Goodbye Watcher, It's been real
2024 ж. 20 Сәу.
6 716 Рет қаралды
Tragic
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the disconnect between complaining about production costs and asking viewers for money whilst green-lighting a worth it revival? terrible terrible terrible!! of COURSE viewers are going to feel like it’s a smack in the face whilst during a global cost of living crisis steven lim and co are asking us to fund them eating gold coated wagyu and hiring too many of their friends
I'm not paying to watch Lim try luxury foods I cannot afford
The thing that gets me the most about this entire situation is the fact that they have not one but two shows that are entirely dependent on fans submitting their stories for them to read for free. They just put out the submission call for Too Many Spirits last month, and now they're telling the people who submitted their work that they'll have to pay to see it. The audacity!!
Wow, that sucks, and if they follow this plan, I wouldn't doubt that they make the ability to submit stories a top tier Patreon plan.
Ghost files, too many spirits and Are You Afraid? And they also use the fan recs for their food parts of some content of their travels for live shows.
I have to say, I'm really proud of how united the fans are with their negative reaction to this.
Its nice that we finally all agree on ONE thing
Absolutely
Amen brother
guarantee the company has not been profitable this entire time. guarantee that this is the only way they could see moving froward and actually making a profit. they will try this and probably hang it up. watcher was a dumb idea anyway.
Let's not forget they have ads running on the goodbye vid, so they're making money off telling their fans "give us money or get out".
Not just corny and hollow… manipulative. The whole heart-warming, heartstring bullcrap was emotional manipulation. And it’s nasty.
What kills me is that many of us are already subscribed to KZhead premium and watching videos ad free. I’m not going to unsubscribe from KZhead so I can subscribe to their platform.
"For half the price of KZhead premium, you can get access to the content of one whole KZhead channel!! What a bargain!!!!" 🤡🤡🤡 I feel bad for the folk who support them on patreon - they're expecting them to pay the streaming service price in addition to what they're already paying on patreon. All they get is an extra 10% off in addition to the 30% everyone else is being offered.
My thoughts exactly! I'm actually unsubscribing from YT Premium now. These guys were one of the only reasons I got, but without them releasing consistently, can't justify it anymore (among other reasons). Before that I was using ad blockers and Newpipe on mobile, and that's what I'll be returning to.
Yep I don't have many luxuries but that is one.
They watched Buzzfeed fail by overspending and over hiring from the inside, said they wouldn’t make the same mistake….then immediately made the same mistake.
Crazy
they showed those funko pops in their video and never thanked the person who made them and sent them like a year ago. absolute insanity
To be honest, the earlier Puppet History episodes were much better than the newer, bloated production episodes.
People are more angry at Steven for being the CEO, so if he steps down, people might be inclined to forgive Shane and Ryan. That’s the only solution I see for this situation.
They're more mad at him because he wants to make dumb luxury focused content no one cares that much about anymore while making people pay for it.
Shane and Ryan also are to blame. I'll never be able to watch their videos again the same. Which sucks
@@DelphineDenton not to mention he’s a greedy nepo baby and even made a public statement that he is still friends with people that are openly racist and homophobic. And instead of apologizing for that statement, he deleted the ENTIRE podcast and hoped everyone would forget about it. Literally nobody likes Steven. Teaming up with Steven was one of the worst business decisions they’ve ever made. Shane and Ryan are still to blame, but Steven was the mastermind behind all of this. They need to get rid of him.
@@DelphineDenton not to mention he's a greedy nepo baby and even made a public statement that he is still friends with people that are openly (r word for not liking people of colour) and (h word for people who don’t like gay folks). And instead of apologizing for that statement, he deleted the ENTIRE podcast and hoped everyone would forget about it. Literally nobody likes Steven. Teaming up with Steven was one of the worst business decisions they've ever made. Shane and Ryan are still to blame, but Steven was the mastermind behind all of this. They need to FIRE HIM. (Also the reason I can’t say the actual words is because KZhead keeps deleting my goddamn comments for using them)
@@DelphineDenton not to mention he's a greedy nepo baby and even made a public statement that he is still friends with people that are openly (word for not liking people of colour) and (word for people who don’t like gay folks). And instead of apologizing for that statement, he deleted the ENTIRE podcast and hoped everyone would forget about it. Literally nobody likes Steven. Teaming up with Steven was one of the worst business decisions they've ever made. Shane and Ryan are still to blame, but Steven was the mastermind behind all of this. They need to FIRE HIM. (Also the reason I can’t say the actual words is because KZhead keeps auto deleting my comments for using them)
Guaranteed they're in preproduction of a $75k apology / backtrack video
They're starting a live tour in Glasgow next week that's supposed to have a Q&A section. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that theatre.
