Watcher quitting YouTube and moving to their own streaming service was the kick in the balls that I did not need in 2024

seeing a lot of comparisons between Dropout TV and Watcher TV. they did not execute their streaming services in the same way. Dropout has a YouTube membership for every series on Dropout TV, meaning you can access their new and exclusive content through YouTube still. this is not the plan with Watcher TV. Dropout's success may have been inspiration like some people are speculating, but saying that Dropout's success equals the success for Watcher TV is wild. Dropout has a Massive cast and connections in improv and comedy scenes due to their years in the scene as College Humor. Dropout specialises in comedy, has a variety of shows that use rotating casts such as Game Changer and Dirty Laundry and more, meaning they create opportunities for other creatives that aren't already a part of Dropout plus are able to create more shows. Watcher's main thing is the duo Ryan and Shane, although they have other notable figures. justifying creating a streaming service means expanding into creating new content and I just don't think that works when you have that small of a cast of people. I love Watcher, I do, but this was not well executed.

WAR FLASHBACKS

bad day to be a watcher fan, huh?

"Omg y'all are babies who don't realize that they need to make money and just feel entitled to free art!"

First of all I think most Watcher fans will agree that nobody asked for "TV quality" content. In fact I personally find most of their new shows to be extremely overproduced compared to their Buzzfeed era videos, which were backed by an actual big company. So them blowing their budget on new staff and fancy sets is something few people asked for.

"But this is their art and their company and they're allowed to make it however they want, they can't just constantly make their old stuff to retain an audience!"

I mean, yeah, if this is what they want to keep making, more power to them! But people are not obligated to 1) enjoy it and 2) pay for it. Audiences will fluctuate. Look at the Try Guys and how much their stuff has changed while still being successful. So maybe they'll get a new audience that is willing to pay for the stuff they want to make. But it's perfectly understandable for a large portion of their old fans to leave. Cuz yeah. If you wanna say "um this is capitalism sweaty" then yeah, I'll agree with you. This is capitalism. And I have better things to spend money on. I am not entitled to their art, and they are not entitled to my money. If they stop making stuff I like and have access to, I will stop watching. Taste closed.

this has probably been said but i cant believe shane madej, the one who says steal from the rich, is agreeing to put this behind a paywall

btw

I don't think the "pay artists website is upset about having to pay artists" argument for Watcher is a very good. argument. They had a Patreon, people were literally already paying the artists. Adding another subscription service into an already saturated market full of overpriced subscription services is just. A bad business move. It's career suicide.

Everyone is struggling right now and I understand that that includes everyone at Watcher, but there had to have been a better idea than "lets start our own subscription service"

I seriously wish Ryan, Shane, and Steven the best but this is seriously gonna come back and bite them in the ass.

My thing about Watcher is….. who is asking for such high quality content like international trips or expensive taste tests and food challenges like. If y’all don’t go back to filming ghosts in a basement…. LMAO

Maybe it's a good thing Youtube got rid of the dislike bar....

The worst thing about the Watcher situation is that. I understand. I get it. They need more money to do bigger and crazy things and don’t want to conform to being “ad friendly”.

But putting ALL future content behind paywalls is not the fucking way to do it. How about bonus content? Extra episodes? BTS features? Hell, even giving access to episodes early could be an amazing incentive (maybe not worth $5.99 a month but STILL). But putting ALL content behind that? Bad. Bullshit.

EDIT: I have been helpfully (/genuine) reminded they will be putting the first episode of each season onto YouTube, which is nice, but I still think that like… it’s still a lot of stuff to be paywalled, imo.

Again, I fully understand the need to construct a new streaming service in order to try and mitigate YT or Advertiser interference with their content. But. Yeah.

this comment 😭 please steven i know you’re probably blocking out a lot of comments but if theres any comment from your ig post that i need you to internalise its THIS ONE

it's out of touch friday at watcher hq

I like to think I'm pretty good about avoiding parasocial relationships, but shane "fuck capitalism" madej going along with the watcher subscription service nonsense has some kick to it ngl

Well...guess my comfort straight men have finally disappointed me....