How They RUINED Their Reputation in 15 Minutes

[@BillsYT]

Watcher Tried to pull a fast one on you, I never would! Subscribe to the channel to get us closer to 200K and get constant videos each and every month! It takes only a second! Much love yall

[@philiciajoy]

😎

[@SEBEESIX]

bill

[@manyyoumas]

these guys really thought it was smart to start yet another streaming service during some of the most anti-paying-for-less consumer attitudes of current times

[@CrystalMckenzie-hu2ye]

eat soooo much balls

[@McCoySheisty11]

Clown reply

[@Five0f5even]

They claim theyre worried bout keeping their team employed meanwhile they continue to hire MORE of their friends from Buzzfeed.

[@BillsYT]

🤦🏻‍♂️

[@Shawnne86]

Amen. Who tf asked for Steven??

[@richardtherichard26]

Right… so they want to keep their friends employed and they keep hiring their friends… how else would you a business owner keep your friends employed after they’ve been laid off by a much larger company? By firing them? If so then I have more questions. Are you fucking retarded or otherwise just an unreliable dickhead? Do any of you people have any idea on how a business works? You’re not supporting a business by crying and bitching and begging for them to provide you with their product for free. You don’t want to pay and be a fucking free loader that’s great for you. Some of us simply aren’t that fucking pathetic 😂😂😂😂🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@ss16206]

They even hired their wives in. Like Tammy became a camera man when she wasn't needed and Mari became part of it while actors strike.

[@Akursedtime]

They need a financial advisor. Not a streaming site. 🙄

[@BillsYT]

Facts

[@adrienneadams3009]

That one guy is funding it..the skinny Asian guy they have on. What I heard anyway

[@solxce]

⁠@@adrienneadams3009If you’re referring to the one guy who did the cheap vs expensive thing on buzzfeed, that guy is just bad luck

[@maxp7687]

who do you think told them to paywall. the money men.

[@wrexvincent]

Big issue too was the implication 'everyone can afford $6 a month'- when you had international viewers whos currency isn't as strong. Not to mention that is $6 on top of other bills and streaming services that offered more.

[@BillsYT]

Yep they are like “it’s just 6 dollars”

[@Satya.G-_-]

this is the part that pissed me off the most. then second was taking all of their content.

[@mustbetheSUN]

For real, 6usd are two hours of work in my country. These people live inside a thermus.

[@FukaiKokoro]

I can't afford dental. Like I'm gonna pay 6$ for that. Laughable

[@Jenna2k]

Also if they where broke they'd know that every dollar counts.

[@justindenney-hall5875]

The fact that they tried to sentimentalize they're leaving KZbin with the emotional music is so heavy handed 🙄🤣

[@BillsYT]

💀🤣

[@justindenney-hall5875]

@@BillsYT Thank you for the ❤

[@BillsYT]

@@justindenney-hall5875 no problem 😎

[@justindenney-hall5875]

@@BillsYT I wish you well.

[@Katinahat293]

Yes🤣🤣

[@NavyGuy2OO7]

This is what happens when YT creators get treated like rock stars. They get an overinflated view of themselves and think people will just throw money at them.

[@BillsYT]

💀🤣

[@maxp7687]

were here b/c its free. we ain't groupies who will follow you across the country.

[@justingraves8649]

The "apology couch" has cursed Fine Bros, Try Guys, and now Watcher.🛋

[@BillsYT]

🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@TheElbowMerchant]

It's still less evil than the casting couch, but both are cursed furniture, without a doubt.

[@captainchaosxx3866]

​@@TheElbowMerchant most casting couch videos I've seen have been awesome and seen awesome talent 👏 🔥

[@somechupacabrawithinternet8866]

the Fine Bros.... that's a name i haven't heard in a minute

[@derrickjuinor]

I guess the apology made it worse

[@Shawnne86]

I’m so disappointed.. they left buzzfeed… to become a new buzzfeed… they’ve become insanely out of touch and greedy. Sadly, I now know too much.. I’m out.

[@imjustjk]

Same. My husband and I were Patreon members, too.

[@richardtherichard26]

They’re greedy bc they would like their business to make some money? Funny bc I think you’re pretty greedy for thinking you’re entitled to someone else’s work for free. You’re just not a very bright person. Being willfully fucking retarded is a massive problem in society and you’re contributing to it by choosing to be fucking stupid. Don’t do that. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@whyyes6429]

not only that, when they made this "new buzzfeed unsolved" it was nothing like old buzzfeed unsolved. watcher lost so much of its buzzfeed unsolved audience by trying to make its own thing but it downright sucks

[@Satya.G-_-]

5:07 they did plan to pull all their content. i refuse to be gaslit by them. they did an interview with variety where they specified this. then they changed the article later.

