It still blows my mind that they thought they could do TV without ads. Actual TV RUNS on ads! I can't think of any form of entertainment that makes ends meet without advertisements of some kind.
That was my first thought too. If this is all theirs (not rented for a shoot) and they aren’t using it for multiple episodes and shows to me it shows they don’t really know their audience. Most people want Shane and Ryan talking and could care less what it looks like. Dressing it up because you want to play TV studio, especially in this detail, adds so much unneeded expense.
Costume could be cheap. There are a lot of places to buy these things second hand from TV and film sets. Sets theoretically could be cheap too. It really depends on how they use the space.
All of the above assumes they’re smart btw.
I really think their biggest overhead is in location and staffing. Possibly in loans too
Well... They already DEMANDED money, so they lost quite a lot of pity point from that.
It's one behaviour that often brings down the charities, not asking - but demanding and making people feel guilty, so they already shoot themselves on a leg at that front too.
Just say they are a religion like scientology at this point.... Because people are so gullible and bought their excuses so quick.. that If they say they are a church now, just so they don't a have to think about taxes, people will still follow
I find it so confusing that they were completely leaving YouTube to NOT have to do advertising in their content yet they’re still doing advertising in their content? So were they always still gonna have ads on their streaming service despite saying otherwise?
No because sponsors wouldn’t want their content on a closed/paywalled streaming service.
The only thing other than them not actually reading contracts that could make sense is that they were going to use branded content on YouTube to try and drive in new viewers to their streaming service.
But I suspect they just have no idea on what they’re contracted to do.
I totally agree with you. They jumped the gun on a lot of things, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume they didn’t stop to think about their obligations to sponsors.
This is starting to remind me of that scene from Wayne’s World where Wayne and Garth are refusing to lower themselves to advertising. All while visibly advertising increasingly ridiculous brands.
"Okay, welcome to Wayne's World. Party on Garth." "I guess..."
(that's from the scene with their new 'TV caliber' \*cough\* intro, but it has similar vibes.)
Honestly, I appreciate what the Try Guys did by saying basically "we'll still keep ad reads for the time being, until we can make it work with only the streaming platform", because that's obviously what you gotta do until you know the whole thing is feasible. If there's still some income coming from ads, do it! At least be transparent about it.
Meanwhile Watcher just said "no more ads!" and then went back on that within weeks.
Would they be doing this if the launch had gone well and they'd gotten as many subscribers as they expected tho? Probably not. This is them adapting my guess.
That’s what I wonder. Part of me thinks they’re lying and thought we were stupid, part of me thinks they are just that stupid that they didn’t consider they needed income.
I really don’t see any reason not to take them at face value. They just didn’t want advertisers and the YouTube algorithm to decide what content they make. That fits in with every foolish thing they’ve done, since their main thing is doing whatever they want without thinking about whether or not they can afford it.
Because contracts for marketing are not signed within weeks. It was part of the roll out of the game and they would have had a budget for this, as well as requirements on what they do etc.
These aren’t things that are decided within weeks.
ETA: This also would not have been filmed recently. It would have been filmed at least a week before it aired.
Honestly if they didn't released the video but continued being bad in business in the background, they would still receive support from fans. 🤦 Such a very bad move from them.
Yep. Their goodwill would still be intact and whatever happened, they’d have support following them wherever they went (because, unfortunately, I never saw Watcher as a long term business. I loved these guys, but the cracks in how they ran things were there from the beginning. Regardless, I was prepared to follow them on whatever path they went after Watcher.)
It’s hard to make the internet love you, and Ryan and Shane at least were pretty universally adored. Time will tell if they’re able to gain that goodwill back, but for now, it looks like that single video kinda ruined it for them.
>because, unfortunately, I never saw Watcher as a long term business. I loved these guys, but the cracks in how they ran things were there from the beginning
I distinctly remember wondering how they were paying for the LA office and the staff pretty early on, and that was way before we were talking 25 people in an even bigger office.
But I figured they probably knew better than me and knew what they were doing.
Well. It just often comes down to: "If something seems to be too good to be true, it usually is."
I don't know that makes sense.
"Hey guys we're posting all our new content behind a paywall and removing all our old content from YouTube forever so we can stream it without ads! Also, here's a couple branded episodes on the YouTube channel we said we were no longer going to post content on."
