WHY EVERYONE IS LEAVING HOONIGAN, Donut, and Motor Trend! Are they FALLING APART?

[@ixiwixi]

We just watched Up to Speed with Tony Angelo and I'm all for it.

[@StayTunedTA]

HAHA I texted this to Pumphrey and he approves.

[@CraigBrosRacing]

👍⚡⚡⚡

[@StephFourie21]

@@StayTunedTA Stay Tuned, Vice Grip, Rob Dahm, Mighty Car Mods, Bad Obsession Motorsport, M539 Restorations, dont know the rest and dont care.

[@benjamincormack4397]

Pole ban garage and junkyard digs go good

[@taduse]

Shoutout to Jason Cammisa formerly MT KZbin reviewer/personality. He’s now making great content with Hagerty.

[@ml.2770]

Donut, Hoonigan & MT lost the shop.

[@StayTunedTA]

OOOH.

[@armandozuniga4623]

Dd3 got the hoonigans shop

[@ashtonlenz1301]

Are you serious how. I did not know this.

[@rossw5576]

New t- shirt?

[@PowerstrokeSynd]

Lol😂

[@PNW_Car_Mods]

The fact that even David Freiburger is going independent on KZbin recently is really saying something.

[@StayTunedTA]

I am really stoked he's on there and rocking.

[@AR-Roons]

I just wish Dulcich would do the same. He has a YT channel, but doesn’t post much. Probably busy with the farm lol

[@johndelta00]

@@AR-Roons Technology illiterate. Editing a 30 minute youtube video can take 8 hours.

[@AR-Roons]

@@johndelta00 yet, financially secure. Has the pockets to hire someone with the technology savvy. Shit I’d watch an unedited flip phone video of Dulcich messing with cars.

[@chucktaylor2772]

​@@AR-RoonsThat would be incredible

[@justinjelenek4915]

“If we don’t get this car running, a conglomerate is gonna buy the shop!”

[@shanechepren8119]

You called it, Hoonigan filed for bankruptcy today.

[@danpmatz]

It would be awesome if the guys bought it back and brought it back

[@xf69fs]

Crazy watching this and then see that... foreshadowing.....

[@deathcab4booty]

Well. Wheel Pros filed for bankruptcy after rebranding themselves as Hoonigan. The Hoonigan channel itself isn't bankrupt.

[@swellguysc]

I was surprised he didn’t mention this. It was reported in many of the major publications a couple days ago that Hoonigan was going to file for bankruptcy. But yes, it did happen today.

[@midnightrolla711]

Literally sounds like a bait and switch with wheels pro.... Use someone else's name to take the fall

[@johnweisinger7390]

The downfall of MT is when Discovery stepped in. They destroy everything they touch.

[@t1bmxfbm]

this is too true

[@theangrymarmot8336]

This is true. I worked for a shop and was the "magazine" build guy. I was heavily involved with several projects / builds for a couple / three different magazines and worked closely with the editors / tech staff on them. It was great. Then I noticed that one day the shirts they were wearing were not "T.E.N." shirts (The Enthusiasts Network) and became Discovery shirts. Next thing you know - something like 19 of 23 magazines get canned and the people I worked with were out. Not related - but Discovery has also completely ruined BattleBots, and their decisions to not allow MT TV in countries like Australia is such a huge bonehead move I don't see how someone could even suggest that. They could have kept making shows like Roadkill, Dirt Everyday, and Engine Masters - but instead came out with new shows like "Kevin Hart's Muscle Cars" (F*ck that guy and the B.S. with speedcore) and other scripted reality shows that real automotive enthusiasts don't want to watch. I don't need more fake shop and fake people with garbage builds. The side effect though is we get Finnegan , Tony, and David on KZbin - and that is great.

[@whofactchecksthefactcheckers]

It wasn't horrible when the motortrend app was used but when they moved it to the discovery app now they barely air anything new at all

[@failranch9542]

If your IQ is > 75, they are not for you.

[@numlockkilla]

Dei

[@FrankLSD38]

They tried to buy Cleetus but he said hell no..... He bought a track and 20% of Motion Raceworks which is growing big time.... owns a multimedia company to live stream his events... an airport..... what he's done in 8 or 9 yrs is crazy... I think Cleet is an exception.... no money can buy what he's built...

[@guest6423]

Until he sells to developers who want the land. It will happen.