Nah Shane’s dumb wife is online defending the decision so I guess Shane is on board with it too. So I highly doubt we’ll get anything
@@oeurydice I'm sure people are going to record it 😂
Credit where credit is due, this is the first time ive seen the entirety of youtube, reddit, instagram, tumblr and twitter united with the same opinion on something. In all seriousness, it really shows how bad watcher's business model is. They might make good videos but they clearly dont understand business. Between their *massive patreon* and the huge amount of money they pull from sponsers, plus the extra from merch snd ads. They could and have been making quality content (very high, but still youtube level quality) and this is change is self inflicted for them, there were so many things they could push instead (exclusive patreon content, pushing merch more etc) and this felt like a slap in the face and so out of touch I guess we should all learn the lesson in parasocial relationships, because im definitely feeling way more strongly by this than I should be
It's not the first. It's the second time. The first time was the Fine Brothers React debacle.
Never thought I'd see the day when Shane and Ryan fall...
And Shane’s wife is online defending the decision right after a post about her buying a 100 dollar handbag 💀. And it also tells me that Shane is definitely on board with everything even tho ppl wanna believe he’s against it.
No way are you serious???
@@asirensmelody wtf are my replies being deleted? I’ve tried answering this like twice. But watcher Reddit it’s posted on there
It’s funny to me that people are solely blaming the Steve guy, as if he was holding a weapon to the other two guys’ heads 😅, they are going along with it, not being forced..
@@FabiolaMacabre it’s mostly because he hasn’t really been in the mix like Shane and Ryan have, he’s just basically been “that one guy” who’s the ceo now. And it’s like ew no one wants to pay to watch “that guy” eat expensive shit and travel while I stay home and eat chick fil a on a good day lol.
Shane better have gotten a pre-nup is the vibe here...
Worst thing is that the first exclusive content on the Streamer has been leaked and it’s genuinely awful.. it consists of Ryan talking about how they have a crazy amount of team members enjoying Dune 2 and drinking beer while filming Ghost Files , followed my the camera man chewing on a burger, and then Ryan admitting that he doesn’t even know if this episode of “Road Files” will be a thing.. truly television-calibre content
is that true?
@@MuertaRara Yep, I’m trying to link it for you but my replies won’t post :/
If this Warcher channel actually happens, I wonder how long it will be before the $6 tier becomes the tier that has ads, and the ad-free tier costs more? If they’re determined to get bigger but don’t know how to be cost effective, they’re never going to make “enough” money. They’ll just be mismanaging larger amounts
Theyre the once-ler. They need to biggerer and in order to get bigger they need to get bigger to continue biggerering. Oh how the biggering will go. Until.... they run out of fans.
What blows my mind is they think they and their content is so worthy of a whole ass streaming service we gotta pay for.
It’s WILD that they thought $6usd a month was affordable for anyone and everyone during a global living cost crisis
It's a tremendous fail , as a casual fan I would have preferred more frequent low budget content like they had on BuzzFeed where many shows were just two people on a modest set and some simple graphic slideshows.
It’s so upsetting! I can’t even watch their old content cause it makes me mad. They have almost 13k Paterons. Watcher went from fire to a dumper fire. Who the hell said this will work. Ryan is already a millionaire. If you have money, live a comfy lifestyle and are doing what you love what the hell is the point of squeezing more money out of your base. 🤯 and btw they have a live show in the UK next week and people are asking for refunds. The q&a is going to be awkward!