[@BillsYT]

They tried to pull a fast one 😂

[@richardtherichard26]

Thinking a financially struggling KZbin company has the ability to change a variety article is actually INSANE. You NEED to go see a therapist 😂😂😂😂😂🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@richardtherichard26]

@@BillsYTno YOURE trying to pull a fast one you fucking freeloading dope. You don’t even know the guys fucking names you fuckin loser. If you didn’t want to pay you simply could’ve not paid instead of bitching about how you’re entitled to free shit. You’re fucking pathetic and bc your little subscribers are just as desperate for attention as you are they simply agree with you bc you might reply to their comment. You’re fucking pathetic 😂😂😂😂🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@Satya.G-_-]

@@richardtherichard26 u r late to a lot of things it seems. they said this on they goodbye yt vdo as well. which they later changed.

[@Spikeelsucko]

@@richardtherichard26 It's literally true though

[@Andiandru]

"KZbin doesn't give us enough money anymore" Yeah, that'd be believable if Mr. Beast wasn't spending and recovering millions with KZbin vids

[@BillsYT]

Exactly lmao

[@tfordham13]

Mr. Beast is very fancy tho and has other money sources

[@PyxeledGenesis]

​@@tfordham13Watcher has $80 merch, does fan meets, and has a thriving Patreon with a $100 monthly tier.. They're not hurting at all

[@grey8288]

YT is far from his only source, and most of his income from videos is from sponsors/ads within the video itself rather than YT revenue. He makes a lot, but if he was just running on YT revenue, hed make losses with most of his videos.

[@notTORYY]

Different types of content pay out differently. It’s usually a difference of cents but as its per view, it adds up

[@shoresy6943]

Steven really destroyed the whole channel cause he wanted his golden steaks.

[@BillsYT]

lmao

[@jessicamerriman2336]

He is incredibly off putting and snobby.

[@tfordham13]

Ryan and Shane are the only two I like

[@BrianaCunningham]

​@@tfordham13same here, I skip the Steven parts on Too Many Spirits XD

[@averagejoe455]

And they just announced a new season

[@manyyoumas]

i’m not ever going to baby shane and ryan or say that they weren’t absolutely as responsible for this as steve but tbh steve just needed to go from the start nobody wanted him from the audience’s perspective and he has the personality of drywall

[@BillsYT]

😭😭 probably more fun watching paint dry

[@tfordham13]

I've litterly never seen any of his stuff lol

[@Katinahat293]

This is spot on. He’s never entertained me. I skipped his parts in Too Many Spirits and never watched his show(s). I just don’t trust them anymore which is sad cause I liked them

[@tavab8539]

I really liked Dish Granted because he felt like a person genuinely excited to learn, and the guests were really cool. He just didn't fit in their other content and became really uncomfortable and annoying to me like with Too Many Spirits with his bits

[@candistarbuckle]

Insulting to drywall but, yeah 🎉

[@philiciajoy]

Step 4 stop spending money on couches

[@BillsYT]

💀💀

[@BillsYT]

Yep lmao

[@lovely1762]

Step 5: Build a better budget.

[@RennK85]

And on the most expensive food that most people could not even think of affording

[@emc59789]

"TV caliber content" one of their main series now is two grown men playing video game on screen... Laughable

[@vaibhavirai3502]

Thank you for saying this! That is what pissed me off (slightly more than the price thing because those who want to pay them, will pay them regardless). They were talking about 'TV caliber content' as if YT is such an inferior place to be as content creator... If wanted to make TV content, why not pitch it? I know a lot of the fans do not care for Worth it!, but it has a very TLC/other lifestyle channel show caliber. I think it would have been good there...

[@holdmyteaimbusyscreeching6135]

THIS IS THE ISSUE!! if you see the credits to any video even dumb shit like them playing video games it has like 20+ employees working on it,, WHY?!?!?! i watched watcher cuz of their dynamic,,, cuz of shayne and ryan, i didnt watch cuz they had a storyboard editor on too many spirits, they needed a financial advisor because i dont need a good set to giggle.

[@ScribStat]

Like, their "high budget" videos weren't even of some exceptionally different quality. They wanna charge a whole $6 a month for some beautifully half-baked videos of guys chatting it up over drinks and expensive food? Hah. Yeah. I unsubscribed immediately after their announcement and haven't looked back.

[@grey8288]

They took a calculated risk and oh boy are they bad at math.

[@BillsYT]

💀😂

[@averagejoe455]

I still don't understand why the need so many employees.