[@FrankLSD38]

@@guest6423 Only if he has another track in operation... and he better milk that developer.... it's not the same story anyways... it's not selling his business but property

[@soldierski1669]

I keep going back to his earliest days, what will bring down his fame will be the loss of the people around him. I thought Faster Proms was his "sweet spot", not sure how he lost all those people and made it.

[@popuptoaster]

Until he gets older, has a few kids and wants to spend more time with his family and less working and can get enough money for his channel and property to set himself up for an easier life.

[@eriklarson9137]

To be fair, Roadkill said they were never leaving KZbin as well. No, many of us will never let that go. For me, I reckon I have at least 30 more years in me of bringing that up as often as possible.

[@TheQuestionableGarage]

I've had some exciting things start to happen, and then one company gets bought by another company and it all kills it. The biggest issue is they see something working, they love what's working and they buy it and change everything. It is astonishing how much they ruin it.

[@wizardsmokey]

It's mind-blowing how often that happens. No matter how many previous examples exist, they keep buying brands that people love then changing everything about them, then act shocked when it all falls apart!

[@mikemartin2423]

💯 Jared 👍

[@CapablePimento]

Seems like there is some fable about a goose and some form of gold. Hmm. Cant remember it. Well, lets buy and change something and see if it comes back to me.

[@mudrunner66]

Sounds like my day job. Got bought by a big corporation. They changed everything now we are struggling to find the work they want us to do.

[@rhekman]

Vice Grip Garage, Junkyard Digs, Mortske Repair, the list goes on. So many awesome automotive KZbin creators. It's like the modern version of PowerBlock on TNN back in the day without having to wait until the weekend for new episodes.

[@markbrown6236]

I remember Power Block, it was awxome.

[@rhekman]

@@markbrown6236 Indeed. I forgot to mention Stacy David's TRUCKS! Which then led to Xtreme4x4, and now Ian Johnson is doing his own thing and still posting videos and doing TV. You can see the direct lineage to more offroad channels - DirtEveryday, 4xFredWilliams, Dirthead Shed, DirtLifestyle, BleepinJeep, etc.

[@djconeyjoe]

Damn another real og who remembers powerblock before spike tv lol

[@TNels]

Kevin Tetz from the old Trucks days now has his own channel growing too. I miss the old days of TNN. Monster trucks, swamp buggy racing, power block. The 90’s was a great time to grow up.

[@neilbrown82]

Eww vice crap garage is mindless bad acting n same shitt different video....​@@rhekman

[@CParnell68C10]

Long Live Mighty Car Mods and Stay Tuned

[@TylerDurden1400]

Out of all the now independent shows, Stay Tuned is definitely the most grounded and relatable

[@hotrodswoodshed7405]

Absolutely. I don't like Finnegan channel

[@aarongaeta8250]

The joy pulling that GMC square body out of the bushes and getting it running gave Tony was as relatable and real as it gets. I’ve had that exact moment with my own beater truck.

[@fufucker9898]

Until this video.

[@fufucker9898]

Of the the donut vids lately... this is the most disingenuous vid I've seen so far. Unsub. But they... you keep the people you claim be be a problem... by being obviously dishonest.

[@slade9372]

The Big Time guys are doing pretty great stuff too! Definitely give them a watch.

[@waynerohde1036]

I love watching independent KZbin channel content. Better than anything tv or big corporations make these days. Channels like this are great automotive content!

[@StayTunedTA]

Wow, thank you!

[@eriklarson9137]

Now just join up and actually support Tony. :)

[@swellguysc]

I agree generally but editing is key. I love Roadworthy Rescues but the VGG channel needs some editing. Same for Freiburger’s channel but it also needs editing imho. All great content but I find myself fast forwarding through them a fair amount.

[@frotobaggins7169]

100% @swellguysc The lack of editing IS the style of the show. If you think they need more editing then you are likely looking for a different kind of channel.

[@joelboags8741]

I miss HRG, Roadkill and Dirt Everyday, MT's decision to nerf their servers in my country was a big fumble, and before anyone jumps in with "jUsT uSe A vPn" IT DOES NOT WORK. Long story short, thank you to Tony and Finnegan for uploading regular and awesome content to the youtubes

[@StayTunedTA]

Right on, thanks for watching!