This video would be a nice goodbye if they didnt end it with asking for our money. It’s totally awesome if they want to chase their dreams, make the art they want to make... I think fans would want that for them, or at least support them. But they expect us to line up and pay for it, out of nowhere, without asking us what we might want to pay for... Once I'm paying you, I'm a customer, and a customer is different from a viewer on yt imo Anyway, rant over, this comment is mostly to support your vid (and for me to blow off some steam)
assuming all their patreons ONLY pay the minimum of $5 a month (which, as someone who used to be in the $20 tier, i KNOW that a lot of people pay more) that's still just under $30k a month from patreon alone. that's over $350k a year. where is the money going.
Brother WHAT?? 30k a month MINIMUM earnings is making me dizzy,,
It was Steven. Teaming up with Steven one of the worst business decisions they’ve ever made. His videos make 200k-300k views compared to the 800k-1M views on the Shane and Ryan centric videos, he has the personality of a dead fish, he’s a greedy nepo baby who just wants more money to eat expensive food all over the world and probably just wants another Tesla. I don’t know why he has so big of an ego when literally nobody watches Watcher for Steven, they’re all there for Shane and Ryan. He’s been riding off of Shane and Ryan’s coat-tails for years and he is single-handedly ruining their careers. They should never have teamed up with him in the first place. I’m not saying that Shane and Ryan are entirely innocent because they should have used their brains and shut down the idea the second it was introduced, but overall, Steven was the mastermind behind this entire thing. They need to fire Steven, downsize their team and production quality, and go back to their roots.
You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain
One thing I don't see anyone mention is when Steven says they will "rely *less* on ads"... Not only are they continuing their patreon, forcing a dual paywall if you want to see all of their content (the podcast will be on patreon only), they will also likely continue to take brand deals on the trailers and first episodes of the season that they will post on KZhead. So even the tiny amount of free content we will get will likely still be monetised, and with sponsors. $5.99 a month on WatcherTV, $5 minimum on Patreon, and sponsors on KZhead with ad breaks. 🤦♀
Alienating their entire fanbase aside, this isn’t even a good business decision. Every cent of the $6 a month is going right to video hosting costs and they don’t even have ad revenue to lean on. If they wanted to eat gold-crusted burgers in the nude or whatever, they could’ve produced more patreon exclusive content or joined Nebula.
"Self-indulgent" is an excellent way of putting this choice of theirs.
That comment about watching Ghost Files in line for the food bank absolutely ruined me too.
It’s the radio silence for me. Makes an announcement like that and then… nothing.
'Also, it's formatted like an apology, but there's no apology.' oh dont, you know? That's on their streaming service too, for the low low price of $6 a month!
12:22 what makes me really mad about them complaining that they can't make "TV Quality content on KZhead" is how insulting it is to some of the people on KZhead. Defunctland made a multi-part docuseries about the career and life of Jim Henson that is far better researched than any TV documentary I've ever seen. And Kevin from Defunctland even talked about how self conscious he feels about calling his videos documentaries, which they really are
Yes, there are lots of other amazing high quality content creators! Totally different but Timeteam have funded a whole new series of archaeological digs via Patreon, but still have lots of free content too.
Yes, when all of this started I immediately thought of Kevin and Defunctland. I have been following his channel for years and seen him grow from a traditional short form video format to full documentaries completely worthy of the name. Now it takes a long while between his videos, but I'm okay with that because he's delivering such quality that it's worth the wait. As far as I know he either works alone or has a limited set of collaborators he works with. And on top of creating such epic content, so deeply researched, he also runs a yearly charity fundraiser for very ill children and their families to have a special vacation at Disney World. I've never seen Ryan and Shane let alone Steven do anything for charity. All they do is rake in money for themselves. I donate to his charity fundraiser each year, and it makes me feel good to be a part of something that gives joy to children. I paid to see Ryan and Shane in person at one of their shows, which was a very fun experience. But after this malarkey they pulled, I wish I could take that money back and donate it all to the next Defunctland charity drive. At least then I would know that my money is going to a good cause, and will be appreciated, not considered just another dollar that doesn't mean anything to the people I'm giving it to.
What remained the same from the beginning of Watchers is their lack of fashion sense.
