everyone their jobs it is an incredibly unwise and frankly selfish move to keep expanding rather then tightening things up and keeping your people employed.

@vault_tec_404_4

21 күн бұрын

Not only did they hire 2 more on screen talent. They want to bring back the more expensive show of traveling and eating expensive food. Nothing about their announcement said “we need to stay afloat” all it said to me was “I want more”

Their "Goodbye" video basically described their viewership as negligible and inconsequential. Not what I'd call good marketing. Also, I think them talking about their $250K wedding and honeymoon before crying about needing more money was very ill advised.

@rs-mt6kl

21 күн бұрын

Wait who's wedding?👀👀

@chloeapples

21 күн бұрын

⁠@@rs-mt6kli think it’s Shane’s? But also steven just got married so it might be that! But both weddings were insanely expensive (no one needs three dresses for one day XD)

@Chris_Cross

21 күн бұрын

Are those three married to each other?!?

@madsfiedler3884

21 күн бұрын

​@@Chris_Crossno?

@madsfiedler3884

21 күн бұрын

​@@chloeapples depends on culture, but at least for modern us weddings a lot of brides have 2 dresses or a changeable dress

here's my little piece for the "staying relevant to brands"--i went to their live show in 2023, where we were shown the Montana State Prison ghost files episode. we were then told after the episode that because the KZread episode was sponsored by a certain advertiser, most of the "inappropriate" content that we had just seen at the show would be cut for the KZread release--and it was. most of these guys' most memorable moments are them being dumbasses and inappropriate while ghost hunting, namely. if most of their ads are causing them to restrict their content like that one episode did, I understand why they wanted to ditch ads and make their own service--to make the content they and their viewers want.

@averyeml

15 күн бұрын

Out of curiosity, what kind of stuff was cut? Because I can’t imagine what they’d be doing there that’s so not safe for KZread that it would scare off an advertiser. Unless they’re taking dumps on the floor uncensored or calling the ghosts slurs I can’t think of what would turn off an advertiser when true crime channels and such get sponsors. Especially when I think back to their Buzzfeed stuff- they had a lot more fun but none of it seemed “edgy”

@lunarlullaby05

15 күн бұрын

@@averyeml I don't remember the exact bits that were cut because I obviously only saw it once, but I believe one of the jokes and bits that ran through the entire episode was the guys making jokes about Satan's penis. I'm sure there were more, but that's all I remember.

@averyeml

15 күн бұрын

@@lunarlullaby05 gotcha- yeah I get not recalling specific bits but vibes are plenty. I could see that being on the edge depending on the sponsor. I think the guys have some work to do on the back end regarding staff size vs. output but if they can strike a better balance, those advertisers could either be turned down or put up with because they could cut more loose in other videos. I want to see them succeed but I think there’s some bigger issues that they gotta hammer out. I want my ghoul boys back!

@lunarlullaby05

15 күн бұрын

@@averyeml I agree. I've been a fan of the guys since s1 of unsolved, so I honestly paid for a sub to their service immediately, but that's only because I'm lucky enough to have a good paying job and not a ton of other things I need to budget for. I put on all of my socials that any of my mutuals could have my password, at least before their apology video. I do think they need to iron out a few more things, but I think the whole thing of them releasing episodes a month earlier than KZread on their site is a pretty smart move, all things considered.

unironically one of the best youtuber apologies genuinely sincere and admitted wrongs and actually said what 90% of apologies don't say "I'm sorry" solid 8.7/10 apology

they made a severe and continuous lapse in their judgement

@Noah73827

21 күн бұрын

They do not expect to be forgiven.

@Ilovedallthepeople

21 күн бұрын

Thankfully it was a one time kind of thing and they fixed it in like two days lol

@justingary5322

21 күн бұрын

Exactly they APOLOGIZED for SCHMONEY 🤑💰

@Anomandaris

21 күн бұрын

nice

@vampqueen182

21 күн бұрын

lollll omg whose apology video is this from

It sounds like they got greedy, over-played thier hand, and the public as a whole called their Bluff.

@carsongxd

21 күн бұрын

Yup

@camjacob8876

21 күн бұрын

I blame the guy on the left he’s the ceo

@carsongxd

21 күн бұрын

@@camjacob8876 they’re all bad can we just stop acting like one of them is better or worse than the other? Again, they’re all bad.

