The Watcher Controversy and Privatizing YouTube Content 

It must be noted that the same guys trying to say that their 80K+ a month Patreon is not enough are the same guys that make content out of comparing the most gaudy, bougie, inedible food (like pizza covered in gold leaf) to the regular food us filthy poors have to eat.

i started cackling when mika said that they dress like disney parents…..girl you are spot on

Let me add: THEY ONLY GAVE PATERONS 3 MONTHS for their website. Which is INSANE. If you're paying their pateron you shouldn't have to pay at all for their service.

it didn’t click for me either what they were saying about advertising being difficult to get/implying they weren’t making much off of it. they were sponsored by DISNEY last year. multiple horror movies, too. not just the regular hello fresh, rocket money, etc. but major production companies started doing deals with them and ofc that’s all predicated upon their large youtube audience which they were about to kill. clearly they’ve mismanaged their funds, racked up debt, and funneled money into content that’s not doing well …. it i don’t think acting like they were getting the measly scraps is fair at all. yeah google and youtube take a huge cut, but still, building a brand strong enough to be sponsored by DISNEY makes u by no means the little guy

the squishmellows facing the wall takes me out

After their nonsense "apology" I don't think I'm gonna be watching them anymore. It felt more like a "we're sorry you feel this way" Also they were definitely hoping people wouldn't understand how RU-vid works. They keep saying RU-vid is restrictive. THEY ARE EXTREMELY family and advertiser friendly. And keep mentioning "tv quality" imagine how shocked they'd be to find out how restricted those big tv companies are. To me a HUGE PROBLEM is they over bloated their company way to quickly. Instead of naturally letting it happen, like hiring way too many people and where they chose to have their office and the size of their office... They also hired friends and family which makes it harder to let them go.. which is a mistake.

Apology video translated: "We're sorry we didn't think of how poor you really are and your poorness didn't factor into our lavish lifestyle. We didn't get the subs we needed. Ew, get away from me. Ew."

I think people thought they thought people would be happy about this because they had a whole countdown thing to the announcement video on social media for like a week like it was some big exciting news and then it was just. this. Like it was SO tone deaf

The streamer access code they are giving their Patreon members is only good for 3 months. A little detail they failed to clarify during their second, face-saving video.

They gaslit everyone. They literally said in the video they by March 31 or something we're gonna take down their backlog on RU-vid. Then in the comments said " we never said that" like yes you did..

Buzzfeed unsolved (true crime & supernatural) are on Hulu. All the seasons. How much did they make from that? Residuals? 🤔 $20,000 watches, $50,000 wedding venue, exorbitant food costs, teslas; their merchandise? A patch alone cost $65.00. They sell out the live shows. The bottom line is they wanted viewers to pay for their lifestyles. Just greed.

i was early subbie of watcher and tbh i was surprised the unsolved guys teamed up with steven 🧐 then months later they had to stop doing advice podcast because steven told lgbt listener to "understand" their homophobic relatives and later doubled down in emergency follow up podcast... saying he's friends with people who are "little" homophobic, racist etc and that's fine, he won't break friendship over that? 😬 unsolved has large gay audience and steven managed to alienated them and... for what a lot of their business moves like delaying ghost files, making it high budget made the series less interesting. like i've saw people on tumblr say they really don't vibe with rebooted unsolved (cause that's what they did basically) as it ~lost it's spark~ and watch it out of obligation...

Also they very recently hired the guys who used to do “Worth It” on Buzzfeed, which was a show where they’d travel around and try ridiculously expensive food. No fans of Watcher have ever given a shit about their food shows 💀 Steven is the CEO of the company and is in charge of all the business stuff. AND he’s the guy who wants to drive around in his Tesla and fly to different locations and eat a $10,000 slice of pizza.

I was a BuzzFeed unsolved kid. I loved their banter. I tried with watcher and it was too try hard. Like it just felt they saw the try guys and said "oooo let's do this" people are forgiving them and im just done. I dont think that apology was that great. It was basic and didn't really answer anything for me.

I watcĥed one watcher video. They slut shamed a child who was victim to grooming and CSA, then said it was karma when her gf died since she wasn't nice to her abusers. This whole thing is schadenfruede. Sucks to be them.

the idea of having to wait 7 weeks before i get to see the 2nd episode of something is so ridiculous 😭

I would love to hear your opinion on this vs dropout! The gist is that dropout, formerly collegehumor, was shutdown by the company who owned it, then bought by one of the people who worked there. They started up a streaming service (using the same service platform that watcher does actually) just to keep the lights on and now it's successful enough that one of their shows (dimension 20) nearly sold out Madison Square Garden in 2 days

They lost me by saying that they are financially needy, but at the same time they do the first exclusive show of their new platform one where they have to hire two more people and it's about trying expensive things. Like, yeah, right...