As a casual fan, I’m really surprised how many people are united in disagreeing with this move. I’m honestly just sad for all their die hard fans getting slapped in the face after 4 years of free and fun videos.
to be honest I've been a fan since they were doing BuzzFeed. I've been in it for the long haul of 6 years so this is absolutely disgusting to see because even at the start of Watcher I was worried they were spreading themselves too far. Like a bunch of new shows and a bunch of new merch instead of like! 4 things a year and then a new couple pieces of merch for when they made a new show. Also it feels just. Filthy especially since it feels like they completely disregarded every fan who couldn't go to a live show or didnt have the the money to buy merch. I was a big fan of their less scripted content like too many spirits and my favorite exclusive from watcher weird and or wonderful. Sorry if my words are choppy I am simply very mad about this and disgusted in people I looked up to for 6 years
The thing is... they could have gotten away with this. This streaming platform stuff? They could have done it. Dropout did it. Nebula exists. They just... fumbled in literally aspect. The announcement? The cold-turkey quitting of youtube instead of gradually pulling away? The lack of any real content backlog or library that might make people actually subscribe? No support for international viewers? No grandfathering for patreon? Having like... three entire personalities that have to carry the entire subscription site instead of an entire team? How did you do this. They literally messed up in every way possible. How do you fumble this goddamn hard. Seriously, they should have just gone to Nebula.
Actually, the more I think about it, if they really wanted to make a streaming service... really why not take a note from Dropout. They were able to squeak past, even if it was a hail mary borne of the ashes of a dying company, but they literally wrote the roadmap to transitioning to independent streaming from youtube. They made cheap shows (game shows, improv, ttrpgs) in order to make a backlog of content to make streaming more viable while still producing on youtube and uploading full seasons/episodes on youtube in order to make people interested and to slowly transition their way off youtube. And they still upload their episodes and seasons for free! And they drop lots of content constantly! Even if people weren't pissed by the move, no one would want to go to a streaming service with... one episode of a random tv show a week? You had a template on how to do this move? How did they not see it!
That fact that you don’t know they have a fairly successful Patreon shows how little they advertised it and didn’t even try that route to make more money. And those patrons are getting more screwed than anyone else
I enjoyed your take on the situation. But here is mine. I think they knew the ship was sinking and were hoping for a quick cash in. Kinda like crypto scammers. The Ghost Files was becoming stale. Problem was, they lost the point of why that show was so good. It had something different. Shane was never scared, never believed in ghosts, would taunt and yell at them. Ryan on the other hand, was always scared, hated when Shane would tease the ghosts. Boom perfect odd couple!!!! But last season Ryan started acting like Shane he wasn't scared he yelled and taunted also. In one ep in a prison cell they had the "Spirit box" It said something like "mattress" or "bed" which was in the cell and it was Shane who had to point it out to Ryan who was busy making a wiener joke or something. Even Shane seemed amazed when Ryan just tossed that aside and kept making jokes, I get that he has been to lots of places now and has more courage. But Ryan the youtube character in a "TV" like show as they say needed to stay in that role as a scared person. That was the dynamic Also bringing back buzzfeed guys felt more like when a sitcom in losing views and starts bringing in celebs or kids to try boost ratings. Jumping the shark term wasn't just made up thing. Anyway thanks for reading just found your channel and subbed. Have a great day everyone on youtube.
The character Ryan built himself for Ghost Files being abandoned in newer episodes is such a good point!! They weren’t in tune enough with their audience to understand why people loved them so much and now they lost the plot, and I think you’ve illustrated that perfectly here!
@@Maloola_ Thanks for reading it I know it got a little long. I watched a lot of vid on watcher reaction but I found yours the most genuine and your points were well thought out. So I figured I would go a little deeper then just writing. "They suck!!" 😃Anyway good luck with your channel try not to blow up an hide behind a paywall.
It's crazy because I swear like 85% of their videos also have paid promos in them anyway, as well as having almost 6k PAID patreon members (5,893 to be exact). Not to mention the lowest priced tier on their Patreon is $5... Also congrats on your first 1k view video on this channel, take my sub I'm investing early 🥳🙌🏾
Each sponsorship was probably bringing in 15-30k a ad. Maybe even more. Pateron was probably between 30-60k a month. Merch is 80$ for a black basic sweatshirt (which to me seems outrageous) also a 40$ white tshirt. Plus live tours and probably other income sources. They could've done so many other things. Like maybe stop mismanaging the pateron. And upload behind the scenes and make it worth it.