@chasehorton2324

21 күн бұрын

Why are people so butthurt about it though, paramount+, Netflix, Hulu, hbo max all cost money, twitch subs, but they crossed the line by wanting people to pay a monthly subscription for content?

@user-be8oj3fw8v

21 күн бұрын

What if they were genuinely sorry? We get it, you like drama. You like it when someone famous goes under because its a guarantee ego booster. But these guys were sorry and generally cares for their fans.

it’s funny that wealthy people always conveniently forget that $6 to most of the middle-lower class is a cheeseburger for lunch and that means a lot to some of us. Edit: Also it seems like they mismanage their money and asking for more is not the ethical way to fix that issue.

I have to say Watcher handled the situation with a lot of grace. It wasn't a desperate "Please buy our thing", it was a "Oh, we realize some of our supporters might not be able to buy our thing, we're sorry" before promptly changing their tactics for how they went about this new platform.

@DebtSentence

17 күн бұрын

Lmfao there was no mistake, they knew what they were begging for money and attempted to tone it perfectly to avoid criticism. Millionaires begging longtime subscribers to fund their yacht. You think they didn't know?

I'm so glad charlie brought up the fact that their content is super brand friendly, cuz that's like the first thing I thought when they were explaining their original decision. They're former buzzfeed employees, their content is pretty much as brand-friendly as you can get. So to act like getting brand deals was an issue hasn't made sense to me

@zythe69akaru

20 күн бұрын

I could see maybe if they wanted to include more drunk content (idk KZread's stance on that) or swear more, but yeah, most of their content is perfectly fine for advertisers...

@msthecommentator2863

20 күн бұрын

Exactly, it's not like Dropout where they're drawing dongs every other episode and swearing like sailors. There's a need for an independent platform for content that YT will flag, but that never felt like the case for this group.

@Blackjack1317

20 күн бұрын

That's what I thought. I guess you could call some of their topics not suitable for kids and their language isn't clean either, but over all, what's the problem. Or rather, what kind of content did they plan for the future, that couldn't be put on KZread? What are they planning that could risk their "brand-saveness"?

@Gabriellaella23

20 күн бұрын

@@msthecommentator2863 but I have to disagree. They do swear quite often and a lot of the stuff and jokes they make can be “inappropriate” for a younger audience. Especially when doing their true crime content their jokes can get pretty graphic . I am not sure where the family friend/clean comments are coming from. They also have a show where they try to get extremely drunk and often talk about Ryan being a stoner. Maybe they wanted to make more mature content where they don’t have to beat around the bush about things and watch what they speak about. Maybe have a stoner version or too many spirits without getting demonetized or having trouble finding a sponsor. I’m not saying they made the right decision with making their own platform, but saying their content is “clean/family friendly” is not completely true.

@mcholy333

20 күн бұрын

It's also like.. completely possible to reach out to companies.

Watcher: "We were going to lay off employees and we weren't going to survive if we didn't do this" Also Watcher: *continues to hire more people*

@scourgehh714

21 күн бұрын

Have to understand though. New hires are often overworked and paid basically nothing, way cheaper than current employees

@SleepWalker88

21 күн бұрын

Also Watcher: and in our apology video we’re gonna lie about our revenue

@souljaboy1416

21 күн бұрын

@@scourgehh714 actually usually existing employees are paid ass and the new hires get hired on a dollar more

@rosemadder5547

21 күн бұрын

For their "high quality".... Food shows? 😅

@rosemadder5547

21 күн бұрын

​@@scourgehh714 and? Their profit is huge.

Their apology feels so corporate and structured to me. Like their voices felt monotone? Also, you’re almost at 15m🎉🎉

@Slowbo

18 күн бұрын

i know exactly what you mean, i was getting that feeling as well especially when steven would talk

@nohbuddy1

17 күн бұрын

It 100% was corporate PR researched apology

Their live show made me not trust them at all, it was called Ghost Files Live so we assumed they would research the city they are in and have a little script about the ghost stories of that area and Ryan would read it while Shane joked about, their classic setup. Instead they just.....played a 40 minute youtube video of an episode of ghost files. They did a Q&A after but probably 1/5th of the audience left before that. It was really disappointing.

@kumikooo2

18 күн бұрын

Wow, that is SO disappointing

I'm sorry, but the whole situation felt like a fever dream. I mean, Shane "eat the rich" Madej making a KZread apology over such a topic? Yeah, never in a million years did I see this coming as a long time viewer since Buzzfeed Unsolved

@billbill6094

21 күн бұрын

And the rich was sitting on the left.

