How Watcher Killed (And Saved) Their Channel

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Watcher KZbinrs respond after successfully killing their channel.
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[@InfernoOmni]

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[@MRGRIMZ89]

IT WAS LAME BRUH...

[@BartyMcfarty]

omni with all due respect i do not support you promoting gambling. you have often provided me great and entertaining content and news but from here i will be finding this elsewhere. i believe as a viewer it is important for me to give my feedback and this is me fulfilling that duty. keep indi happy for me.

[@MRGRIMZ89]

@@BartyMcfarty THIS FUCKIN GUY.... LOL

[@DADP90]

We got gambling Omni today? Must have been a huge paycheck.

[@char1194]

You must have gotten that 5 digit bag I guess, congrats!

[@SuperDankBadger]

Putting Shane in the middle and having Steven say as little as possible is SO funny to me

[@karolina285]

I mean after all the hate focused mainly on him...I wouldn't even want to talk. Look at him,he looks like he didn't even get full hour of sleep since the announcement.

[@Buttfucker420]

@@karolina285good

[@brittanyr9471]

​@@karolina285 what's the deal with him? Why do folks hate him? Ive seen them collab with youtubers I watch but never really followed them.

[@MrEnjoivolcom1]

How many videos did you comment this on because I’m tired of having to LIKE them all lol.

[@Trasmablue]

@@brittanyr9471 i would say he is the most notable face, which means he would get targeted the most hate

[@Gofargg]

it's weird that this happened twice. 3 dudes who used to work at buzzfeed sitting in front of a camera addresing their controversy.

[@Nagarath16]

That is part of the manipulation. Because Try Guys did it successfully, The Watcher guys stole that image. Pretty rude thing to do if they are all friends, and if they aren't.

[@blurb9319]

@@Nagarath16That’s twisting their actual dynamic quite heavily. The Try Guys actually acted as mentors for the Watcher heads as they were quite inexperienced with business up until they made their new company.

[@joythefrankenfluffy1635]

Two very different situations.....these guys made an unwise business move. Other situation a co-owner of the company had an affair and opened them up to untold legal turmoil ...

[@Gofargg]

@@Nagarath16 yeah idk about any of that. My comment was just pointing out funny thing that i noticed. Edit : i noticed it because both of the asian guys is sitting on the left

[@KSan357]

@@Gofargg There are 2 asian guys in Watcher, Ryan and Steven

[@YuseiTheSynchroHero]

At least they didn't start with the _SIGH_ lmao...

[@InfernoOmni]

I really wish they did

[@chipbannatyne]

3 part harmony sigh would have been peak

[@I_have_Claws]

Or bring out a ukulele

[@sailordarkjupiter]

they did that in the first video lol guess they didn't want to copy themselves lol

[@ScreamingMothVibes]

"So we can play our employees fairly." Honey, yall were buying $100 burgers, what do you mean they can't pay their employee's fairly!!!

[@creedofadeadman854]

And apparently Steven has a multi-million dollar house

[@oeurydice]

I feel like they’ve missed something huge when they’re talking about all the ways their fans support them. Their fans don’t just support them by watching their shows, buying their merch, etc. THEY SUPPORT THEM BY PROVIDING THEM WITH CONTENT TO MONETISE. So much of their content is dependent on their fans submitting their work to them for free. Too Many Spirits and Are You Scared are literally just them reading their fan’s writing. They just put out a submission call for the new season of Too Many Spirits last month, fully intending to put that season behind a paywall without telling the fans who submitted that they’d have to pay to see them read their own work. Ghost Files and Food Files also have key segments with fan submitted material. How the fuck did they think this was ethical?!

[@soulsdancetomusic]

Yo I didn’t even think about this and it’s made me mad all over again

[@armyb140]

I didn't even think abt this bro give me a sec to load.

[@joshuacollins9316]

I mean it’s the same as if you wrote to a show on cable or some other streaming service and they took live submissions, but you’d still have to pay to see it.

[@brib6046]

@@joshuacollins9316but there was a precedent set of it being put out without a paywall. Unlike a show on cable

[@soulsdancetomusic]

@@joshuacollins9316 not really cause you don’t pay for the individual show with cable or streaming services. Also most people don’t buy cable or a streaming service just to watch one or two shows

[@chaoskitteh]

I appreciate the fact that they're not wearing white, didn't start with a sigh or tears while complaining about how hard this was, sounded sincere, are trying to compromise, and are trying to not lay off people in this economy. Well done in my books.

[@Cutthecamerasdeadass1899]

Because they aren't controversial JERKS like most KZbinrs. This is their 1st time having this type of backlash, and it was for a bad decision that was made and could actually be fixed.

[@Cutthecamerasdeadass1899]

If yall watch their videos including Buzzfeed Unsolved, where they started, you guys would know SPECIFICALLY who Ruan and Shane are as people.

[@inoscopedbarney]

@@Cutthecamerasdeadass1899We don’t know these people.