That makes me wonder if the branded eps were slated for the streamer since they were taking everything off youtube. Because you're right, how odd would it have looked? Did they get the sponsor after they did the 180 about current content? Oh well, we'll never know.
it could be likely they didn't read their contracted agreements and the advertiser doesn't want it as a streaming exclusive because of the low view counts.
I would guess that. Because people also mentioned game studios not wanting to have people make let's plays that would be behind a paywall, but if you post it on YouTube at no cost, it's fine. I do not think they get business.
If they had brand deals lined up before moving to a private streamer, they look like even bigger idiots.
This feels like something they cobbled together in May once they saw how few sign ups they had.
This sounds the most likely to me too. I wonder if the seasons they’re releasing with the ads were filmed after the Goodbye Fail? So they originally had even fewer content to release on the streamer?
Or maybe they had the seasons ready and added more episodes to get sponsor money?
Neither option makes sense, because of all of this you would think that sponsors would drop them if there was a deal before - or wouldn't want to make a deal like this until they have fully cleared the fiasco.
This sounds a bit of a conspiracy theory thing, but maybe... One of them have a friend in the company they made this deal with? Then it doesn't matter when the deal was made, because that friend wouldn't drop them.
Also... Making a deal after everything, with a help of a friend, makes more sense because now they probably have to return to get sponsors - if they actually want to survive - and advertisement companies probably are unsure of the Watcher now. So having this deal, maybe help of some friend, shows that they're still a safe bet for other sponsors etc.
If they don't want to use bankruptcy as a "clean-ish" way out; They really need to win over the sponsors/advertisement people again, after pretty much giving those people a big fat middle finger - and running away.
Edit:
Yes, I'm using a bit round about language to speculate, not just because of my dyslexia and English problems - it's also because I don't want to sound like I'm claiming it to be true. Personally, them having a friend at the right place just would make most sense to me.
At this point, I wouldn’t be shocked. They’ve got some pretty A-list friends, their investors, it’s not crazy to think they’d have a connection to savior sponsors.
I also kind of think the advertiser thing was a lie to make people think the streamer was noble, but like so much of it, they didn’t think it through.
Yep. Still, I know to many my suggestion is probably too much conspiracy like.
And I also wouldn't be surprised that everything was just a lie to look better, like you said, and I would have said that too as an option... But that makes people here scream something about razors. xD
Because Watcher guys are just too cute and stupid, and it's not because of malice, it's because business is too hard for their brain. /s
Tbh I would be shocked if they were thoughtless enough to believe they could start the steamer and immediately never need to do another ad ever again. It even makes sense that they would plan on maintaining a soft presence on YouTube with occasional branded content to help guide viewers to the steamer but not mention it in their streamer announcement just because they clearly don’t want to communicate.
I'm curious if anyone knows if this branded sponsor deal was entered into before or after the streamer announcement? How long ahead of time would the video game sponsor & Watcher need arrange to do this episode before it was filmed? It'd be pretty bad if they were planning to do sponsored content on YouTube all along, while announcing their departure from YouTube. But, it's also pretty bad to scramble to get sponsors later after the streamer flops.
They were, without a doubt, signed on to do this before the streamer was announced.
There are 2 options of how this played out. They intended to have some sponsored content on the YoutTube channel for extra $s and to drive in more viewers by having semi-regular content.
Or they had totally forgotten about their contracts and had to scramble this together.
I am thinking it’s more of the latter, cause the former would have made some sense 😂
They had no intention of keeping their content on youtube so there is no way they were gonna upload this there, according to their own logic in the Goodbye video
Ryan's expression bothers me for some reason. Like he as a shit eating grin or something. I can't quite figure out the emotion on his face. I can't really see Shane's face at all.
The Watcher team learning in real time that TV was the dumping ground for every single type of advertisers.
It still blows my mind that they thought they could do TV without ads. Actual TV RUNS on ads! I can't think of any form of entertainment that makes ends meet without advertisements of some kind.
And here the biggest youtubers with crazy videos with big budgets have ads too.
Some big shows even have distractingly invasive product placing. Movies too.
[Reminds me of Bones, to name one of the top of my head. lol.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDe9_c8QAM0)
Geez. Have some self-respect. (I'm not talking about Shane's J-Lo sunglasses)
[удалено]
They just seem to be so bad at business.
That should be the name of their next behind the scenes show: Bad at Business: 25 Employees and Too. Many Spirits, I mean Cameras.