@fangsbrokenrose

21 күн бұрын

It’s eat the rich until you’re rich apparently 🫠

@Carmn07

21 күн бұрын

@@fangsbrokenrosesaltburn effect

@the_real_cookiez

21 күн бұрын

Buzzfeed people doing Buzzfeed things LMAO

@CantTellYou

21 күн бұрын

14:24 Shane’s expression says a lot 😂 Like someone else said, I imagine he & maybe Ryan had a few “told ya so Stevens” yelled out after

gotta love the "Im talking from my heart although its clear Im reading a strategically planned speech" vibe

@IvyHale151

21 күн бұрын

An apology made out of obligation isn't sincere.

@aaronstevens5325

21 күн бұрын

@@IvyHale151wtf would a sincere apology look like then? people like you really confuse me.

@rajput36000

21 күн бұрын

@@IvyHale151they don’t owe you anything

@evilalan2084

21 күн бұрын

​@@aaronstevens5325 First off, not doing something scummy like this knowing full well is wrong. Now since it has impacted them negatively they're obligated to apologize. Not because they want to, but because they have to

@divaofthedamned365

21 күн бұрын

@@IvyHale151 All apologies are made out of obligations. You're obligated to apologize to the wronged party for whatever you've done to wrong them. Doesn't matter how you feel about the person, it's what's supposed to be done regardless.

its like when your neighbor youve known for years suddenly sets a password for the wifi

Ima be honest, I don’t think I’ve EVER seen an apology THIS strong! They did pretty good

"obviously we weren't sneaky enough in the way we asked for money, but we'll hit the drawing board and make it less obvious"

@jaydelicioso

20 күн бұрын

That’s literally what I understood from this message. And I don’t know how Charlie didn’t touch upon that.

@KillerSkullX

20 күн бұрын

This

@masterchiefofhalo4525

20 күн бұрын

Correct!

@codyeaster290

20 күн бұрын

@@jaydelicioso Because Charlies is human and as a human, he is sometimes dumb enough to miss details, important as they are.

@king_supreme1102

20 күн бұрын

Oh no, the people providing a service want your money for it. What is this blasphemy?

What gave me the biggest ick was the moral attachment of people’s finances and fair wages (see Sarah’s post). Why is it on the audience to pay fair wages to the employees? Meanwhile Steven drives a Tesla (mentioned in a Watcher podcast), flies out to Korea to eat good food, and let’s not forget how expensive many Dish Granted episodes. Yes, lay-offs suck, but if pay equity is such a priority (as it should), then why add 2 more employees for a new fancy show? Why expand so quickly if it can’t be done sustainably? Another thing of note is that some of the most viewed content seemed not as costly to produce, literally done in a backyard or virtually (Too Many Spirits and Are You Scared?). I was a die-hard Buzzfeed Unsolved fan in my broke college days, and was a die-hard Watcher fan until that goodbye announcement. It honestly feels weird to continue supporting them knowing that their finances are likely being mismanaged to the point of fair wages being at risk

@livi9052

21 күн бұрын

They literally discussed tips on pod watcher a while ago and were agreeing that it shouldn’t be the consumers job to pay servers livable wages. Ironic

@Splat-25

21 күн бұрын

Completely agree. Someone nailed it on their video. Steven is money hungry. Ryan is fame and growth hungry and Shane went along with it because he had no choice.

@livi9052

21 күн бұрын

@@Splat-25 see I want to believe shane was against it but like…. Why would his wife make that post then :/

@stolenrelic

21 күн бұрын

​@@livi9052It's possible his wife drank the corporate growth kool aid more than he did. She's a highly influential and highly paid member of that company, too. But it's truly impossible to know anything for sure.

@Dimsrose

20 күн бұрын

They literally didn't read the room at all. This doesn't sound like a problem that they need to throw more money at. It sounds like a problem with controlling their money outflow.

As someone who is almost finished with their Business Management degree, one of the first things I was taught was to always have an Exit Strategy if you plan on being a business owner. I would ask what they were thinking the whole time they were doing this, but it's now clear they didn't have a sustainable long-term plan.