[@karolinawww6834]

They don't, they just wanted to put all their friends and family on a payroll

[@ryt1995]

If anyone has other insights/opinions, I'm open to them - to some degree, I'd understand why the three guys would choose to delegate things to others. In addition to making KZbin videos, there's probably other stuff like social media management, admin things like booking locations and transportation, and working with numbers. Again, if someone has more insights into managing a KZbin channel, definitely open to hearing them.

[@averagejoe455]

@@ryt1995 But wouldn't that mean you would only need like, half a dozen people on your team? A person is capable of simultaneously being able to book sites AND run a camera.

[@39stepd]

You’re not wrong, it’s just that the whole employeeS thing seems like a scapegoat for the fact that the one guy has an entire world travel series where he literally eats gold. Among other points like the lifeless overproduction.

[@lumaw152]

it's fascinating how greed blinds people. if they have just thought about this for 5 minutes, i don't think we would be here.

[@Catherine.Dorian.]

And they could’ve left the KZbin channel up but also launch the website with content you can’t see on KZbin. Just dropping KZbin was stupid

[@BillsYT]

I guess they thought that they’d lose members if they still posted onto their KZbin account but it’s just done and wasn’t thought through

[@officerwaifu6408]

Dead Meat James even releases the censored videos for free on his channel and links the uncensored videos as either unlisted KZbin videos or has them in his Patreon behind like a 1$ pay wall. THAT'S extra content.

[@lordasian8476]

He is a fans of the genre and very genuine, i thought the same about these guys too..

[@satfat1232]

It’s a shame, I loved their content so much back then

[@BillsYT]

Me too I feel your pain

[@InVinoVeratas]

They literally just needed to keep doing what worked, built up their reputation some more, then post additional content or future episodes of their ghost watching material behind a paywall, but not permanently, eventually allow said ghost hunter episodes behind the temporary paywall be viewed by the public for free in the future. Instead they destroyed their reputation.

[@tfordham13]

​@InVinoVeratas basically a patron early access

[@marcrics]

Destroying your relevancy and following on a website which is notoriously difficult to gain relevancy and a following, is a significantly low IQ move. Pure disconnect from the average viewer and the nature of the platform currently.

[@BillsYT]

Oh yeah the disconnect is crazy

[@theseancequeen]

What really sucked is in the weeks leading up to the announcement of the streaming service they hyped it like a fun surprise. Something new we should all get really excited about. Well, I was certainly surprised, not so much excited. Never thought I could be fired as a fan for being too poor, but hey, now I know.

[@BillsYT]

That’s wild

[@karelyanaya2078]

Omg😢, after reading your comment I finally understand what they actually did… they fired us poor people as fans just because we don’t have the money to pay them… that’s actually disgusting English is not my first language.

[@briandstephmoore4910]

They chose to lay off fans and potential fans rather than do any structuring in there company.

[@BillsYT]

Friends over fans

[@actionhero1983]

Their

[@briandstephmoore4910]

@@actionhero1983 cool story bud

[@PyxeledGenesis]

I check up on their channel every couple weeks out of petty curiosity. Their food themed videos range from 100-600k views, while Ghost Files always gets millions... and yet, they just announced another trailer for another Steven centric food series. I guess they gave up on their brand.. Their most recent vids getting less than 200k is cathartic though

[@lindseysharon259]

This video popped up in my feed so I decided to open up the Watcher page while watching it. Seeing that trailer listed really solidified my belief that none of these guys give a shit. There were so many comments about how much the food videos cost while asking people to give them more money. They should have delayed it a few months until they had a chance to release some of the non food content and earned back some respect.

[@imjustjk]

I’ve suspected for a while that they (particularly Ryan) are over Ghost Files. He seemed almost bored by it last season. They wanted to bring back Weird and/or Wonderful World so they could get paid to travel and eat. The fans wanted Buzzfeed era banter. The fans and Watcher were at odds at what the channel “should” be.

[@PyxeledGenesis]

@@imjustjk I noticed that too! It just felt like the spark was gone.. It's fine if his ambitions lie in Gordon Ramsey-ish TV shows, but to deliberately ignore what your fans want (and what they're even here for) without even being open about disliking it.. insane.

[@kyleco9185]

To be fair, Ghost files has been pretty boring without Ryan genuinely freaking out on every single creak he hears. The dynamic just doesn't work with a Shane and slightly scared Shane.