[@almac414]

Yeah, and in the UK I did briefly look at Discovery to catch up on the RK's I'd missed, but none of the later episodes were there! What's the point? It's a shame that MT lost their way/Discovery got involved because the proper stuff like HR garage and RK garage, DED etc were great to watch and really interesting and focused on the hosts just being the hosts with none of the fake drama and nonsense that TV people seem to want to focus on instead with very little regard for the actual content.

[@illogicallabz]

I ran a VPN to watch MT in australia for quite a while, then they cancelled my subscription because I wasn't using a US based credit card, I gave up after that which is a shame because as you said HRG, RK and DeD were absolutely awesome shows.

[@stevebeck9470]

@@illogicallabz yup same here in europe , I even made a fake US zip code and paid in USD , screw them

[@mikek5298]

A VPV absolutely works. Your credit cards do not.

[@GiantMeteor2028]

My daughter asks me every Friday, ,"dad are you gonna watch you show". Thank you Tony, she loves cars because of this show.

[@Scot-p1v]

And that’s what’s important: bringing up the next generation of enthusiasts.

[@nozzledrich]

@@Scot-p1v ABSOLUTEY !!! Keep their collective heads and ears out of the social media basement.

[@calvincandie5344]

Corporate greed is killing America.

[@wimwildenberg3715]

People are killing america

[@88conquesttsi]

This is old news, but true. But it's always been that way.

[@montanabraaapster8222]

Damn jews.

[@MikeForest90]

@@88conquesttsi Exactly, it has always been like that

[@ChefofWar33]

Always has been.

[@Rebel635csi]

When a company goes from providing goods and service as primary goals to increasing shareholders share prices, that’s when they’re doomed to fail sooner or later.

[@Ecosse57]

nailed it.

[@jamesrobinson9176]

Sometimes you can see it happen in real time.

[@DubiousNookie]

Greedy people suck.

[@StanleyKubick1]

Fedex, Nike and Walmart pay next to no federal taxes and employ undocumented migrant workers. They're still chugging along nicely

[@eriklarson9137]

Same as when a channel shifts from making cool content to farming for every like. Those channels die off eventually.

[@evanhooper1]

Some of the best episodes of Roadkill were when Tony was in them. Keep up the great work y'all, you're killing it.

[@ratedBforBeau]

Don't forget dog!

[@joeofloath]

All the hosts from Car Throttle left when they were told they couldn't build projects any more, and the audience did with them. They went from regularly hitting 300k views to barely scraping 30k.

[@tomanderson6335]

Alex and the fellow CT refugees that have joined him are getting the last laugh.

[@smartgorilla]

​@@tomanderson6335it's not entirely great I think. They don't get their hands dirty. Like 2 people do and 8 don't.

[@Knackersjewels]

This has aged well, Wheel Pros "hoonigan" has just filed for bankruptcy

[@mrmidnight32]

Let’s be honest, MT sold out LOOOONG ago when they gate kept their show behind a pay wall thinking they were ahead of a subscription trend.

[@invertedpolarity6890]

MT f'd up by putting a bunch of stuff that used to be free, behind a paywall. Yeah, you can suck it, MT.

[@joecook3223]

Eh, i kind of understand it though. Moving to their own platform I imagine would've brought greater production freedom, and remember these shows need to be paid for some way, either off the producers own backs, or by advertising dollars on youtube(people whinge and complain about ads, but believe it or not those are what makes a lot of your favourite shows on youtube "free", with the people paying for advertising effectively supplying income for the shows) or by subscription dollars on mtod. So personally i was happy to pay those guys for the work they were doing producing cool shows. No, really i think to me the mistake was selling to discovery, which made mtod unavailable in heaps of countries (including mine, Australia), and i would've thought they would've lost a lot of subscription dollars with that decision too.

[@guest6423]

Everything will go behind a paywall, eventually. Only teasers will be free. I guarantee it.

[@rustyjeep2469]

@@guest6423fine, users will go back to piracy and pay nothing for content then 😂

[@fufucker9898]

​@joecook3223 have you looked into getting braces? Sucking D 24/7 will do damage to your teeth.

[@eriklarson9137]

@@guest6423 Which is why I won't even bother watching any Frieberger or Finnigan stuff. I am an adult, and do not need their content. They decided to lie to all their subs. Period.

[@BDauto86]

Frieberger, Dulcich and Finnegan are pretty much legends in the hot rod community. All their channels will blow up in no time, theyre super knowledgeable and always messing with something.