The way Shane lowkey has that “thank god it didn’t happen” look lmao

I did NOT expect them to apologise lmao

@Big.aziza_not.tha_lil_1

21 күн бұрын

Crazy how I licked my lips while eating pizza as a twin girl 😘

21 күн бұрын

Don't translate ฉันจะสมัครรับข้อมูลใครก็ตามที่สมัครรับข้อมูลฉันและชอบความคิดเห็นนี้.

@Sirdilophosaurusthethird2.0

21 күн бұрын

@@Big.aziza_not.tha_lil_1 nerd

@Sirdilophosaurusthethird2.0

21 күн бұрын

nerd

@years-ti7xl

21 күн бұрын

At least they did and at least it's better than most apology vids.

“We can’t keep this type of content on YT” “Okay, so we will keep this content on YT, just a month late”

@acleanpairofsocks

19 күн бұрын

😆yup. Plus, idk man, everyone else seems to be able to keep their content on YT, so it sounds like an issue on your end.

@nuyynuyy

18 күн бұрын

Other channels already do this shit. You guys are just throwing a hissy fit because your relatable KZread want to get paid for it lol. They're stupid doe announcing it

@Maplebear1203

17 күн бұрын

@@nuyynuyy they ARE getting paid though patreon, merch, live show tickets with ad cents and sponsors it's not a making money issue it's a irresponsible spending issue

@Sahasrahla.

17 күн бұрын

With this method they aren't as exposed to risk when their videos get demonetized. They talk about murder and sex and rape all the time, thankfully without bleeping or annoyingly muting them out, other channels won't even say those words for fear of getting demonetized. If you're only posting one or two big videos per week it takes a huge chunk of the revenue if it gets flagged.

@cosmosequation6672

16 күн бұрын

@@Maplebear1203 patreon has a tax, merch is barely sold, they don't have many live shows, sponsors hardly reaches out to them and sometimes sponsors doesn't give money but rather benefits.

"got spit more than a mic in a beatbox competetion" is wild 💀💀

@Hallstien

8 күн бұрын

Who

Thanks for clarifying that was a Futurama reference, was about to subscribe right there.

The fastest “Grand Opening” to “Grand Closing”. Well, at least they listened to their audience. 🤗

@ArariaKAgelessTraveller

21 күн бұрын

They want you to believe their lies

@quoththekraven5911

21 күн бұрын

Oh hey Jay-Z

@samsizer2919

21 күн бұрын

Not really a grand closing. All new shows go on there along with the early access.

@winniepooh187

21 күн бұрын

@@samsizer2919 it’s really just early access. Still free content with no paywall

@TheFlatPancakeTheory

21 күн бұрын

They haven’t listened

It's important to note that all of this has come out a week before a massive live show in London.

@m_here1

21 күн бұрын

No one has mentioned this. Oh my god. They’re doing another live show and still need this streaming service???

@qxevtnu1879

21 күн бұрын

@@m_here1 live shows are hard to judge without actual numbers. Cost to the venue, paying staff, renting equipment, transporting merch can all be more than you'd think. From what I've gathered, unless you're a major artist or something in that nature, live shows can be a loss leader. It still rings true for a lot of esports. LCS is one of the most popular video game events that happens and is still a loss leader, but it promotes and commercializes so its seen as good regardless. OWL is also not profitable. Hell Charlie himself has claimed that Moist Esports isn't profitable. At most they likely get 5-15% profit.

@Karla_97_

20 күн бұрын

Greed

@aimeeh2079

18 күн бұрын

Dude no way I want to know how that live show goes after this 💀

The thing that’s annoying is the fact that if they were never called out, they wouldn’t be sorry & would continue with their subscription platform. Guess that goes for every company though…

@Sahasrahla.

17 күн бұрын

They wouldn't be aware there was a problem with the new platform if people didn't complain so it's good that they're still small enough to be able to listen to fans.

I always missed the unsolved mystery episodes I didn't even know they had their own channel 😂

And now we wait for the video where they find out Steven has been embezzling money

@danner253

21 күн бұрын

Maybe if his stupid show was cancelled they could run. I like Ryan and Shane but I can't fucking stand him and his shallow show.

@soapa4279

21 күн бұрын

Coffeezilla: *Breathes heavily*

@cic3000

21 күн бұрын

steven has gotta go if shane and Ryan are going to have a chance

@HEARTS4GARNET

21 күн бұрын

I've never seen a money hungry and overall shitty steven in my LIFE😭

@mrsurge4789

21 күн бұрын

I legit joked about this possibility to myself earlier but I genuinely would not be surprised. The guy makes all the financial decisions apparently and he’s the CEO who gets the final say. This whole idea has his name written all over it

Watcher: *Adds a Paywall to their KZread channel.* EA: Look what their doing to imitate a fraction of our power.