I was a longtime fan of Buzzfeed Unsolved and I’ve been with Watcher since they announced it. I know a ton of people who’ve had the same experience. But not a single one of us will be continuing to watch after this blunder

oh the irony of Shane's wife posting on tumblr "#i think some people think all YTers have mr beast money….#that is not the case" right after a post where she brags about spending over $100 on a tote bag for their honeymoon....

As possibly the most loyal RU-vid Premium member, that’s had it since it was called RU-vid Red, here’s my 2¢: I love YTP. I am a true millennial, I’ve been watching RU-vid since 2008 when we had consistent home internet (in all of its 144p glory) 2017 is when I was first ever making my own adult money, and it was the only service I paid for (tho it used to be a lot cheaper). It’s currently $20, and it’s STILL worth it to me. I see it as my television. I watch 2+ hour video essays of amazing quality. Beyond never having to deal with ads, being able to download videos and listen while the screen is turned off is critical to my lifestyle, when I’m without internet for long stretches of time due to my job. Hell, even having spotty internet makes downloaded videos worth it. I would (and have) cut out other streaming services to keep YTP. Side note: I would BEG people to use the free trial to watch season 1 or Cobra Kai 😂

It’s interesting how no one has mentioned Nebula thruout this whole Watcher scandal. Nebula is $5/month and has MANY RU-vid creators (largely essayists and educational content) that ACTUALLY platforms creators who’s content is demonetized (esp Black and LGBT creators). The streaming platform isn’t perfect, I certainly have issues with it, but it’s actually achieving what the watcher boys’ argue their streamer does with 10x the content

at 9:00 you mention liking media that teaches you and honestly that's my favorite genre of youtube content and that's why I absolutely love your channel. I love getting to hear the drama but also getting to learn some amazing things from you and getting some great book recs to help expand my knowledge. It's why I also loved Puppet History or Drunk History or Lawyers going over youtube drama and etc etc. I like learning when it's fun and engaging and something that can even be practical.

I feel like they spread themselves too thin? like... just focus on one or two "shows" and pour all your love and time into it... why are we doing like 7 different things? or maybe don't hire 20 people?

I've been actively watching the ghoul boys since Buzzfeed Unsolved days and supported and continued watching through their transition to Watcher, and i 100% agree that it feels like theyve become the new buzzfeed. I really enjoyed the content when it felt very small-scale, just two guys hanging out and talking about things they enjoyed. It felt like their content really turned corporate the moment they started introducing the "x dollar meal vs x dollar meal" content, and to be honest, ive never liked Steven Lim as a creator or creative director. I didnt even fully watch the goodbye youtube video, just skimmed the comments and IMMEDIATELY clicked off and unsubbed when i heard about the streaming service. It just feels so soulless and such a cash grab. They can afford to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on weird fancy food, but cant afford to pay the staff that they knowingly and willingly hired? This whole situation leaves a horrible taste in my mouth and it abandons the spirit that Watcher was founded on. The only people i feel bad for in this situation is the crew, especially the social media manager(s) who have to deal with the backlash without having any control over the situation.

Hey did you hear about the Observe guy having pretty horrible abuse allegations??? Apparently this happened over a month ago and i never heard Since you mentioned him and it seems next to nobody talked about this

They basically wanted to create another buzzfeed company. Maybe it looked so much like their old company because it was the only way they knew how to run a company?

MIKAAAA you and your makeup looks amazing in this vid!!!! also idk why but i feel like you look even more like Kaylee Bryant than usual (i say w the utmost affection i can muster) 😭 Ive never been into any Watcher content but my parents actually love watching their vids (not the CEO. just Shane and Ryan 😭) and I love coming to the family conversations abt Media Drama w perspectives/reflections they may not have considered before :')

I also like funding someone’s patreon/content knowing that it will contribute to the content remaining accessible for others. I’ve been others. I’ll probably be others again. I think its fantastic that I can fund content when I can afford to, and those who can’t can enjoy it, and those who continue to support it past me will do the same for me. Entertainment should be the one thing we are all willing to mutually aid each other in.

I love my RU-vid premium. I watch / listen to an ungodly amount of RU-vid so it’s worth every dollar to me.

