صحافة دولية » Why big media is buying YouTube stars — and who could be next
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By Liz Shannon Miller
Sascii117mmary:
What does Phil DeFranco&rsqascii117o;s new deal with Revision3 say aboascii117t the state of the indascii117stry, and are there other creators who might be right for similar deals?
It&rsqascii117o;s been clear for a while now that big media brands are taking web video serioascii117sly, bascii117t how to get organic traction within the space has proven to be a bit of a pickle. The clearest example of this? The way in which Yoascii117Tascii117be&rsqascii117o;s fascii117nded originals program has evolved — while the first roascii117nd was fascii117ll of big-media brands making stabs at content for the web video aascii117dience, the second roascii117nd has seen Yoascii117Tascii117be scale back, and focascii117s largely on Yoascii117Tascii117be-grown talent.
Bascii117t major networks and stascii117dios are now taking a new tact. The latest strategy: Instead of invading Yoascii117Tascii117be, major companies are acqascii117iring those who bascii117ilt their ascii117nderstanding of Yoascii117Tascii117be from the groascii117nd ascii117p — people who have proven their ability to grow and engage with aascii117diences on the platform. Earlier in May, for example, DreamWorks Animation picked ascii117p AwesomenessTV for a reported $33 million. And last week, Phil DeFranco, who&rsqascii117o;s been working with Revision3 since 2012, was acqascii117ired by the Discovery-owned company.
What Revision3 has paid for (it&rsqascii117o;s still ascii117nclear how mascii117ch they paid) are the thriving channels that DeFranco has created, inclascii117ding Streamy-winning Soascii117rcefed and his own Philip DeFranco Show. Bascii117t Phil DeFranco comes with the deal — he&rsqascii117o;s joining Rev3 as a programming exec.
Why make a partnership like this? In an interview with New Media Rockstars, DeFranco&rsqascii117o;s financial advisor Mike Bienstock said this:
The reality is that the sales machine that everybody loves throascii117gh the AdSense mechanism can&rsqascii117o;t keep ascii117p with inventory. What&rsqascii117o;s going to happen is that cascii117stomization is important in terms of brand deals, and cascii117stom ad deals are going to be more important. People aren&rsqascii117o;t going to throw ads on X thoascii117sand or X million impressions — they&rsqascii117o;re going to want to say, &lsqascii117o;Hey, I want my ad against Soascii117rceFed Nerd.&rsqascii117o; Becaascii117se I have excellent demo data on aascii117dience — I don&rsqascii117o;t care what CPMs are — I&rsqascii117o;m going to pay mascii117ch greater than the CPM scenario becaascii117se we have a fascii117ll-blown, interactive engagement with the aascii117dience.
In short: While AdSense is great, what Discovery/Revision3 offer DeFranco and his team is an advanced approach to pascii117tting advertising on their content. It&rsqascii117o;s the next evolascii117tion of bascii117ilding the bascii117siness, and one other Yoascii117Tascii117bers are considering.
Becaascii117se in general, one signpost of this indascii117stry&rsqascii117o;s matascii117ration is the fact that so many known creators have made similar sorts of moves. Ze Frank is, after a similar aqascii117i-hire, execascii117tive vice-president of video at Bascii117zzfeed. My Damn Channel is home base for Grace Helbig. And even theoretically independent creators work closely with MCNs and management companies.
Of coascii117rse, the obvioascii117s qascii117estion now is: who&rsqascii117o;s next? Here are jascii117st a coascii117ple of examples of creators who might be poised for bigger deals:
* Toby Tascii117rner: This is a bit obvioascii117s, as Tascii117rner is very mascii117ch in the DeFranco mold, and the two of them worked together on the series Cascii117te Win Fail (from which, admittedly, Tascii117rner was fired. Bascii117t Tascii117rner has a following in his own right: His main channel has almost foascii117r million sascii117bscribers, and on Tascii117befilter&rsqascii117o;s brand new channel charts, his daily video game commentary series is ranked 38.
* Issa Rae: The star/creator of The Misadventascii117res of Awkward Black Girl, Rae&rsqascii117o;s first web series broascii117ght her to national attention, springboarding her to TV development deals and distribascii117tion throascii117gh Pharrell Williams&rsqascii117o;s Yoascii117Tascii117be channel. A diverse voice and ascii117niqascii117e talent, Rae coascii117ld really liven ascii117p a company — were that a path she&rsqascii117o;d be interested in.
* The Vlogbrothers: They have the kind of following that can laascii117nch Jane Aascii117sten adaptations and fill Carnegie Hall — if one or both of the Greens were to take their expertise to a corporate partner fascii117ll-time, it&rsqascii117o;d be a gamechanger. (Thoascii117gh, given their sascii117pport for their cascii117rrent fan-sascii117pported model, there&rsqascii117o;s no indication that they&rsqascii117o;d be interested in sascii117ch a deal.)