21 күн бұрын

Don't translate ฉันจะสมัครรับข้อมูลใครก็ตามที่สมัครรับข้อมูลฉันและชอบความคิดเห็นนี้.

@PWRGEUTTP

21 күн бұрын

Didn't ask. My content is far superior and has more value than anything this youtuber has ever produced so get over it!

@Big.aziza_not.tha_lil_1

21 күн бұрын

Crazy how I licked my lips while eating pizza as a twin girl 😘

@kesterlimpo4854

21 күн бұрын

Think!

@geneticallyengineeredcatgirl

21 күн бұрын

I cried alot as a kid because I couldn't use any of my game codes again from the games I bought physically. Literally didn't get to play them just found out I needed a new SD card after installing them then EA NEVER let me use my expensive ass games again.

KZread apologies in the past: WHY CAN'T THEY JUST SAY SORRY??? These guys when they say sorry multiple times: SAYING SORRY DOESNT SOLVE THE PROBLEM!!

"For free" really pisses me off, it's not free because we are watching ads/brand deals/paying for premium. No one is doing anyone a favor or providing anything for free if it's on KZread

I love how they out Shane in the middle because they know we trusted him the most

@ruralmetalhead

21 күн бұрын

His wife's opinions on the matter actually made me trust him less, tbh. I don't think he was as uninvolved as people seem to think.

@iiastridii

21 күн бұрын

@@ruralmetalhead omg what opinions? 👀

@RyuKyu.77

21 күн бұрын

​@@ruralmetalheadmf spill, don't just leave us looking for her Twitter

@rs-mt6kl

21 күн бұрын

Yooo tea?? So people still say that?? Either way I want it ​@@ruralmetalhead

@ruralmetalhead

21 күн бұрын

@@RyuKyu.77 She had a little pretentious guilt trip moment on her tumblr implying people who didn't want to pay for WatcherTV didn't want to pay workers livable wages or something along those lines. The funny part about it is, her and Shane's wedding was apparently in the $250,000 range, and she wore THREE DIFFERENT wedding dresses. In one day. So her post comes of VERY out-of-touch and preachy.

Steven recites his lines like he’s squinting while trying to read off of a Wendy’s menu

@LeMenace1

21 күн бұрын

He took most of the flak for the decision from an audience he probably thought supported him just as much as the other two. The thing is most people didn’t want to blame Shane or Ryan which is probably why.

@comedyimpossible

21 күн бұрын

He felt like he was reciting an official PR statement more than the other two

@cptnjody7

21 күн бұрын

@@LeMenace1this, but also, he was the one who said “anyone can afford it.” even if they came up with that together, steven said it, which probably allowed people to find a scapegoat to not hate on ryan or shane.

@xrgarcia10

21 күн бұрын

⁠@@cptnjody7and he is also the one that ends up buying 10k lobster for his show. Sorry, he wanted us to pay for his 10k lobster 😂

@aritrasaha441

21 күн бұрын

Most people just accept steven as a part of watcher. Most people are not fans of his work clouding thier channel​@@LeMenace1

Honestly, this is by far the best KZread apology I’ve ever seen and they handled it so great and they now did it the best compromise they could have come up with, my subscription is now safely secured

You hit the nail on the head when you speculated about “some kind of weird mismanagement behind the scenes.”

Saying they would have to lay people off or shut down seems like a real shady tactic. Trying to make the audience feel bad for questioning them.

@Blaquebarbgamer

21 күн бұрын

Shiiii all of us are struggling, I was like join the club.

@billbill6094

21 күн бұрын

Or it could just be the truth, if you go into every situation thinking an explanation is just a sympathy garnering tactic then the whole world will seem like a bunch of manipulative cunts.

@princesssookeh

21 күн бұрын

Good thing it doesn't seem to be working. Most are accepting of the apology but still are asking how the hell they allegedly ended up in such bad shape.