@@FukaiKokorothey could have promoted the patreon more as well, so many people are finding out about it just now
The problem is that they want to make the kind of content they could only really afford to make with Buzzfeed's money and they don't want to wait until they figure out the money to do things like that.
The production values on the Buzzfeed stuff was so much lower though, simple set, no fancy graphics, etc
They had a countdown clock for dropping this announcement too. Thats pretty funny in itself given the reaction it garnered, which was pretty much last orders for the bar on the Titanic
if either Steven or Shane do not quit Watcher by monday evening, none of them will be able to salvage their reputations.
This is proof why all the history teachers I had were always cool people. I love history and puppet history was my favorite among them all. It’s so tragic to see it being paywalled. If they are so determined to run head straight into a brick wall. I might never see anymore puppet history.
Totally agree with so much of this sentiment - but it really sucks that there does not seem to be a pipeline to escape the platform of KZhead. That because of its deep pockets, audience/brand loyalty, and purposefully obtuse and uncontrollably fickle algorithm that forces creators to chase trends rather than create what they want - even a team that has built up as much as Watcher can't escape. I'm not discrediting viewers that feel betrayed or whom are literally priced out. Hell, I'm one of them too. But I also truly dislike what KZhead has done to some of my favorite creators just so they can remain both relevant and "in the game" as everything races to the bottom.
This is such an important perspective to bring up here. It really is sad, I’m only 3 videos in to my channel and I’m already feeling pressure to try and make videos about trends for the numbers. I’m refraining (save for this video because I had genuine passion for the topic) but oo boy the pressure to do numbers instead of make videos I’m passionate about has already sprung up. It has so much potential but the KZhead system is profoundly sad sometimes
KZhead recommendations did a good job with this one. I had no idea this was even happening! Thanks!
That’s what I’m here for 🫡
I echo the cat's sentiments. Yes, I know the language is a bit harsh, but when you're right, you're right.
Thanks for the coverage :). I'm glad to see a perspective from an actual fan, rather than someone just chiming in for clout. Could I recommend making the video a bit louder? It's quieter than everything else on my computer rn.
“I learned how to be a human on KZhead” ???
I found your channel because of this disaster. I am glad I found your channel. I don't know if you know who Markiplier is but he is a great channel to watch imo. You heave more than earned my sub and I can't wait for more!
This genuinely makes me sad but I think I’ll just have a little marathon tonight and farewell one of my favourites that once was.
im glad everyone found their video corny just like i did 😭
I loved the dynamic of Ryan and Shane and my hope is that they got sucked into this and don't fully agree on the project, but after watching their goodbye video and seeing all of the comments with no reaction from them makes me super bummed that I was wrong. Idk if there's coming back from this. p.s. Just found your channel and I love youuu.
6 Buzzfeed employees disliked this video Crap, i mean WatcherTV employees. i don't know where my confusion came from
You're being unfair tho, they didn't shoot themselves on the foot! They shot themselves on both feet, ankles, two kidneys and three arms. It's crowd funded career suicide. They managed to tell their non-paying viewers that they don't do content for the poors, while telling their paying members that they don't really care about them. "You're already giving us money, so just give us more money for a worse experience!!". Also as you said, there's no prospect to acquire new fans since nobody is subscribing to random "streaming channels". So essentially, they let go all of their fans and chose to move forward with the ones who were okay with them double dipping their patreon members. This has to be one of the worst business decision I've seen in a very long time. I can't remember a company being able to lose 99% of their audience with a single video
Shane and ryan used to be better than this. Ive been watching them since buzzfeed. Not so much big apple steve. But im disappointed in the ghoul boys
I would like to note that it is criminal you only have 106 subs
Subscribing to you and unsubscribing from watcher
One good thing to come out of the Watcher Goodbye KZhead video -- I'm finding all kinds of new-to-me creators saying things I like! I hope you figure out how to get your teaching credential -- you'll be great.