[@lucky4d725]

​@@Cutthecamerasdeadass1899and neither do you.

[@armyb140]

I'm just happy I didn't hear a ukulele when I clicked on the video.

[@GSEleven]

That whole sequence was strange, I started watching the video (their apology). I was then thinking, "I wonder who was saying exactly what they were going to say? I can't remember but they were right-" *NOTIFICATION OF OMNI* "THEY RESPONDED!" Bruuh. Good stuf, I was hating on you. You were right.

[@Jagged_shards]

When they said good bye KZbin, they said they wished we’d follow them but if we didn’t it’d be ok. Screw those guys. They don’t appreciate us.

[@luiscruz7343]

A big red flag is ryan saying thay they basically are in damger of going under. Given everything that we know (how many employees they have and how much potential money theyre earning via ad revenue and patreon) the math aint mathing! They need to make some serious fiscally responsible decisions if they are facing bankruptcy and they shouldnt be expecting fans to save them

[@AMiniki]

Good response and I am very sure so many people will forgive and forget… but for me feels fake, they already showed what they expect and what their views are so… yeah, maybe not now, but eventually they will do it again because their viewers are money and once they feel secure enough they will do the exact same thing. Also, many fans caught their employees calling people immature and spoiled brats on the comments. Shane’s wife was like… “I know you don’t like to pay for things that were free before… but we are struggling and is sooooo hard for creators to make content…” while the previous post to that was her flexing her $100 tote bag… who has ever struggled and decided to purchase a $100 tote bag? So… yeah… not subscribing again. Might watch the content I do like again but not subscribed… anyway. I am just once in a million, they won’t loose anything for me not subscribing.

[@bruixeria]

Yeah I don't think I have it in me to forgive so quickly. What Shane's wife said coupled with the "look at my expensive stuff" posts left as bad a taste in my mouth as the original announcement video. And to find out the employees may have been out there talking some bs. Where is the apology from those people that shouldn't have been saying anything? I get wanting to stick up for your friends or loved ones but sometimes you just gotta let them fix their own mistakes not double down on their behalf. Strong side eye from me and I'm still undecided on if I'll ever be returning to their content but it definitely won't be anytime soon.

[@kaiv.9503]

@@bruixeriaWait what did Shane’s wife say about it?

[@sloniskotrumbera]

I feel the exact same way.

[@elleruach2301]

The past weekend showed what their fans mean to them so I'm not biting. They're not doing this because they hurt anyone's feelings. They're doing it because they realized it's an incredibly stupid business model and their business would fail, which is fine if course because they ARE a business. However fans shouldnt deceive themselves into thinking they care how fans feel. It's still ultimately about money.

[@4kach24]

There are enough fans that don't think about things like that,I figured (I share your opinion) And that's okay too If there's free content, that's enough

[@amirazahirah9717]

Not to mention they launching it too suddenly and out of no where, they looks thriving and succeeding then suddenly they pull the plug to go somewhere else bc it's not enough money for production? Not even their Patreon members who pay them get a heads up, that's probably one of many reason the fans push back so much on this idea

[@sloniskotrumbera]

Yes exacly, everyone is praising them, I can't trust them anymore

[@thefrostedforest]

The business model was the part I was so confused about. If KZbin has an upper limit, an isolated streaming platform with the main in being from a youtube audience has an even worse upper limit. Abandoning the youtube channel would have killed the one remotely effective way they had to funnel people into the streamer because KZbin wouldn't recommend the old content or the rare new video on an effectively dead channel. They'd stagnate after all of the interested original viewers signed up. And it's unlikely that even half the audience would have made the switch just by analyzing the value provided (most people aren't willing to pay 20$ a year per series based on most fans only really caring for ~3). It confused me so much where they saw benefit. Keeping the streamer as the exclusive place would have killed Watcher even without the overwhelming negative reaction.

[@sheildingepicness]

You guys forget that to them, this is their job. In their shoes, if KZbin was starting to look like it was no longer viable, I imagine you would react similarly. They didn’t do anything all too harmful, besides maybe something I read about them paywalling certain content submitted by fans.

[@jordandillardthememeboi]

Btw they have a live show TOMORROW. I'm pretty sure they only made this video today because if they didn't someone during they q&a would ask why did y'all do this. Plus they'e still making a payment but saying oh yeah get a month early to see our videos. I DON'T wanna pay $6 or $60 just to see monthly videos I would rather wait and watch it

[@pepethefrog6809]

It's basically what other channels does with their patreons aside from having BTS/additional content and people do support other creators that way. Still strange to me why they'd need their own website for that if they already have patreon but I guess they really want their own platform.

[@FeedMeSalt]

A hyper minority may support other creators but they are typically give extra and exclusive perks beyond early content. For example a KZbin channel I really enjoy who narrate lots of Reddit stories and small time works, they have a channel membership for 14.99 a month to view content upto three months earlier then regular viewers. That is basically the only perk. Guess what I won't ever do, give them 15$ a month. I'll give them 15$ once, download the entire channel with power tube, and come back next year and do it again. This also ruins the viewership they would get from me and anyone else. Tanking the channel. Facts are paywalls only work if you do something special.