@midgematic8659

21 күн бұрын

Honestly Im completely turned off by Watcher now, the facade is broken with this sht and that language has caused me to just see these three dudes as greedy corporate faces now. Any of their business problems are completely on them as a business, if they dont make content that the public enjoys or watches, thats on THEM to produce content thats viable. And that wasn’t even a problem with their channel; people genuinely enjoy them! But their poor ass business decisions and “tv quality” obsession with videos lead them t9 this point. If they want to do tv, they should put their asses into hollywood, except they won’t because they’d be at the bottom all over again and they already have a large yt audience. As we have seen throughout the years, youtube IS NOT television programming. I’m sorry for being so fired up about stupid drama, but I’m actually disgusted with these guys. I used to love watching them; but they’ve became what they were running from. Just Buzzfeed but in different font.

@michaelka3071

21 күн бұрын

its a common reason believe it or not, bad stuff comes out when something goes wrong and clearly they needed to give a reasonable reason on what they did, its not only for people to feel "bad" for them its also to assure people that they made a mistake due to this "reason" that they gave, if they gave a reason that isnt acceptable they would dig a deeper hole on what they already dug it would be a dumber decision up top a dumb decision. so if you made a dumb decision in the future and dont want to look even dumber dont halfass your reasons

Wealth literally rots people's brains. These guys are falling for the same stupid thought process as most greedy business owners: the idea of unlimited growth. They're already making an insane amount of money and yet it's still not enough for them. They could all quit now and never have to work a day in their lives but they're so addicted to capital gains they'll never be satisfied. They're chasing the dragon

@nilexxx

21 күн бұрын

totally agree

@HappyDragneels_page

21 күн бұрын

not to mention im pretty sure all these guys live in LA which just accelerates the wealth brain rot

@drunkenhobo5039

21 күн бұрын

Line goes up!

@PossibleBat

21 күн бұрын

Im so glad I’ve always despised money. I get the amount I need and nothing more. I have no desire to accumulate wealth. I want to live a happy life, not a rich one.

@ThorAxeleon

21 күн бұрын

​@@PossibleBatFacts, preach!

to be honest, I was SO surprised by their decision, I've been following this group since their BuzzFeed days, this really felt out of nowhere... I am glad that as genuine people they replied to their community the right way. They've always been relatable about financial situations, about their dreams and goals creatively, etc. So I don't know if possibly someone hyped them up a LOT blinding them with that excitement.

I think they didn’t put enough thought into the fact that a big part of their audience is international. For example, 6 dollars for them actually are R$30,00 in my country. Second thing is, most people aren’t going to pay for something they had free access to since the beginning

@stohelit57

18 күн бұрын

I'm in the U.S. but this was one of my first thoughts as well. The whole "anyone and everyone can afford" was completely out of touch. It shows ignorance of not only the current cost of living crisis in their own country of residence, but a complete lack of any consideration for their international fans. If Lim is flying all over the world to try expensive food how are they so willfully ignorant of the implications of $6 elsewhere? It's elitist and maddening and I'm not resubscribing.

Watcher literally got sponsored by the state of Washington, it's crazy that a channel with a sponsor like that is saying that they are unsuccessful on a platform and would otherwise close down if they didn't launch their own streaming service

@Ilovedallthepeople

21 күн бұрын

The interesting thing is that the video you are talking about was incredibly censored and restricted precisely because it was sponsored by the State of Washington so it had to fit certain guidelines and standards. I understand why would an artist want to figure out different ways of founding so they dont have to rely in that. Obviously this wasnt the right way tho.

@samanthaho7713

21 күн бұрын

They had an entire episode sponsored by Disney 😅 to promote the Haunted Mansion movie

@anyataylorsad

21 күн бұрын

@@samanthaho7713that’s actually insane

@CardSharkPNW

21 күн бұрын

I’m sorry, what?! My tax dollars are paying for what?!

@WhisperingMoon83

21 күн бұрын

They were also sponsored by the state of Montana, that was the first episode of the last season at the Missouri State Penitentiary

They are treating their fans the way restaurants treat patrons. Its OUR responsibility to pay the employees enough to survive, not theirs. Its bullshit

@KillerSkullX

20 күн бұрын

This

@mrebear9758

20 күн бұрын

Only in America buddy

@thebeastbrothers103

20 күн бұрын

@@mrebear9758move to China

@p1xelz323

20 күн бұрын

Well we as viewers ARE responsible for paying ALL youtubers. If we dont watch they lose money.

@msmoco5898

20 күн бұрын

@@thebeastbrothers103Why China?