[@eriklarson9137]

Maybe. I know there are still people who remember when they point blank looked into the camera and said they were not leaving KZbin. Even though they knew they were leaving youtube. Then they left youtube. That will matter to me for at least another 30-40 years.

[@almac414]

@@eriklarson9137 they were employees; management makes a change and they have to go along with it.

[@BruceLee-xn3nn]

I love roadkill episodes.Im around Davids age and in the late 80s alot of us teenage guys were pulling 70s cars from junkyards and getting them running and that was your first car.We didn't have money for a foxbody or iroc.

[@jschnell64]

Dulcich is such a classic dude

[@lilorbielilorbie2496]

I lost all respect for mt when right before the holidays in 2019. They fired the staff of 19 car/truck magazines. Now there is no really good time to lose your job, but right before the holidays. Man that's just bad juju. And while I'm sure Alex Taylor is a nice person. For me HRG will always be Tony and Lucky.

[@waynerohde1036]

I always liked having an actual magazine!

[@DK1102]

You know that Tony left HRG of his own volition and wasn't fired? He did a video about it in the last year. It's not like MT fired him for Alex or anything. He left them. For damn good reasons, none of which are related to MT the company

[@westmus]

@@DK1102 , I'm also sure Alex ain't staying forever at MT. For her it's just an stepping stone that showed up in her career development. Meanwhile she keep working on getting her own big shop done at home in AR. She got that business drive, she want to be the boss, not just an employee.

[@eriklarson9137]

I lost all respect for MT back in the 80s, like all the other hot rodders did...

[@lilorbielilorbie2496]

@@DK1102 I never said that mt fired Tony. I said that I liked it better when it was Tony and Lucky.

[@1Rocketman30]

I might show my age but around the Nashville area we had Horsepower Tv with Joe Elmore and Trucks with Stacy David and after years of the station changing over they got moved to different shows. They were on before the Internet was widespread. Love roadkill and Hot Rod garage because the hosts feed off each other and work well together.

[@jacob-bell]

Back several years ago the PowerBlock channel rebranded to PowerNation and they've since been making basically modern versions of those older shows, I think the younger guy from Horsepower TV is even still with them as well. They still come in on local antenna TV occasionally and also have a KZbin channel, think they're on cable as well but don't know what channel. When I catch one of their shows on TV like Detroit Muscle or Engine Power they're enjoyable to watch but they're not really a top pick of mine for car shows on KZbin however.

[@charliewilliams2654]

You, David, Lucky, & Mike are a HUGE influence of who I am as a car enthusiast. I will support y’all no matter what platform you’ve gone to.

[@jdmlordsalamander6397]

Corporate greed has destroyed a ton of innovation, and will continue to do so. Stay true Tony and the gang, we will be here to support you guys.

[@johnnysokko8505]

That seems to be happening all across our country. My last job was awesome until some investors bought the place and proceeded to destroy the business. I got fired because I made decent money. I also had more experience than half of our staff. These people are destroying lives because of their greed.

[@failranch9542]

Sounds like Private Equity

[@bobroberts2371]

Greedy person = anyone with more $ than you Greedy person = what someone with less $ calls YOU.

[@RustyWells2]

​@@bobroberts2371Well at the rate of the flops they will not have that kind of money to buy these companies they will only be able to stand so many losses before it's over!

[@nicolasstanley1392]

@@johnnysokko8505 fuck corporations dude

[@rustyjeep2469]

@@bobroberts2371 that proves nothing and you are clearly very ignorant about what is currently happening

[@-DC-]

Early Roadkill was superb, Stay Tuned up there with the Best you all are Killing it 💪

[@StayTunedTA]

Thanks, that does mean a lot. Appreciate it!

[@ml.2770]

100 percent agree. Stay Tuned and coldwarmotors are my favourites.

[@noboltsleftbehind]

As someone with a small car KZbin channel myself, I'm extremely excited to see this. I love these guys for having the stones to bail on their corporate shows and get back to what makes KZbin great: authentic, quality, relatable content. From the bottom of my heart, thank you guys for bringing the audience back to us independent KZbinrs.

[@JunkyardDigs]

Man it's weird seeing a video about the history of something I've been here to witness from the start... And really weird to realize I'm now a part of said history. I feel old 😂

[@robw7205]

I feel this

[@MorrFraud]

Be careful on your high horse. Yeah, you witnessed it, we all did! But to declare yourself part of said history? GTFO, that's super odd and cringe!