[@dannygolp7667]

Fr, they kinda seem like they're above it in every video, too cool to freak out like before but it makes for very boring content​@@kyleco9185

[@aaronsanders4122]

I’ve been a huge fan of Shane and Ryan since their days at Buzzfeed. Sucks to see them stoop to this although I think a lot of blame falls on Steven Lim. He’s the CEO of watcher and the series he does mainly traveling around the world to eat $1000 steaks and other fancy shit are very costly and don’t get many views

[@BillsYT]

Ohhhh so now it’s falling on Shane and Ryan

[@aaronsanders4122]

@@BillsYT a lot of blame definitely falls on them since their the faces but a lot also has to fall on the CEO, typically they have the final say in a company’s business decisions although I could be wrong, just my thoughts

[@tfordham13]

​@aaronsanders4122 I mean if they left what will they do? Make a another new yt channel with the sows with new names for it? They lost a good amount of people just from leaving buzz feed

[@tfordham13]

@user-qv4np3ur5w no there not Ryan and shane have no control over the channel the Steven is the ceo and has full control

[@kyriacarica5862]

In my country many people make less than 6 dollars a day. So that statement in itself was super tone deaf and infuriating.

[@rosalinasnow7529]

Yes i was a patron. I left and told them i wont return until steven is off the payroll. This was all spearheaded by steven.

[@quantum9964]

Wait until these guys learn about KZbin memberships.

[@FukaiKokoro]

They already had that and pateron. They made at least 60k a month on pateron alone.

[@Stealth86651]

I don't know how three people managed to be so unintelligent at the same time. Says a lot that none of them just took a second to reflect on how their audience might feel. I guess they don't need more money now that they've obliterated their reputation lol.

[@BillsYT]

They’ll always have a following but I’m not sure if it’ll be as strong as it once was

[@tfordham13]

It's mostly the ceo fault

[@GamerGrovyle]

A person is smart, A group is stupid. You will typically get better results from one person taking charge and making well thought out decisions than ten people in a board room yelling at each other before making a decision.

[@theatremusicbookworm]

Their apology was so empty, it sounds like it was written by AI.

[@theatremusicbookworm]

Ha well I guess we’re in agreement 😅 19:53

[@BillsYT]

🤣🤣

[@jvever4904]

The wild thing is theyre breaking the bank on high production when their fans don't care about it. In even simple videos like the apology video, they have like 15 staff members credited... Literally not that many people need to be working on a video of three guys sitting on the couch making a 3 minute apology. In one video they credited an ON-SET BARTENDER. WHY DO THEY HAVE ONE OF THOSE.

[@angelwings1979]

I think they did pitch their shows to a network and nobody wanted it so they decided to make their own. Greed is an amazing drug.

[@BillsYT]

wow lmao

[@averagejoe455]

I just unsubscribed from them again. The fanboys in their comment section was enough to drive me away. It's wild how quickly people forget things like this and how the people who stuck around will feverishly defend all transgressions like it was actually a good thing that they're doing this.

[@maryjanedodo]

Bots

[@uglybetty8747]

Yup the comment section there is pathetic

[@jessicaeubank4332]

I unsubscribed from Watcher over this. They make PLENTY of money, but are woefully mishandling what they have and grasping for more. They don't deserve my view time or wallet for asking us to bankroll their bougie lifestyles.

[@TheGoulish]

Honestly, they sent an email to their paying subscribers a few days ago that they're still taking on video sponsors. So this was all a waste and people are paying them to still have to watch sponsored videos.

[@BillsYT]

Wow smh

[@BeeDistracted]

I hate to defend them in this situation but you’re kind of mischaracterizing what they said. Yes, they’re taking sponsors but those were only for KZbin. However, apparently some Watcher TV subscribers said they wanted access to those videos too so they polled their subscribers to see if they wanted the sponsored videos on the site as well.

[@tonyabrown7855]

@@BeeDistracted Stating the facts of what happened isn't mischaracterizing anything. Make a big show of asking fans to pay so they don't need sponsors anymore, just to continue taking on sponsors, is wild.

[@timthatshim8037]

What's creepy is they keep saying this phrase "TV caliber" in written articles and videos, no one cares how good it looks we care about how entertaining it is

[@drnstvns]

You saw the first attempt at this kind of money grab when they left Buzzfeed. When they went to their own channel thinking they should get ALL the money and cut Buzzfeed out they didn’t factor in the excellent editing, directing and graphics that came with Buzzfeed so when they tried to recreate themselves everything they’ve produced has been clunky, scattered, unattractive (graphic wise) and just like a desperate grab at different forms of content trying to find what “hits” and quickly abandoning anything that didn’t hit immediately. The professor is the only enjoyable show they have and they’ve even screwed that up. This is a perfect example of how when letting greed guide your choices rather than your passion it never turns out good. Too bad, they once were great.