[@mrsapplez2007]

£59.99😂😂😂😂

[@JeskidoYT]

​@@FeedMeSaltThree months? Dang that's like cable tv release schedule

[@soulglitcher]

​​@@FeedMeSalt Listening to downloads gives people views. Plus if one person gave them $15 that's worth thousands of views in revenue Though I guess that 'pwertube' is probably different than downloads.

[@SlyRocko]

The fact that they have a Patreon and they STILL are going forward with making what's essentially a Patreon 2 is utterly ridiculous. It would make sense if the website was meant to be a replacement of Patreon, so that they can earn a much bigger share from the same tiered membership plans. With this current idea of having both exist alongside KZbin, I do wonder how they're going to separate the three to have distinct benefits.

[@LolPlove]

They want their loyalist fans to join a cult 😂

[@hellokittybleach]

I just realized that them saying before that 6 dollars a sub is nothing is just like that one female streamer who yelled at her audience for not subbing enough to her bc "5 dollars is nothing"

[@4kach24]

Like that streamer who was upset that people didn't buy 11$ cookies

[@rhynochi]

I don't know if they sat down and looked at their audience demographics or even hire someone who's specialty is analytics like that (a consultant). Plenty of their audience said they are young adults who can't afford to keep adding subscriptions and donations to their list of bills. They also constantly said "eat the rich" and "piggy back off someone else's netflix subscription". You really think your audience is all gonna buy into your subscription model??? They also prob have a chunk of international audiences whose currencies and economies aren't as strong as Americas so their subscription isn't even $5.99 for them. It's like significantly more expensive. Some countries might not even be able to use the service. They have a patreon. Maybe should've polled them and surveyed what things they are willing to endure and what crosses the line. Conduct a town hall. Something to gauge interest. Would've avoided this whole mess.

[@rocketbilly]

@@rhynochi they legit did no market research. Like, I've seen their podcasts where they talk about it, they are ALL awful at business. They need to make Steven stepdown as CEO and keep him on as a creative instead, and get someone who has actual experience in creator businesses to take over.

[@ijneb1248]

I mean with how our economy is going rn $5 can maybe get you a small mcdonalds fries if you're lucky

[@Random_dud31]

​@@ijneb1248then don't to McDonalds. Why pay them to damage your health? At least there silver lining living in this economy

[@masterstyx2877]

I think the thing that changed this from "KZbinrs making a stupid mistake" to "Greedy money grubbers" to me, was the fact originally they were gonna force their Patreon members to have to pay for the subscription still, and almost worse is that Patreons supporters only got a "40% off" since if Patreon members had to pay full atleast then you could go "Oh they just didn't think of it" but with the 40% they obviously did and made the conscious decision "Yo you know the ppl who are already giving us money? lets make the benefit be that they get a 40% discount, thats fair right?"

[@armyb140]

Same

[@claudiobeachball]

From my understanding, even now, the code Patreon subscribers are getting is only for three months

[@victoria139]

What they need is a staple cheap show that performs very well- the Try Guys have been open that Eat the Menu is relatively cheap to make and helps to fund their more passion projects and I feel like they need something similar

[@armyb140]

So many ppl were saying how Ryan and Shane were the only ones who thanked us for all the support at the end of the last video and they looked at Steven who didn't gaf, and now he's the first one to say 'Thank you'. I can imagine him going "say thank you say thank you" in his head till the end lmao

[@HerHollyness]

The fact that they made a whole platform for this when, if they’d thought it through and gone with this model in the first place, they could have just put early access on their $10 per month Patreon tier and people would have probably paid for it and they’d have avoided all the drama. Now they’re having to shell out to Vimeo to maintain this streaming platform - how is that really any different to having to kow-tow to advertisers? It was just such a stupid idea.

[@Mitchis_Euphoria]

It’s funny that now they backtracked and made Watcher basically into another patreon. Lmao, like they have a patreon and usually KZbinrs use patreon to post early videos and exclusive content, but now they are just making Watcher the same thing. Basically what I’m saying is what’s the point of that website to begin with? They basically created another patreon, and they still have a patreon where the tiers are $5, $10, $100.

[@rhynochi]

Likely to keep the money Patreon and YT memberships usually take for their cut. The fee for using their services and to handle payment processing. It's how patreon and YT make money.

[@claudiobeachball]

The ethical thing would be to shut down one and keep the other, but they're clearly not going to do that. They're double-dipping and it's gross fr.

[@OurKindofEntertainment]

Remember when the original trailer for Sonic was released and it got A LOT of backlash for the hedgehog having creepy 'human' teeth? So, the studio went back and redid it to make Sonic look way better than before and being so successful that it's created a trilogy of films plus a series on streaming? Yeah, that's what Watcher just did 😂

[@nguyentandung42]

That studio also went bankrupt after the fact.