They hired way too many people from Buzzfeed and can't afford to pay them all imo

@hydrogen3266

17 күн бұрын

They’re based in LA too, a notoriously expensive place to live and run a business

I have ZERO problems paying for content. I have paid for paywalls and for paywalled/expedited patreon content from creators I enjoy at a price higher than $6/mo. But this just reeks of mismanagement. This isn't some small creator with limited sources of revenue. The change they made really should have been logical first step

As somebody who loved watcher before this happened, I just can’t go back and support them the same way that I used to. The mindset the main characters (Ryan and Shane) have had in the past was the “eat the rich” mentality and then for them to turn around and go “yeah we need more money so we can travel and eat expensive food.” It just left a sour taste that the apology didn’t take out.

@Matt-bp5vy

21 күн бұрын

It's always like this. There's a reason why every single time humanity tried communism it ended with a tragedy

@abdulsabri6551

21 күн бұрын

I'm pretty sure, though I might be wrong, but didn't Shane and Ryan step down from CEO, so it would just be Steven.

@mrrockets32

21 күн бұрын

You mean to pay employees not vacations

@Podcast-Clipz324

20 күн бұрын

@@mrrockets32they don’t need more money to pay their employees especially since they’re easily supported by ads

@timc6669

20 күн бұрын

Not that big a deal in my opinion, they just made an ill informed decision, didn't hurt anyone, didn't affect anyone, no harm done. Just a stupid mistake.

If this wasn’t driven by greed, they desperately need a better accountant. 😅

@erodac

21 күн бұрын

Bet they did have a CEO BRO sillicon valley make his decision for them. "Yo dudes, this gonna be awesome -trust me!"

@aaaaaa-wd3eb

21 күн бұрын

@@erodac One of the guys on the couch is the CEO. The guy who did the cheap vs expensive food videos. He has no business experience at all, neither do anyone else at their company

@vanessac1721

21 күн бұрын

Ryan is CFO. Its on their company charter papers. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 let's stop laying all the blame on Steven as CEO.

@bizmonkey007

21 күн бұрын

They were probably looking for a more stable source of revenue. People forget that KZread can be a cruel platform that makes sudden changes that can dramatically affect how much money creators make (look at the cussing rule it implemented recently). I don’t think greed was a factor at all, but I do think they grew too big and perhaps need to consider scaling back production. The Watcher production quality has been excellent but that’s not really why people tune in

long time fan of Shane and Ryan. i’m glad this hasn’t spelled death for them. i believe they are genuinely good people and didn’t have malicious intentions. we are all human, we all make mistakes. nobody is perfect. they were able to see the flaws that they overlooked and were able to compromise. they owned up to the situation and are trying their best to make it right. good job guys. we need more people like this on this platform and other platforms as well. i’m glad the community understands that forgiveness is okay and can be a good thing. these guys definitely don’t deserve to be ‘cancelled’ and they certainly don’t deserve failure. they’ve been working so hard for years and it shows. the world is a tough and confusing place to navigate. thank you boys for still allowing us to watch[er] for free.

if there is every a tierlist for youtube apologies this one has to be S TIER

I agree with Charlie in that I appreciate the apology, but it still doesn’t land for me. Shane sounded genuine, Ryan sounded scared, and Steven sounded about as empathetic as an HR manager explaining why you don’t qualify for unemployment after being laid off. Thanks for the “sorry” boys, but you already showed your hand.

@HeyItsmeImAlex

21 күн бұрын

Same, they lost me and I followed them since the beginning of their buzzfeed days. They’re doing crisis management now after all the drama.

@madsfiedler3884

21 күн бұрын

shane means it, and was probably expecting this response. if ryan was scared, its probably because it seems like that was part of his Big Dream(tm) and hes seeing that it isnt able to happen the way he thought it was. steven literally does not give a shit, hes always been in it for the money imo.

@ohapplesauce

21 күн бұрын

@@HeyItsmeImAlex I’m so conflicted about it 😕 Now whenever their videos auto play on my feed I just can’t watch them.

@Jess-lw1qv

21 күн бұрын

@@madsfiedler3884 same feelings I got from the video. It’s so clear who cares and who doesn’t.

@carsongxd

21 күн бұрын

@@ohapplesaucegood, don’t support them. Any employees laid off will surely find a new job and they needn’t be spending their *apparent* low revenue on hundreds of thousands of dollars on weddings.