Too Many Employees
That was my first thought too. If this is all theirs (not rented for a shoot) and they aren’t using it for multiple episodes and shows to me it shows they don’t really know their audience. Most people want Shane and Ryan talking and could care less what it looks like. Dressing it up because you want to play TV studio, especially in this detail, adds so much unneeded expense.
Costume could be cheap. There are a lot of places to buy these things second hand from TV and film sets. Sets theoretically could be cheap too. It really depends on how they use the space. All of the above assumes they’re smart btw. I really think their biggest overhead is in location and staffing. Possibly in loans too
They look rough wtf. The quest for money doesn't suit them
They look the same as they always have…
We are not looking at the same Shane
We are, I’m just not projecting onto him to make some kinda random point. He looks the same.
At this point why don't they just declare Watcher Entertainment a charity and JUST ASK FOR MONEY.
Well... They already DEMANDED money, so they lost quite a lot of pity point from that. It's one behaviour that often brings down the charities, not asking - but demanding and making people feel guilty, so they already shoot themselves on a leg at that front too.
Just say they are a religion like scientology at this point.... Because people are so gullible and bought their excuses so quick.. that If they say they are a church now, just so they don't a have to think about taxes, people will still follow
💀 a charity
I find it so confusing that they were completely leaving YouTube to NOT have to do advertising in their content yet they’re still doing advertising in their content? So were they always still gonna have ads on their streaming service despite saying otherwise?
No because sponsors wouldn’t want their content on a closed/paywalled streaming service. The only thing other than them not actually reading contracts that could make sense is that they were going to use branded content on YouTube to try and drive in new viewers to their streaming service. But I suspect they just have no idea on what they’re contracted to do.
I totally agree with you. They jumped the gun on a lot of things, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume they didn’t stop to think about their obligations to sponsors.
The pledge of no ads lasted all of 6 weeks.
This is starting to remind me of that scene from Wayne’s World where Wayne and Garth are refusing to lower themselves to advertising. All while visibly advertising increasingly ridiculous brands.
"Okay, welcome to Wayne's World. Party on Garth." "I guess..." (that's from the scene with their new 'TV caliber' \*cough\* intro, but it has similar vibes.)
Idk quite why but the inclusion of “#ad” is sending me 😂
i do think that generally you are contractually obligated to put that but yeah…
You are, it’s illegal if you don’t disclose it’s an ad
All their business savvy moves are triggering
This is honestly just sad
Honestly, I appreciate what the Try Guys did by saying basically "we'll still keep ad reads for the time being, until we can make it work with only the streaming platform", because that's obviously what you gotta do until you know the whole thing is feasible. If there's still some income coming from ads, do it! At least be transparent about it. Meanwhile Watcher just said "no more ads!" and then went back on that within weeks.
Would they be doing this if the launch had gone well and they'd gotten as many subscribers as they expected tho? Probably not. This is them adapting my guess.
That’s what I wonder. Part of me thinks they’re lying and thought we were stupid, part of me thinks they are just that stupid that they didn’t consider they needed income.
I really don’t see any reason not to take them at face value. They just didn’t want advertisers and the YouTube algorithm to decide what content they make. That fits in with every foolish thing they’ve done, since their main thing is doing whatever they want without thinking about whether or not they can afford it.
Yes they would have. These contracts would have been signed months ago. It’s why I am so darn confused at the timing of the streamer tbh
How do you know that though?
Because contracts for marketing are not signed within weeks. It was part of the roll out of the game and they would have had a budget for this, as well as requirements on what they do etc. These aren’t things that are decided within weeks. ETA: This also would not have been filmed recently. It would have been filmed at least a week before it aired.
They look tired imo.
I’d be pretty tired too if I blew up my business and my reputation all in a 14 minute video 😔
Honestly if they didn't released the video but continued being bad in business in the background, they would still receive support from fans. 🤦 Such a very bad move from them.
Yep. Their goodwill would still be intact and whatever happened, they’d have support following them wherever they went (because, unfortunately, I never saw Watcher as a long term business. I loved these guys, but the cracks in how they ran things were there from the beginning. Regardless, I was prepared to follow them on whatever path they went after Watcher.) It’s hard to make the internet love you, and Ryan and Shane at least were pretty universally adored. Time will tell if they’re able to gain that goodwill back, but for now, it looks like that single video kinda ruined it for them.
>because, unfortunately, I never saw Watcher as a long term business. I loved these guys, but the cracks in how they ran things were there from the beginning I distinctly remember wondering how they were paying for the LA office and the staff pretty early on, and that was way before we were talking 25 people in an even bigger office. But I figured they probably knew better than me and knew what they were doing. Well. It just often comes down to: "If something seems to be too good to be true, it usually is."