Very very very good take. Youre not coming from a place of anger but logic and personal experience. I agree with everything youre saying. This move will be historic I think. I would postulate that they probably put themselves into debt with this streaming platform and need to recoup thr costs. But their fundamental flaw was not understanding their audience. They can make all the content they want to their artistic standards but is anyone willing to pay for it, especially when they key demographic is broke people used to getting their product for free.
I have a hard time understanding why this is an issue. If they want to leave, and if one doesn't want to pay for the service, they don't pay.
Just gained a new sub! Side note, you have a beautiful voice
Ahhhh thank you so much 🥹🥹
Steven says something about the views not being as good as they were in 2020. LIKE DUH STEVEN.. WERE NOT IN QUARANTINE ANYMORE. People aren't stuck at home. I know Shane and Ryan agreed to this but Steven has always given me the weirdest vibes. Like an alien wearing human skin or something. That's the easiest way to describe it. Maybe Shane and Ryan got possessed by a demon? Maybe it was Shane messing with those cursed dolls? Lol jk.
Whats with the weird "in the arms of the angel" music? None of them are dying lol
I watch KZhead on my Tv... It's better than actual shows in my opinion. I don't pay for actual TV channels because so many people put out such great things to watch even if it's not TV level quality. Watcher was one of them... I will continue to watch since they back tracked now... but who knows what will come of their channel.
You're voice is lovely btw
Watch them finally bring back the Hot Daga…
I loved this commentary but had a hard time hearing you, particularly in relation to how much louder the watcher footage was. If the mic was a little closer to your face I think it would be perfect. ❤
I super need this feedback right now while I’m still figuring out audio n stuff! Thank you for telling me, the next one will be better cuz of you 😁 if you notice anything else pls pls let me know
New sub❤
I thought they had their own office doesn't that have space for them to film in or am I wrong? And didn't they once say when filming ghost files it was Shane and Ryan and 3 other team members? So did they lie? About how many are on location with them?
They have an office (which apparently is in a very expensive location in Hollywood) and they rent extra studio space…
And about the filming crew I also have no idea anymore… they shown in multiple videos people who do the work regularly but they also said they have freelancers when they fly to locations… idk anymore
This has absolutely nothing to do with anything but you have beautiful eyes!
Tone deaf? Yes, greedy? Idk. I can understand that a creative would strive for as much freedom as possible, and in our world that freedom costs money (sadly). That is especially true for visual media. We don’t really know the extent of the limitations advertising put on their content, and I know that, as a fellow creative, having your creative outlet policed is soul crushing. That being said, they should’ve explored other avenues before going scorched earth with their KZhead platform. There had to be other options, even if they were harder or less profitable, but we don’t really know what led to this behind the scenes. In any case, I wish them the best in their journey. They’ve provided a good amount of laughs and good moments. I wish it could’ve gone on for longer but life seldom is what we want it to be. I genuinely wish them the best and hope they find an audience because they’re truly talented.
Also CollegeHumor had a non youtube presence back in the day. But it ended up flailing and becoMing dropout. They are trying to do the opposite??
I unsubbed from them and you’ve gain their respect and a sub
"If this is my last time on KZhead, then baby what a life I've lived" is one of the CRINGIEST things I've ever heard....Dude, how old are you? you've been on KZhead for how long? And you're talking about it, like you're at an Award/Tribute show Celebrating your life at 90s year old. I LOLLED when he said that.
Lol "worth it" is not worth it
Ododjdkgiciosksr if the staff and sara hadnt said anything i maybe would have bought the apology alittle more. But i have kids and live in florida. Aka the next fucking cali. I cant drop hulu or Disney plus because those services have stuff they enjoy too. Doing that just for watcher would not just be selfish of me but i already barely have time these days to watch the things i want. Its not realistic :( when they started with buzzfeed the economy was so much better. I could afford food and rent and the devils lettuces as a freshly moved out teen..smh good times
The "eat the rich" people now understand why it's okay to be rich and wanting to stay that way. Sounds like the audience is warming up to capitalism with being okay with ads for "free "content.
Keep saying television caliber content is so infuriating to hear
Hey @maloola I just subscribed to so please don’t sell out yet
I’ll wait to sell out until I have 3 million subscribers and then I’ll offer my paid KZhead channel for the low low price of whichever body part you wanna sell to me
ur really cute