[@LolPlove]

@@nguyentandung42as will they, the platform and upkeep won’t be cheap. These guys complain about costs and decide to use more money to solve their problem. 😂

[@facilityhues]

0:20 before the video even begins Omni already has a W for using the Professor Layton Puzzle Theme

[@tomatosoup1304]

So real.

[@babayaga4320]

They're overspending, and they still don't want to admit that. They say they don't want to lay people off, well I'm sorry, but sometimes that's exactly what you need to do, not every job is meant to last forever. As far as the apology video goes, it was very good. Heartfelt? Who knows, but they said the right things, and that's all you can ask for.

[@KlintKaras]

Them attempting to triple dip from their fans (before the backlash) is wild! This is why you NEED to show people WHO DO NOT HAVE A FINANCIAL STAKE in whatever You're making a preview first. Because otherwise you end up how they were initially "yeah fuck those fans! We'll make sooo much money! And those peons and plebians can easily pay 6 dollars three times a month, easily! Thats couch cushion levels of money! What else can they do? Hahaha if they wanna watch us THEY HAVE TO PAY !" Then reality smacked them.

[@Cutthecamerasdeadass1899]

Blame majority on Steven trying to fund both of his series that requires to MOST traveling and spending. The main series with Ryan and Shane doesn't cost much but for some reason they used their Ghost Files production as tge excuse and not Worth It or Dish Granted. Those cost the MOST, and the host is STEVEN.

[@pettykittyfam]

This is the most scripted, disingenuous & unbelievable apology I've ever seen lol But I can see many people are willing to forgive. Me? Naw ... I can't unsee what I saw lol

[@IcyTorments]

A little fun thing to know they were making at least 57k a month MINIMUM off of patreon because there lowest tier was 5dollars and they had least 12k people paying a minimum of 5 dollars and i know patreon normally takes like 5% or something like that. Also they had tiers with 10$, 25$ and 100$ a month. So more than likely they were probably making close to 70k+ a month off of patreon alone

[@HamlaHamlaHamla]

I've seen this number been mentioned by several people, but I wish people would fact check before claiming this. You can be a member of a patreon, without paying. The text on their patreon currently says "13394 members". Using the wayback machine, on fabruary 6th, the text says "5972 paid members" So half of the number that has unfortunately been used the last couple of days. It's still a lot of money, and we should still be critical, but if we're going to criticize, we should have our facts straight.

[@dagfinissocool]

​@@HamlaHamlaHamla it's even worse when you have 25 people to pay.. They need to downsize

[@gleamingembermemories]

i'm not sure how i feel about this. other than relieved, that i can keep watching their content. but it still feels... awful. i won't be able to watch them again without thinking of this cash grab.

[@TheCanineContrarian]

"It put a fire under their booty and they had to come correct" is a wild statement

[@belvedere6368]

I just don't understand how they were so bad with their money management that this was the "only" option for them. It is on them/whoever is in charge of their finances to look at if they can even afford to do certain things then they should find a different way to do things or maybe not do it and save up for later. It sounds like overall poor money management.

[@elizahepner-ray]

They didn't want to lay-off their friends that work for them, they just wanted to lay-off their fans. 🤨

[@san_-ii6xs]

I think what difficulties they might've faced with advertisements, is that they do swear a lot in some episodes, just like a lot of swearwords and also low key dirty jokes. I guess they don't script their shows, so if Ryan for example gets spooked, what comes out...comes out. Also they drink on their shows so there's that.

[@menace2898]

So, from what I understand, Watcher does regularly create (or at least they did when I watched them) horror content. And youtube's been kinda hard (if possible at all) to create specific types of horror content. Given that I do frequent these kinds of communities, this sounds kinda similar to what other content creators go through. I trust that they're apologetic about it, I think it was a genuine oversight and 'lapse in judgement' at the time. As far as apologies for these things go, this is pretty good. They're issuing refunds to patreon members that subscribed to both, people who subbed to patreon get free access to watcher, and watcher is no longer an exclusive platform and instead a site for early access. Having watched these guys for a while, I think they're good guys and genuinely made a stupid mistake and am willing to forgive them. Sucks that it took getting lampooned by everyone for them to realize this, as I do still struggle to understand how this could've been seen as a good idea ever.

[@Ren-Strider]

On Friday, they had about 2.93 million which dropped to 2.83 million over the weekend. Now it’s at 2.84 million so it looks like it’s going up again lol

[@w33aboojones]

Glad everyone jumped down their throats for this, I dont watch them but the fact that we are all as a collective saying we are done with subscription services needs to keep happening.