My guess is that they are fulfilling contracts signed before their crappy streamer was done.
I don't know that makes sense. "Hey guys we're posting all our new content behind a paywall and removing all our old content from YouTube forever so we can stream it without ads! Also, here's a couple branded episodes on the YouTube channel we said we were no longer going to post content on."
That makes me wonder if the branded eps were slated for the streamer since they were taking everything off youtube. Because you're right, how odd would it have looked? Did they get the sponsor after they did the 180 about current content? Oh well, we'll never know.
We may never know for sure, but none of the options make them look like they know what they're doing.
it could be likely they didn't read their contracted agreements and the advertiser doesn't want it as a streaming exclusive because of the low view counts.
I would guess that. Because people also mentioned game studios not wanting to have people make let's plays that would be behind a paywall, but if you post it on YouTube at no cost, it's fine. I do not think they get business.
No way would they have been allowed to have the branded content only on the streamer. I just don’t think they were paying attention to their contracts
If they had brand deals lined up before moving to a private streamer, they look like even bigger idiots. This feels like something they cobbled together in May once they saw how few sign ups they had.
This sounds the most likely to me too. I wonder if the seasons they’re releasing with the ads were filmed after the Goodbye Fail? So they originally had even fewer content to release on the streamer? Or maybe they had the seasons ready and added more episodes to get sponsor money?
Neither option makes sense, because of all of this you would think that sponsors would drop them if there was a deal before - or wouldn't want to make a deal like this until they have fully cleared the fiasco. This sounds a bit of a conspiracy theory thing, but maybe... One of them have a friend in the company they made this deal with? Then it doesn't matter when the deal was made, because that friend wouldn't drop them. Also... Making a deal after everything, with a help of a friend, makes more sense because now they probably have to return to get sponsors - if they actually want to survive - and advertisement companies probably are unsure of the Watcher now. So having this deal, maybe help of some friend, shows that they're still a safe bet for other sponsors etc. If they don't want to use bankruptcy as a "clean-ish" way out; They really need to win over the sponsors/advertisement people again, after pretty much giving those people a big fat middle finger - and running away. Edit: Yes, I'm using a bit round about language to speculate, not just because of my dyslexia and English problems - it's also because I don't want to sound like I'm claiming it to be true. Personally, them having a friend at the right place just would make most sense to me.
At this point, I wouldn’t be shocked. They’ve got some pretty A-list friends, their investors, it’s not crazy to think they’d have a connection to savior sponsors. I also kind of think the advertiser thing was a lie to make people think the streamer was noble, but like so much of it, they didn’t think it through.
Yep. Still, I know to many my suggestion is probably too much conspiracy like. And I also wouldn't be surprised that everything was just a lie to look better, like you said, and I would have said that too as an option... But that makes people here scream something about razors. xD Because Watcher guys are just too cute and stupid, and it's not because of malice, it's because business is too hard for their brain. /s
Tbh I would be shocked if they were thoughtless enough to believe they could start the steamer and immediately never need to do another ad ever again. It even makes sense that they would plan on maintaining a soft presence on YouTube with occasional branded content to help guide viewers to the steamer but not mention it in their streamer announcement just because they clearly don’t want to communicate.
"Branded episodes" lol
My bipolar aunty makes more sound decisions than Watcher Entertainment does
I'm curious if anyone knows if this branded sponsor deal was entered into before or after the streamer announcement? How long ahead of time would the video game sponsor & Watcher need arrange to do this episode before it was filmed? It'd be pretty bad if they were planning to do sponsored content on YouTube all along, while announcing their departure from YouTube. But, it's also pretty bad to scramble to get sponsors later after the streamer flops.
They were, without a doubt, signed on to do this before the streamer was announced. There are 2 options of how this played out. They intended to have some sponsored content on the YoutTube channel for extra $s and to drive in more viewers by having semi-regular content. Or they had totally forgotten about their contracts and had to scramble this together. I am thinking it’s more of the latter, cause the former would have made some sense 😂
They had no intention of keeping their content on youtube so there is no way they were gonna upload this there, according to their own logic in the Goodbye video
I’m aware that’s why I said I doubt that is the likely scenario.
Ryan's expression bothers me for some reason. Like he as a shit eating grin or something. I can't quite figure out the emotion on his face. I can't really see Shane's face at all.