25 employees for 8 videos a month is crazyy, that is just terrible mismanagment

25 employees??

it’s so interesting to see so many people making the same mistake

Genuinely one of the biggest things for me about this is simply just that they claim they need more money, so they're gonna make this platform to get more money, but then immediately hire 3 new staff members within days of the announcements.

I know people are really riled up about the Worth It stuff. “Why should I fund their $1,000 steak?!”. But, those videos were WAAAY more popular than any of the Unsolved stuff. They have 10-50 million views and episode. I think the company got themselves into financial trouble, and they thought this was a proven product that would save them. It’s not what their specific audience wanted, but it’s incorrect to think that there would be no audience period

So excited to hear your take on this, Mika! Love your videos!!! Hugs from Michigan!

speaking of Observe, his ex-wife has come out about the abuse she endured during their marriage. i can’t stand the way people play mental gymnastics with characters like Observe

I watched them a bit before they keft buzzed but now I just feel betrayed and don't trust any of them anymore. True colors were shown.

It has left such a bad taste in my mouth that even though I loved their content I don’t want to even watch their older stuff. Both because i don’t really want to see their faces and I don’t want to give them any more ad revenue.

As a millennial you hit the nail on the head about the millenial corporate vibe they are giving

i think watcher weekly is now behind patreon paywall but i'm not sure cos i'm fairly new in this space. they're just kinda all over the place where their content goes and they're not very good at informing people of where it goes cos i was listening to their podcast and only realized last week it's on a separate channel cos they also have podcast playlists on their main. i don't understand what people are saying lately when they keep calling things severely or aggressively 'millennial' what are u even talking about. it almost feels like an insult. especially considering it seems like the larger audience that was vocal on their backlash to this channel's decision were people saying they were college kids so it's not a matter of they're only appealing to a millennial audience if a huge chunk of their audience is younger than us but i also feel like half the millennials that were clapping back with saying 'oh y'all can't afford this?' were a minority among the younger audiences. it's confusing lol

Perfect timing to listen to this while finishing charting at work ❤ always love hearing your perspective and analysis

i literally am always obsessed with ur makeup, ur base is flawless!

as a millennial, I'm always so fascinated to see young people point out what is "very millennial" - it's so interesting to hear lol

been waiting for this one mika 🙈

Omg I was just watching swell entertainments video on this.. excited to see your take on it

Hi unrelated. I got the flu this week and I have been binging your content again to feel better. Thanks for keeping me company whilst I suffer ✌🏼

Okay I just opened the video and had to comment; that makeup is 🔥

I had no idea who these people are but was wondering shat was going on. Also, really sad noticing how much prices have gone up in streaming services

Sorry one more this topic gets me heated. THEY ARE ACTING like their irresponsible spending is everyone's problem. Like let go some people.

Babe your makeup is GORGEOUS!

They have 25 people on staff. That is insanity. H3 has like 7

can I just say I absolutely love how in depth you went with this! out of all the other videos I've watched no one ever went through and found their original release schedule video. you saying they dressed like disney parents made me laugh so hard 😂 but I also loved what you said about them opening the video with an attempt to humanize and explain yourself admits you dont think people are going to agree with what youre doing and that's SUCH a great point! and I can't believe it's been 9 months since puppet history and that's another aspect that's so mind boggling to me how are these shows as expensive as they claim when puppet history/too many spirits/survival mode etc are all shot in one room 😭 too many cooks in the kitchen I guess. I also really appreciate you unlike everyone else I've seen has said you can't respect them for claiming they can't get ads. that's such a blatantly untrue statement by them it makes no sense to me how they can claim this especially when it's so easy to check 😭 they raised a generation of theory crafters and they must think we're stupid and won't go back and comb through every video for brand deals. like someone else commented they were literally sponsored by Disney a couple months ago! what I'm super curious about is if they let all their brand contracts expire and if those brands will ever do business with them again after this lol I sure wouldn't after they got on the Internet and said what they did. another aspect you mentioned about the 25+ employees and I just can't deal with the buzzwords they used to try to make us feel bad for their irresponsibility on hiring so many of their friends (and family!). it's especially insidious to me they claim they can't get ads when so many RU-vidrs I watch especially women of color have to heavily edit their language in videos to avoid being demonetized for the smallest of infractions meanwhile these chucklefucks can make sex jokes and whatever else on their ghost hunting and puppet history videos and they're totally fine. my tinfoil hat theory is that someone is mismanaging funds somewhere and it's coming back to bite them in the ass. if you want to look into it they're registered in Delaware which is a tax haven state so I think some shady stuff might be going on in that department 👀👀👀 anyway I really loved how in depth this was and how honest you were about your own video earnings which you definitely didn't need to do but I appreciated it! gave us a peek under the hood at how all this works! you've gained a new subscriber!! ❤❤

I love Puppet History, but only watch it when it comes across my recommended, I am not subscribed. The rest of the stuff they put out just doesn't appeal to me. They didn't and don't understand their watchers, and it bit them in the ass. Your makeup is looking excellent today, too!