[@MouseSPAL]

Whenever someone or a company does an immediate walk-back, with another plan ready and waiting, I have to wonder if this was planned? For Watcher it would make sense. Their initial faux pas would create an emotional response from their current and past viewers. Also the publicity created would attract potential viewers outside of their normal circle. Then with emotions running high, Watcher lays out a more reasonable plan, making them seem in touch and ready to compromise. By itself, this more reasonable plan would probably have attracted some attention and then slowly died out like many other ventures. Now with emotions riding high in their community and interest generated outside of it, they stand a much better chance of keeping their new website/streaming-service alive. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but from the high regard they were held in, as well as the content they created, Watcher do not seem like a group to have unwittingly made that first incendiary announcement.

[@ChickenKinglolz]

Wouldn't be the first time a company did this

[@AddysonSabyn]

Like asking a friend to borrow a thousand dollars, and when they say no that's crazy, asking for a hundred dollars instead, to which they're like yeah, sure that's way more reasonable...you may be onto something.

[@Celestein]

I think you are seeing things right. NO way these guys who've been in this biz their whole adult lives didn't know how their audience would react. I wish more people would note how many fans are now groveling right back after this basic apology and made to feel guilty for feeling upset. The entire thing is deeply manipulative and I have lost all trust in their integrity towards their audience. It all smells BAD.

[@starcandy147]

A move like this could have devestating effects on their reputation though. I, myself, have been watching these two since they were on buzzfeed and now I just have a sour taste in my mouth.

[@adrianaheiler9794]

Even though I don't think it was on purpose (or at least without calculating for that massive of a backlash!) I have seen so many reactions to their goodbye video where the creators said "I never heard of them, but why are they leaving, their content looks cool" - and now these people and their fans know about Watcher. And while it might not bring all their fans back, the fact that they are now staying on yt might create new revenue for them from new channels which previously hadn't heard about them.

[@jbee4009]

Their future actions will be the real apology, because that was way too big of an out of touch fuck you to the fans on Friday for me to look at them the same. They have a lot they need to figure out with their company and they really showed themselves with this move. What they're saying they'll do now should have been the original plan, but the fact that it wasn't and they went through all of that planning and hype for Friday's announcement shows who they really are. Also the way they bait and switched their Patreons by changing it to being only for the podcast was such a dirty move. They even released new tiers and rewards for the podcast only Patreon! $5/$20/$100 which is insane for only the podcast let alone the whole channel. The $20 tier 2 perks were to be able to submit ideas for podcasts and video questions, so you pay them to create content for them.

[@nocap_luis]

Woahhhh, Omni must be a fortune teller 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 We saw this coming from a mile away 😂😂😂

[@cathl4953]

We are scholars of the university of apologizington

[@numberoneappgames]

It sounds like they expanded too fast, didn't account for the down trends of views after COVID, and hired too many people who are probably ex BuzzFeed and are expensive. (edit) It's good they're not trying to fire people.

[@rocketbilly]

The video is still super overproduced and that is kind of hilarious to me lmao. They're sorry they got caught makin a grab for that cash.

[@Jedi.Toby.M]

I literally came back. Absolutely loved the ...whoopsie...our bad...we, made a expensive, highly produced, well edited, and had a SOUNDTRACK in the background video where we...really FU#%ED UP. We just found out how much this impacts our bottom line... I see your act...I saw you ALL. 😂😂 now we get this basic upload of sorry... I WANT THAT PRODUCTION VALUE....you did those cuts on your golden play button to walk on your fans...where are those clever editing skills...each of you in a different setting, with different cameras?? Nah, burned that bridge.

[@BenjiM514]

Ok Omni you clearly proven yourself a prophet, now pick some numbers for me, I’m getting a lottery ticket

[@earmuffs6506]

The way Omni always posts exactly on my lunch break. Hope you have a good one!

[@DuganDatBoi]

Some Tea with your lunch sir

[@InfernoOmni]

enjoy lunch gang gang

[@ExtemporaneousnessOne]

That flashback music... could it be? Professor Layton is that you?!

[@InfernoOmni]

cultured i see

[@chrispysaid]

It's less like you can go see their content on Watcher a month early and more like you can see their content on KZbin a month late

[@jjb193]

They clearly don't want to downsize their employees or make financial decisions regarding production budget. Their new business decision to pay wall their content spread like wildfire and they felt the heat and hence you get this apology. They speak vaugly and we are supposed to eat it all up and be ok with it. What they are not saying is what we have to worry about.

[@ZRO777]

Said once I'll say it again this man is working on OT! They just uploaded this vid.

[@Grimmay]

after watching Observe break down their body language and manners during the previous video he came to the conclusion that Shane was Unhappy with the decision to almost completely abandon youtube and in this video shane looks like a weight is off his shoulders or atleast he is much happier with this reversal

[@sailordarkjupiter]

Yeah totally see it in his eyes while ryan and especially steven just looks smug and upset that they had to backtrack.

[@insanelittlesilk]

Maybe, but his wife posted a comment on Tumblr supporting the first decision and it came off as VERY tone deaf, especially when they had an extravagant wedding.