[@unoriginalsyn]

They got boring in my opinion after they left Buzzfeed and I never knew who the other guy was anyway 🤷‍♀️

[@brianinglis3805]

The other guy should've stayed behind the scenes and not be on camera. I find him annoying & uninteresting.

[@thefangirlfromhell9627]

I didn’t even realise watcher did content other than ghost files and that puppet history thing 😂

[@ct5625]

They're REALLY bad at promoting their own content via their existing content. And I mean catastrophically bad. It almost feels intentional. I don't think I've ever seen them refer to their other shows in their most popular shows. I don't think they ever promote Mystery Files in their Ghost Files shows or vice-versa. I don't know why, but they seem to isolate everything into its own little bubble.

[@candistarbuckle]

@@ct5625 I know. How can they not see that? Weird. 🤨😉

[@BadWallaby]

I’m honestly surprised KZbinTV hasn’t made deals with some KZbinrs like this. Seems like an easier crossover than a self made streaming service.

[@BillsYT]

That’s really true

[@ct5625]

But that would probably require Watcher to tailor their content to more stringent rules than even some advertisers and sponsors require. And then there's an issue with ownership of the content and the legal problems that could create. I don't think YT would agree to a contract that keeps all content in the hands of the creators. They'd want sole rights to it. Isn't this one of the reasons YT Red was such a failure with regard to "exclusive" content?

[@lisahoshowsky4251]

It wasn’t really an apology though, it was clear that was the bare minimum announcement they had to make to stop hemorrhaging fans and stop from going down with the ship the sunk themselves. It was just a logical business move and only their actions moving forward will actually prove whether they apologized, because words without tangible action are meaningless.

[@BillsYT]

It’s crazy that the “apology” had so many likes, seemed like they had an overall good video

[@lamedrawings]

Bro they used to make millions of views, now they're making less then 300k god damn

[@tfordham13]

True but that's also because they aren't doing the good videos

[@josecarlosramolete6109]

it seems to me that these KZbinr groups such as Watcher, Try Guys, and Fine Bros have one thing in common: curse of BuzzFeed.

[@BillsYT]

Agreed lmao

[@justindenney-hall5875]

I can't help being reminded of a certain couple of "Bro's" who tried to pull a similar stunt a few years ago and quickly got humbled, just proves the old saying "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."🤔

[@skepticalshrek]

It really surprised me that Ryan and Shane didn’t ask Rhett and Link for advice, considering they also have helped KZbin channels like Smosh (both as in a whole and individually), Jarvis and Jordan, Colin and Samir, among others to stay on the ground and slowly reach their goals. Damn. Even the fact that they didn’t ask the Try Guys. Which also is a whole situation because some rumors say that the try guys were supposed to announce their streaming platform first but somehow watcher went first. There are some evidence on twitter that says even Ned and Keith unfollowed Ryan and Shane before the announcement. Anyways, really cool video!

[@margarethmichelina5146]

If I had a nickel when there's a KZbinr made a mistake and apologize on their comfy couch, I'd have a dollar for now because my God, so many KZbinrs are still doing that.

[@the_sorcerer]

That shit dont work anymore. A decade ago, this would be normal for people but people aint vibing with this shit now.

[@BillsYT]

I agree

[@the_sorcerer]

@BillsYT very dismissive of these guys. But hopefully other creators see that and take it as a lesson in operating larger channels. Patreon is acceptable because it's optional bonus content. If they stayed on KZbin, they would have a much different situation.

[@BillsYT]

Yeah if they never said “goodbye KZbin” it would’ve gone a lot differently

[@pjb7935]

Saw a post after the try guys announced their streaming service "The watcher crawled so that 2nd try will walk" Its quite a shock that they did not consult with Sam from Dropout

[@honestlykyle]

The fact that no one on their team noticed how terrible the optics were before they put out that video speaks volumes. They should consider hiring qualified people instead of a bunch of out of touch “yes-men.”

[@YeTheGOATNoCap]

All their employees are under qualified nepotism hires. It's all friends and family working there.

[@haustyl12]

The fine bros and Watcher should be taught in schools on how to destroy your fanbase/business

[@BillsYT]

The finebros really messed up badly

[@Jopovicious]

Nearly forgot these guys until I got this recommendation. But yeah seemed to me straight away "I don't want some money, I want all the money" situation.

[@BillsYT]

I agree

[@InVinoVeratas]

I was genuinely glad they started posting content on youtube, and thought _"wow, can't wait to see what they do now!"_ Now I don't care. Thanks you guys. I no longer think there is a single content creator that doesn't do this without the desire of money and that's it. Community and fans? They're numbers, and are meaningless as the end of the day.