This channel is so underrated

Ahh.. Another piping hot cup of philsotea .. I'll miss puppet history.. 😢

early!! you look great bestie :)

Millenial in the *worst* possible way.

Have never been this early 😭😭

Not sure if you bring this up but one fan in Thailand said that 9 dollars a month for him is equivalent to 96$ for the US. I can’t believe how bad this idea is!!! They need to scale down their business in a major way. Waaaaay too much staff

Real quick - what blush and lip gloss/melt are you wearing ❤

I never got into buzzfeed unsolved because buzzfeed content in general was always just obnoxious to me, but my friends are really big fans of shane and ryan (I'm not actually sure how they're taking all this but hopefully not too badly). I checked out ghost files on their recommendation and think it's a perfectly milquetoast little ghost hunting show, good to have on in the background and not for much else. Tried one episode each of their puppet history and true crime shows, thought puppet history was a cute way to introduce history to your average person but probably not too educational (I have an overexpensive history degree though so I'm picky and bitter LMAO), and the crime series seems extremely shallow, probably for the sake of being ad friendly. The rest of their content either didn't interest me or seemed like stuff that only would be interesting to long time fans of theirs. Beyond any money concerns, I genuinely don't know what they think they offer that's worth paying exclusively for. Unless you were a buzzfeed fan you already won't care about 90% of it and the other 10% is content that literally only works on youtube (or a streaming platform with loads of other, better content you actually want to pay for) because it's too surface level to be.... anything. It just reeks of ego all the way around

I was a long time subscriber for them, but also a voracious consumer of other big collective channels, like smosh, dropout, try guys. The thing about watcher was that their content was not as popular, as well produced and as varied, as they wanted to be. In a way it always felt like they took themselves too serious, that they think they were bigger too. For example, the system that they proposed it is very similar to dropout's current system, dropout/college humor has more than 10 years in the industry, they began with an online page, transition into youtube and have hundreds of episodes in different series, dab in actual television and whose members are part of the actor's guild. For watcher to look at that and say "same" is delulu levels of self-confidence. I do feel like the reaction was too much, mostly because everyone and their mom gave an opinion, without even knowing about them. But their actions and comments were a terrible move too and that needs to be said.

💜

imo the whole uwu we need more money thing could've work 5+ years ago but not in current times

If they wanted high production, they should have followed Quinta Brunson. You’re definitely right, Safia knows how to do it on RU-vid and is such a great personality. They’re trying to do both routes and don’t understand the reason Quinta’s ways is working for her is she’s not directly putting the cost on her audience.

Puppet history was the only thing i would watch from them 😆

12:17 hey i know that guy

You are pretty

12:16 the milinneal roast was Iconique

Also nobody wants to pay money to watch these middle-aged men take expensive trips & review food. The YT market for travel/ lifestyle is pretty small & tends to be women watching other women lifestyle influencers. It’s bigger on IG, but again, that’s for “taste makers” & socialite types which these guys.. are not 😂

Have you seen that tweet that’s like “why does princess peach have such soft kissable lips” Mika that is all I can think about when I see your lips 😭 not to sound creepy or anything they just look really pretty and nice and I can’t stop thinking about that tweet when I see them 😭😭 like you have princess peach lips!!

Remember 🇨🇦peepz we boycott Loblaws in may!

what does being a millennial have to do with it? millennials watch them older gen z watch them what of it?

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if shane(?) leaves within a year. He seemed to not be excited about it

Okay... but your hair😍

No reasonable doubt in my mind. I'm so happy he was arrested.

A bit unneccessary to insult observe like that but otherwise cool video

I’ve never watched your channel before. I admit falling victim to the clout chaser here. I was offput almost immediately when you showed having done little to no research by mispronouncing Shane’s last name. Not defending Watcher, they made their own bed in this situation. But I also figured that maybe you ONLY watched Puppet History.. which is one of the very few shows they don’t say his last name aloud in. So I kept watching. Then you unnecessarily dogged another RU-vidr (Observe, I think) and I’m out.

Would love to see you do a video on the downfall of Rooster Teeth