[@rynnmedia]

@@insanelittlesilkI doubt she had his permission to make a public statement. I can only speculate that must’ve been a tense few days together as a couple, whether a result of her actions or result of the public backlash or both. She was also a Buzzfeed staff member so maybe she has some stakes in this investment too? Idk.

[@insanelittlesilk]

@@rynnmedia totally get you, but we don’t know. However, I find it interesting that the other wives didn’t comment. Idk. I was giving Shane the benefit of the doubt but I do think he agreed with this move ENOUGH that his wife was comfortable not only defending it but leaving it up on her Tumblr. I still love the boys and will continue to support but let’s not pretend that Shane didn’t go along with this.

[@rynnmedia]

@@insanelittlesilk oh he definitely went along with it and I’m not pretending. But I’m saying that them being partners does not mean they think the same. And I’m suggesting she could have done it without his permission given how bad of a look it gives the company; she was clearly writing it in the moment when she sent it. Watcher also didn’t delete their original announcement despite walking back on a lot of it in their new video… doesn’t mean they stand behind everything originally said. Could be a similar case with Sara (Shane’s wife). Like you said, we don’t know.

[@Meredith13Angel]

KZbin productions like this group talk about how glad they are they don't have aspects like HR or other company fences to worry about however, with that comes an imbalance of checking yourself. If you don't want those then that's fine, but if you plan to make big changes maybe hire a consultant for that specific change or have plans on place if you find yourself with a Try Guys incident and they did consult others but only after the fact. Set yourself up for success and don't be scared to ask for others opinions especially maybe your fans who are essentially stakeholders in a way. I'm glad they took what was said to heart and are making swift changes! They lost so many people over the last 3 days that it'll take a long time to get back up to where they were. Love them though!

[@Meredith13Angel]

Was typing on my phone so everything I wrote may sound weird 😂but hopefully the point was made

[@fizzles5]

@@Meredith13Angel 'an imbalance of checking yourself' has flow to it, don't worry 😄

[@unamusedrowlett6303]

In fairness to the MR Beast comparison, He's constantly saying in interviews that none of his videos profit from all the production costs.

[@dagfinissocool]

100 million views will surely generate profit or he would not be in business

[@Maisonikkokufan]

Ik this is unrelated, but it would be cool of you to cover the Stop Killing Games "movement" that's recently come about due to Ubisoft basically stealing The Crew 1 from people

[@unamusedrowlett6303]

This reminds me of what Unity was doing last year where they made up some outrageous scheme that pissed people off and they backtracked a week later with something more tame.

[@CosmicTornado1]

High pitch Omni is still one of the funniest things in existence. Love ya content, Omni

[@marikamiddelkoop7105]

I appreciate the apology, I'm glad it didn't take them weeks or months, but literally over the weekend they saw the backlash and said "Oh no, we messed up."

[@mysticfaint]

They back tracked because their community wasn't as dumb as they thought. They don't give af.

[@CampeonZ]

That doesn’t matter though. They did in my opinion a very nice apology that many KZbinrs fall short. This is how you take accountability for your actions, nobody is perfect man, the most important thing is learning from your mistakes and not blame the community.

[@mysticfaint]

@@CampeonZ people like you are why influencers get away with so much. An apology doesn't mean anything, especially if their original goal was to suck their viewers dry of money

[@lilianf73]

​@@mysticfaintthis! It doesn't even say 'apology' in the title. They are sorry for how they delivered the news. They don't care and anyone who believes this lame excuse is just being naive

[@4kach24]

​@@mysticfaintI don't know you,but I respect you🤝

[@mysticfaint]

@lilianf73 it's not even an excuse, it's more just them spitting in the communities face for calling their BS out. like apparently they got one of the best subscribed patreons, yet they needed to drain more wallets

[@michaelcollins4534]

I just found them like two weeks ago so I'm glad I'll actually be watching their content going forward

[@KayKayLaLa.]

Damn, this video came fast. You’re on it! I do still feel a bit betrayed by their goodbye video. Idk if I’ll continue watching their content. It just won’t feel the same.

[@ShaneT5S]

Assuming their 13,343 patreon members ONLY are doing the lowest tier of $5 a month, that's still over $66.7k a month (not including the share patreon takes and their multiple tiers). Who knows what they're making per video on ad reads, and youtube ads, and merch sales considering they're showing off a hoodie front and center on their merch site that costs almost $100 USD. I have a hard time believing they're struggling because of youtube's sake, they're probably just over hiring too many people too quickly if they say they were going to go under

[@krismorrelle1088]

To be fair how many employees do they have? 70k split is not a lot

[@Arionthelady]

@@krismorrelle1088they have 25 employees for some reason. Definitely could do their channel with max 5-10. Even 10 sounds like too much.