[@BillsYT]

Maybe once a creator gets to the millions but trust me I’m just a regular person and you all aren’t just numbers too me but I do think there are some KZbinrs who could care less

[@Jenna2k]

If they where really that broke they'd understand that cost would effect people. Broke people know how much value money has.

[@jessicamerriman2336]

I was with Supernatural when it was Brent and Ryan. That's a long time. I watched Shane and Ryan on Supernatural and Unsolved with great devotion. I loved Puppet University under Watcher. Now, nothing they could say would ever get me back as a supporter until Steven Lim is terminated. Buzzfeed and Watcher was Shane and Ryan. Steven Lim is just riding their coat tails and is very off putting and snobby. Steven Lim is dead weight.

[@candistarbuckle]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽♥️🪄

[@monicawatson2537]

Their production went way up with graphics and nonsense but none of us wanted that. We loved the unsolved. All they had to do was match that. Not one person wants to watch Steven eat a gold steak. Such a slap in the face

[@KraXoom]

Watcher was better when it was just Shayne and Ryan. Steven brought nothing to the channel.

[@maryoraha2637]

this just makes me appreciate The Try Guys more because you can tell they genuinely enjoyed making content and weren’t just in it for the money. they have their own subscription service but they’re not abandoning their youtube audience as well.

[@BillsYT]

thats true

[@lobsters12111]

They tried but received backlash. That's the only reason.

[@girllawrin]

Yes! I was waiting to find this comment! The Try Guys did it with far more grace. I have 2nd try, and I'm very happy knowing I can still watch their content (edited, and a few days later) here on youtube if I need to trim out some streaming.

[@bramblechaser162]

Their Patreon is not free, but the people on their Patreon get a free membership to the streaming service. Originally they got like a 10% discount.

[@LouPhonze]

I would like to add something about their content that not a lot of people have mention before to my knowledge. the watcher podcast, which is the easiest content people can produce (just pick a topic and talk about), felt soo lazy, like they did it just to have more stuff. I genuinely listen to 5 episodes and is the most boring conversations you could imagine: Steven is not the most interesting or charismatic person but I wouldn't blame him for that, he could just not be my taste, Ryan is very funny but a lot of the conversations devolve into the things around them in California (or even just like 3 blocks from were they live), and since I'm an international ex fan I don't care, and then there's Shane... Shane feels like he honestly was force to be there and couldn't care less, he picks a topic and says 3 things about it and drops it, leaving Ryan interrogating him trying to get him to talk more about it (like the Fornite episode), or he talks about random stuff just to "fill his quota", like him wanting to talk about apples, that just went "well I bought an apple so let's talk about it". I really tried to listen to more but it really felt like they didn't fully care, so why should I

[@ether_sect]

They became so full of themselves. I can't watch them anymore.

[@jamierussellville101]

Im not even a subscriber of theirs, but I would have unsubscribed if I was. When they said they wanted to travel my first thought was, no you and your wives/partners want to travel and have the company pay for it. Hiring all your family and friends really backfires when you then have to fire them. Theres no way they need that many people. Employees for small companies are just expensive. That's just how it is.

[@trevorhensley3185]

Like James A. Janisse says, "Be Good People!"

[@BillsYT]

James is the goat

[@dokichokei]

The guy from the buzzfeed series called "Worth It" pushing the worst value streaming service in history is ironic.

[@mammadragon8108]

It's funny as they claim that they want to move off KZbin to their own website due to money reasons, but owning and hosting a website is EXPENSIVE. So I just don't believe that they are doing this for money reasons unless they're just really ignorant about how web hosting works

[@maryjanedodo]

Ohhhh! They're clearly not intelligent & are showing how amateur they really are

[@fungicide9244]

Making way over produced content over the fun easy-going content that people actually subscribed for is what started the downfall of roosterteeth.

[@LD-hs9iv]

I still wonder what happened behind the scenes between the leaving KZbin video and the apology video Like how panicked were they when they realised they fucked up and they were losing subscribers

[@seanheaney8303]

I used to love Ryan & Shanes content through Buzzfeed the Unsolved series was one of the best true crime/ mystery series out there. Shane and Ryan had a way of diagraming a case that was comedic yet serious yet highly detailed. Were others who cover the same case just go over it with humdrum music behind. That being said i was excited when they started their new channel. I quickly disliked their content things like long form videos talking with people, eating videos and pop culture type stuff. I found it so terrible i completely stopped watching them. It just felt like they got famous for one thing and then suddenly felt everything they touched was gold. I appricate them trying to expand their horizon past buzzfeed but sometimes going out on your own doesnt work for everyone. I heard that they eventually did more true crime ill have to check it out at some point. They poorly handled this situation. But they really mishandled how they started their youtube in the first place. Had they continued hardcore on the unsolved mysteries and crimes their channel would have been 5x by now. They added so many other random and weird faces who just arent talented, that cant help payroll. Overall not surpised by this news.