[@spencerthomas6354]

@@MorrFraud You know @JunkyardDigs has been featured on Donut Media a few times.... I would say they have been a part of it.

[@kingck101]

Kevin for the love of all thats holy stay independent!

[@eriklarson9137]

@@MorrFraud Yeah, that was embarrassing.

[@Randy_Pancakes]

RIP Paul Harrell, Donut, and Hoonigan. Had MT+ for years. It died long ago.

[@nedbeaty72]

RIP Paul

[@cameronhodgin5030]

@@nedbeaty72 Miss Paul

[@Spokaneexploration]

Dude honestly thank you for answering the questions that most of us had We all thought this was mostly the problem!

[@StayTunedTA]

Hey, thanks for watching!

[@Spokaneexploration]

@@StayTunedTA yeah but honestly this was a great episode! I am wondering if motor trend / roadkillers dying because the way they have been doing it especially going for Discovery Plus! Thing that concerns me more is that David frieburger has been pushing his KZbin channel which I have no problem with makes more money for him! Hopefully they can do a collab with Finnegan and friebuger and do a show on KZbin! I am the property owner at Kaiser Alimiunm Spokane Mead work's! Motor trend did the beater of the Winter Road kill beaters! + David F just did his newest video out here! I met him again I also know Dirt Head Dave / Dave Chappelle. I would love if you guys can make it Pacific Northwest that'd be great someday I would let you tour this whole property and race it lol

[@Carado5150]

Dave also defends all of the MT BS rather than use his influence to assist in fixing the problem​@@Spokaneexploration

[@Spokaneexploration]

Developing it into the Noth Spokane Industrial Park. ​@@chickenfishhybrid44

[@michaels.ramsey7803]

When my wife and I first got married, we lived off grid in a small cabin, but I made sure my phone was charged so we could watch Roadkill every week.

[@StayTunedTA]

Yo that is really cool. Also the cabin sounds rad.

[@Doesnotcare12]

😢​@@StayTunedTAI would think this post was from a Brit because the sarcasm has gone above your head!

[@nicolasstanley1392]

Dude me too!!!!!!

[@michaels.ramsey7803]

@@Doesnotcare12 yes, my cabin was off-grid, but my truck has a port for charging the phone that I used for my business. Your kinda short bus , huh?

[@Doesnotcare12]

@michaels.ramsey7803 what does this nonsensical post mean? You have a car sorry truck with a usb port ?

[@DB.KOOPER]

"Growth" is why everything sucks. If its good and it works LEAVE IT ALONE. Growing too big and growing just for the sake of growing never works.

[@NEEDbacon]

And also you can never cut back. Like it's one thing to grow, realize you got too big and trim the fat a bit. NO, LINE MUST GO UP! ALWAYS, AND FOREVER!

[@MrAZHooligan]

This just reminds me of a regular who buys his favorite bar. Instead of leaving it alone and keeping his regulars he has to mess with it somehow, put his fingerprints on it. He ends up increasing prices, cuts items off the menu, and puts his own picture on the wall. All his patrons leave and start going to the bar down the street. That owner welcomes them with open arms and the regular who bought his favorite bar is now stuck with a failing bar. I’ve seen it and it stinks. Sometimes you have to remember why you liked that bar in the first place and leave it alone.

[@bob2shred894]

Motortrend was great for me during covid. I discovered it during the first lock down we had in australia. Then because of how much they expanded the screwed their overseas viewers. Apparently some of the shows on Motortrend were licenced to other streaming sites meaning they couldnt exist anywhere othere than north america. Now i only watch youtube shows like this. Please dont ever sell out Tony.

[@smartgorilla]

@@bob2shred894 hahaha his channel went and he came back from another shilling channel corp company. I did a unfollow ages ago but came back as their was no nonsense content back.

[@bugsy9069]

The thing is, the money looks to good. If you have a successful channel and someone gives you 10 million for it, it would be hard to say no. This will change with time, when popular channels are bought then fail, the big companies won't bother any more.

[@smartgorilla]

@@bugsy9069 then the persons reputation is destroyed and won't get more work or respect. . Hate paywalls for this reason.

[@bugsy9069]

@smartgorilla I agree, there is a good chance of that, but you have 10 million $. So that's the chance you take. Even though its sad to see a favourite channel get sucked into the vortex, I can't blame someone if they get the opportunity to set themselves and their family up for life. I love road kill but refused to pay when it went to Motor Trend, if we all do that our favorites will stay on YT for free. The good thing is, there is room for everyone to give it a try.