[@4kach24]

Half of them are not paid subscribers, let's be fair

[@rhynochi]

@@Arionthelady I don't watch their show but plenty of similar small studio YT channels have a lot of staff especially if you have a multitude of different parts of the businesses to handle. Like Phil DeFranco has researchers, the editing staff, the merch staff. Idk what his current numbers are bc I watched those bts vlogs a while back. Def maybe 10-15+? Try Guys have a decent # of staff both on the content creation side and then normal admin side. Smosh is the same, they have the cast who are in front of the camera, editors, project managers for each channel they have, and then administration (like HR). I think it's stated they have 35 full-time staff. Smosh only films in the studio except for skits. Mythical prob is the same. Critikal (penguin0) even himself says he has 20+ employees under him for his various businesses. Like I can see how a YT channel trying to make mulitples series may need that many employees. But they prob fucked up analyzing how much money they make with their content and then calculate the best # of staff needed to keep everything going while remaining within budget. It's also best to have really strong series with heavy and wide viewership appeal that actually doesn't cost too much to produce so you can fund the passion projects or more expensive projects. Try Guys does that and Smosh has so many different channels where they barely spend money and use comedy & personality to propel the show being filmed in their studio/sets. This way they can fund their return to comedy skits which involves renting locations to film and travel. I think they were just not business smart, maybe there's inefficiencies somewhere, being too afraid to be the boss and fire staff if they end up not being able to afford everyone they hired, and maybe unwillingness to give up on certain programming for the time being if it's too expensive. A lot of Steven's content seems expensive if they aren't getting the meals comped for promotion. They have to arrange travel for the cast, plus camera crew and sound, to different states/cities and in the future different countries. That's expensive. And if the restaurants aren't comping it, you're paying for the food from the business account. Most channels who attempt similar things like traveling across the country, they may make it a "special event" and not like every episode if it's not within the budget.

[@Arionthelady]

@@rhynochi I completely agree with what you said and I think the employee number would make way more sense to me if they did more series/shows at once like all the other channels you listed. Something like Smosh with different channels or at least more things going on where they are uploading basically everyday. But they only do like one series at time and one video a week so 25 just feels like overkill in comparison. Definitely right though about them just not being business smart. At the end of the day they should be using sponsors and promotions to cover the costs especially if they feel like they are spending beyond their means.

[@Haitee]

"come back to this video when it happens" It happened the minute, no the SECOND I finished watching your video hahaha

[@lorrd9076]

The main issue for them is that their overall costs are much higher than their profit margins.

[@tomatosoup1304]

The Professor Layton music PLUS how quickly and clearly you explained the situation, yep, I'm subscribing

[@ThePhildefer001]

Might dispel "most" people's anger, but for me it's the trust I built for the team I followed (Worth it guys) that's out. And sorry but I am motivated enough not to give them anymore watch time, it's that impactful for me.

[@jknight9487]

I feel the same way. Maybe I’m a petty bitch, but I took that first video as a big fat middle finger. And nothing they do or say can unring that bell.

[@4kach24]

Respectable, honestly

[@jamie1602]

And you are absolutely entitled to those feelings. That was absolutely like getting fired as a fan for being too poor, as one person pointed out and many ended up agreeing. You don't need to accept the apology. I'm putting them on probation. I will choose to forgive but I will not forget. I will never forget that.

[@cjradenbaugh]

I get that. I’m still mad myself. Idk if I will resubscribe, ever.

[@onceuponamelody]

Lmao... and the W goes to Omni. 😂 At least this whole fiasco led me to your channel. 👍

[@mbletz3958]

Hmm... Posting videos earlier on a separate platform... Possibly adding extra content with those video, maybe longer versions... Maybe having exclusive content on that platform. Why don't these guys just join Nebula...

[@rikacanon87]

It's like they make a little bit of money and are out of touch with the people. All of sudden NOW YOU UNDERSTAND!

[@starfishey2]

Everytime a new omni animation drops I'm so hyped. Loved the camera movement in this one!

[@freedomcat]

Very eloquently spoken and explained. You are a man of culture and education.

[@brittanyr9471]

I appreciate that they're giving patreon members a free subscription and those who did subscribe a refund. Idk why they didnt think that original idea would cause them to potentially lose a ton of subscribers and patreon members.

[@BlueLoveYT]

I don’t know these guys, but they seem sincere with their apology. They acknowledged their mistakes while also making it up to their supporters.

[@Shady_Fungus]

Dang Omni called it tick for tack lol. What a legend

[@deathnz1]

I use to like their ghost watcher series but it got pretty dry and repetitive. Half the other content is completely different. Its pretty clear neither of them really care for it anymore. Its hard to believe its so hard for them to budget well after 4 years and having so many patreon supporters, then also just turn around and do this to them.

[@kuayinal-kadir6846]

Probably one of the better apologies I’ve seen on KZbin.