[@chrispage8055]

It's kind of pathetic that Watchers first shows after their paid platform launch to KZbin is them playing video games. I'm so glad I waited a month to watch something and it's them playing games......... Really goes to show you how much they really don't care about the people that got them to where they are now who watch on KZbin. It would be kind of hilarious, but I would also be ticked if I actually paid for the service and the first videos on their paid platform was them playing video games. I drought this is case, and they probably have a whole bunch on there and just picked and choose what they uploaded to KZbin, but still.

[@BillsYT]

Thank you all for coming to the premiere! I'm think about posting more premieres in the future

[@kyrakan6393]

I get the vibe that Steve really just wanted more money to spend on their own vacations- for the worth it or whatever stupid pricey shows he personally does. Maybe they could have saved money by cutting the show and Steve completely

[@MononokeLynn]

One of my favourite shows of theirs was when they’d sit around a campfire, get drunk and read ghost stories. Most have bought some top tier alcohol to ask me to pay $6 per month to start with because they would have raised prices eventually.

[@BagKingBrian]

Who needs Watcher when Bills posts quality content on YT for FREE

[@BillsYT]

You know it 😎

[@jakemitchell1132]

Lesson for everyone, don’t be a Watcher, be a Dead Meat.

[@BillsYT]

Agreeeed

[@CJmidnightreactions]

Great video BillsYT. As a small YT channel myself I would be happy to have 10% of their past audience. Greed brother .. that’s all.

[@BillsYT]

Thank you for watching!🙏🏻

[@hospitalgal101]

I think they said if you were subscribed to their patron it would include a membership to the streaming service, not that the pattern was free, but it turns out the free sub to the steaming service was only for a few months

[@enthiegavoir5955]

So the reason they would want to cut the Patreon off and move to their own service is likely because Patreon takes a small cut. Still, it's incredibly stupid, for it to work, they would need to have every Patron migrate over, which will never happen be it out of inconvenience, dislike of the move, or maybe even just people forgetting due to recurrent payments. A quick Google search says that the cut is only 5% so they will absolutely lose money.

[@BillsYT]

Oh I completely forgot about the fees but it’s still a ton of money

[@TheGoulish]

Whats nuts is that the new streamer takes just as big of a cut. You can view the numbers of what the fees look like at Vimeo OTT

[@bingofromblueyfan]

My mom used to love watcher but after they made the video saying they were leaving she quit watching them and was upset that they would do that

[@ImKarl]

I've never seen any content creator move away to build their own platform for their own content be successful.

[@JBMVoid]

4:56 ad free? for how long? since every platform now day putting ads on paid content

[@BillsYT]

Then you’ll have to pay a higher fee for no ads lmao

[@honieebean]

I miss the Buzzfeed shane and Ryan.... Watcher just had a different vibe (even their spooky shows)

[@AlaFrigginBama]

It’s unfortunate. I did enjoy “puppet history” a lot. My son and I have watched every single episode together. But…….the tone def BS of them saying that $5.99 a month is something that everyone can afford in our current economic crisis was wrong. They don’t like having to make BS ads for corporations and I get that on some level….but demanding that your long term audience pay for your international travel, your million dollar weddings, your expensive clothing, homes, etc….is….worse. You can do a dang 1 minute ad segment and clear more revenue than the average American household brings in per YEAR, right now. Shane’s wife coming in and talking mess about “affordable wages” was even worse when she’s from a fairly affluent family and has no damn idea what it is like. Shane, Ryan and Steven are also are from upper middle class families but now they want to complain that they aren’t making enough money???? Yeah. Nope. GTFO with that.

[@lovely1762]

I hate YT who beg and pander; I remember it use to be fun, now its a competition of who gets the most reviews and political.

[@benjie128]

While yt doesn't pay enough, that's why literally every stream I watch diversifies their revenue. They have patreon, Etsy, maybe even twitch. They get sponsorships and affiliates.

[@sixxeyes2710]

They made such a classic mistake. You need to keep up the same free content for viewers while offering new and exclusive content behind the paywall. I’ve seen it successfully work with other creators but their problem was they just took away the free content completely and went straight to a paywall. Being tone deaf didn’t help much either. Streaming is not as much of a necessity as food or paying bills so people will always choose the necessities over stuff that isn’t a necessity if you can’t price accordingly.

[@skies6647]

Thank you for covering this. It’s something I really care about. I am a watcher fan.

[@BillsYT]

Thank you for watching!!

[@Joshavelli__]

Bro I really missed the premiere but I'm already knowing it was gonna be a banger regardless. Good video as always Bills!

[@BillsYT]

Thank you!!🙏🏻

[@samuelrussell7003]

Literally every creator who starts their own website and puts content behind a pay wall ends up the same wasted thousands to build a site that no one wants to pay for then comes crawling back with their tail between their legs which doesn't work because they end up completely alienating their entire fanbases the only creators I know who actually have a successful website that's been going for years is Marty and Michael from Australia and that's only because they never stopped uploading to social media and uploads different content that gets banned on social media on their site

[@BillsYT]

Yeah it seems like they always come back

[@rocketamadeus3730]

Shane Madej needs better friends. He's Paul McCartney and he's listening to two Ringos.

[@katebailey9212]

I was a huge watcher fan, and since the walk back, I haven't watched anything they've uploaded and have no desire to.

[@katebailey9212]

They got way too greedy

[@Jersey.D3vil201]

Sounds like their apology video is a pitch for their new website.

[@Dani-rp2pf]

They could have just done Patreon again and made bank from that by doing Patreon only content like sneak peeks, behind the scenes, polls, votes on new merch, uncut versions of the episodes that may not be KZbin friendly, etc. and not paywalled their actual finished content. One of the people I follow on Patreon makes like 5k a month from it and doesn’t even post every week. Most of their Pateron’s also have the lowest tier of like 3 dollars. This would have allowed them to earn more money without fucking over the fandom.

[@teiquimbo]

in PH it’s almost 400 pesos 😢 sad bcoz i love them so much i only watch ghost files here paying 400 is not worth it

[@IhateAlot718]

Not to sound mean but even then you still aren't a valued watcher. They get like a few cents for someone in your country because of the currency difference. You are a non factor

[@Sofia_Sif]

Why didn't they just use Nebula like every other KZbinr who wants more money? It's a pretty acceptable course of action as far as I've seen

[@UAPReportingCenter]

Never should have left Buzzfeed

[@glitchedout4life276]

Man said "Ryan Ber-ayga" bro this guys a joke lol

[@BillsYT]

😦

[@voodoo2006]

the watcher was so good though ryan and shane is so entertaining 😢

[@petergriffiinbirdistheword]

I personally hate that they switched to paranormal. I followed them because I enjoyed the murder mysteries but I stayed subscribed because they were funny... i just didn't watch anymore. I guess now I have a reason to unsubscribe. I was hoping theyd wventuawitch back to the murder mysteries or at least included. But they abandoned that content completely. All the ghost stuff is just so lame... I believe in the unexplained but videos on it are super lame. EDIT: Just saw that they did in fact incorporate the mysteries back into the rotation. Will probably still unsubscribe tho idk

[@BillsYT]

It seems like a lot of subscribers stopped watching for the same reason

[@tfordham13]

The ghost videos were the best

[@Joshavelli__]

I don't know why they even decided to go with that move to begin with. I mean don't get me wrong I understand they were trying to get their money but still that's messed up. I'm not pocket watching I'm just being honest. 💯🤷🏾‍♂️

[@BillsYT]

Yeah I don’t get it either

[@dislikebutton3887]

US Inflation Rate (I:USIR) US Inflation Rate is at 3.36%, compared to 3.48% last month and 4.93% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 3.28%. The US Inflation Rate is the percentage in which a chosen basket of goods and services purchased in the US increases in price over a year.

[@ToastyGhostie-np9bd]

Okay. Something that really bothers me is the fact that Steven Lim is always on the couch too and talking for the company. DUDE. WE WATCH WATCHER FOR RYAN AND SHANE. And I know I'm sounding like an a-hole But him sitting there and delivering this "news" is so strangely condescending and infuriating when I DON'T WATCH WATCHER FOR YOU STEVEN LIM. I watch Watcher for RYAN and SHANE NOBODY CARES about your show about eating expensive food. Oh, is it delicious??? NO WAY. Can I taste it? NO. Can I smell it? NO. Can you describing it possibly compare to the deliciousness of the real taste? NO. I DON'T want to watch Steven Lim's content, I don't find him funny, or charismatic or charming or anything like that. So for him to sit there, and talk about the end of the show, AS IF he is some PIVOTAL part of Watcher content is just hysterical, baffling and insulting - all at once. Get off the couch. Stop filming boring nonsense and blaming KZbin for it underperforming. Just stop. I don't want to watch your content. It's just embarassing at this point.

[@seldatarasa9729]

deadmeat mentioned