[@aquaproductions7049]

I can really appreciate the Professor Layton music in the flash back 10/10

[@Jamming50447]

You called it - I came right back to your channel and started refreshing 😂😂

[@thefelicits]

I'm also so impressed at how you predicted this! You sounded so confident in the previous video and I thought how does he know, this could go a few different ways BUT NO. You know your stuff :D

[@harlequeenchannel]

Was a solid apology. And a better solution technically, since theyre getting two outlets of financing. Mostly, who fucking cares if they backtracked. What did you want them to do, double down? It all depends on what they do now

[@atomicnectar]

New Intro goes HARD

[@ThomastheRiolpixQueen]

I never even heard of there existence until you covered them but tbh i think this apology is one of the rare good ones

[@joanderson6880]

I was more sad about their prior decision than anything, and while I do still feel a little sad and angry for other followers of their content, I may actually be able to forgive them for this one. I do appreciate that they actively engaged with feedback and made the decision to change course, which is more than what a lot of KZbinrs have done in the past. Still feeling a little sore about it, though. May have to give it some time before I return to their channel

[@DutchWestwood]

This was all a precalculated chess move from jump.

[@piratebear3126]

I love channels making their own system and websites to keep pressure on big platforms. Channels I watch rave about how much better Linus Media treats them on Floatplane over the runaround they used to get on Twitch, Patreon, etc. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if they just said they’re moving on from Patreon, give Patrons a couple months free, and made it much clearer that their back catalogue is going to stay on KZbin. Good for them though because they really didn’t do anything horrible in the grand scheme of things, and took feedback in a pretty mature way if they stick to their changes.

[@JeskidoYT]

Wow, patreon members get full access to the platform. Thats a huge win finally

[@zackwallgren2326]

0:15 - PROFESSOR LAYTON MUSIC PLAYED GRAHHHHHHHHHHH

[@Lightstation_]

It's almost like the greedier a company is the less likely they will earn money

[@lisahoshowsky4251]

There’s obviously several groups of fans; those that saw nothing wrong in the first place, those that accept the apology whole cloth and are back on board, those that are willing to give them a chance but are wary now, those that are fully done with them, and eventually new fans that will find them after all this. I find where your opinion lies depends on which camp you’re in and it’s leading to some unproductive arguing, I don’t think anyone’s going to really drastically change their feelings toward it now that the following up video has come out. Let’s just say it’s been a very eye opening couple of days in regard to that channel as a whole.

[@MinaJonesPlays]

this situation came more suddenly than a anniesviolets vision.

[@omabang5002]

It seems DBrand and Holzkern rotating logo only on longer "I'm Sleep" videos and not "Lay It Omni", but idk.

[@rosenrot234]

"We messed up" I just wanna hear a "We fucked up" for once. This is more than a "mess". That was a whole Fuck

[@pexavex7295]

Mean the same thing

[@ninjdraw8305]

Lmao bro what.

[@itzs0weezee]

Always one person who’s never satisfied lmao

[@rosenrot234]

@@pexavex7295 Yeah I know but it feels like its lacking a bit for me. Like I'm fine with them apologizing. It just feels so "lawyer speak" to me. That's all.

[@4kach24]

Cursing scares off the advertisers

[@devilhulk6898]

Ty for the news omni

[@keenmans]

Omni my man quickly tell me the lottery numbers for tomorrow

[@Emerald_Forge]

The tech bro that told them they'd make 100k a month ran it back rq

[@drww1]

why does this feel like they've planned this video before even making the Donowall platform, like surely from a marketing stance they must have known they'd be bent over after releasing the "offski video". I would say 100% that they refused outside opinions on this. however, I want to see the numbers on just how kneecapped have they been by advertisers and KZbin itself.

[@c1recha0s]

Omni is a prophet. Confirmed

[@InvasionAnimation]

It as as you said!

[@ardizzle1]

I wonder if their logic was inspired from the College Humor to Drop Out model. Granted there are some big differences due to the two companies, it was still a popular KZbin channel that started a streaming service.

[@BetarayBillLover]

Honestly glad they did I love their content so it was a major bummer

[@mexicanitachi]

Just woke up from a power nap

[@thefelicits]

I think they had already paid a lot of money to set up the platform so cancelling that all together was not an option. But this was definitely the best possible outcome and a rare good apology, genuine and straight to the point.,no shifting the blame or self-victimizing. I hope influencers take note and that this can be the standard for YT apologies, no more ukeleles lol! They also didn't sigh, sit on the floor, talk about the effect of the scandal on their mental health or wear white, which is impressive. No cliches, no BS, they deserve to continue to be successful imo

[@LimboDominus]

AHHHHHHHHH THEY RESPONDED AHHHH

[@scottpeltier3977]

Honestly this was a great backtrack. Solid apology and put em in a potentially more financially beneficial position.

[@thechaddingo2677]

nah, only a complete moron believed any of that. they are greedy clowns who got caught and are trying to snake out of backlash. you mouth breathers can keep watching, the rest of us with a brain and conviction, we'll be elsewhere.

[@aad4186]

I'm gonna call it . You called it Omni