[@LowFlyinOK]

The same thing happened with the car forums. Companies like Internet Brands came in, bought up all of the car related forums, and then destroyed the community that was built. Threads showing how to do a make specific modifications or repairs, just gone. It's literally the exact same scenario.

[@StayTunedTA]

Forums WERE THE BEST! What a time.

[@jagharingenyoutube]

Facebook and other social media killed the car forums. Not the same scenario

[@carlwiese8175]

I still remember Vertical Scope Buying Pirate4x4.

[@kevin9c1]

I have a forum but nobody cares, it's tiny and I don't promote or monetize it. It's literally for my own use as well as a few of my friends. Been like 11 years.

[@Cucvfreek]

​@@carlwiese8175that was crap but Lance made out well.

[@twosons5290]

Roadkill hooked me. Tony, It’s how I found you.

[@im_ur_huckleberry8998]

Same here!!

[@warummussmeinnameangegeben6502]

Same, roadkill is what brought me as a German to US car content - from there I started watching Hoonigan, Donut, JYD, Vice Grip, Stay tuned and so on. I feel like I follow people's careers more than watching a single channel at this point. Doesn't matter what Tony will do, I will look into that in the future

[@narcoosseefl]

Networks as we knew them are becoming irrelevant. The social media outlets allow the talent to bypass them.

[@chickenfishhybrid44]

Yep, and many of these people whining now will slowly people wealthy with their own channels or most likely at least comfortable and they'll never talk about this type of thing again lol.

[@JonathanFunkhouseMonkhouse]

Huge strength and indicator of the success of Mighty Car Mods. They’ve just done the same thing for years, and never compromised their core appeal.

[@pushrod-S14]

It’s a damn shame that corp greed and total domination kills creativity and real fun entertainment.

[@StayTunedTA]

It kills a lot of good things.

[@chickenfishhybrid44]

People could quit selling out for a start, and it might be less of a problem.

[@AR-Roons]

Look at Street Outlaws..same shit in my opinion

[@HerbertMiller-n9t]

So, is it the fault of the business suits or the people that sold their creations to those business suits? If you freely and willingly sell you backyard to a strip mining company, you don’t get to complain about them making noise,,, because you freaking sold it to them and you knew what they were gonna do with it.

[@justinwebster7761]

​@chickenfishhybrid44 don't tell me if you started a company and another huge Corp came to you with a multi million dollar check that you would pass it up. Get real

[@willhonkforparts5353]

Why is nobody talking about money? Everybody is talking about "artistic differences", time to move on, no hard feelings etc etc etc. Nobody is saying "as the idea creator and face of the channel, I feel that I can make more money on my own rather than the bean counters above keeping most of the profit and paying me a base salary"?

[@mattgraham1983]

A few of them have mentioned budgets and time for a projects been a big issue.. some have said they couldn't agree on contracts ect but you are 100% right at the end of the day its about money

[@westmus]

What you do is not always about money. The title and salary can be great. But you might still not want the job, because the conditions you offered are unsatisfying. Work time, budgets, the management may have very opposite opinions than yours. A lot of the hosts you see are clearly creative minds that get an high level of satisfaction when working on their own ideas.

[@smartgorilla]

​@@westmusId love to know the proper details and how they all get paid.

[@Andrewlang90]

Because I’m fairly certain that money was an obvious answer. But there’s always more behind these moves than money.

[@smartgorilla]

@@Andrewlang90 they always want to dilute the crazy content, make it so Arabs like it and screw with the creative work. Just look at British football teams. Same rubbish

[@jawsdawg1]

I was blessed enough to be able to go watch Ken run at the Germany WRC while I was stationed there. My cousin, uncle, and I went to the BX and bought a huge US flag and flew it for him in the grandstand during the final stage in Trier. I always wanted to give it to him as a token of appreciation, but life happens he was gone before I could.

[@BlueEternities]

Cleetus, VGG, BoostedBoiz and you are what have sucked me into cars. I only ever really watched a couple videos from Donut and 1320 before a couple years ago, and only ever changed my brakes and oil on my POS Civic. Now I've got a driftable FR-S with a bunch of stuff done to it and am loving life. Thank you guys for being real, and just letting us have a view into your world. Never once took a class or spent time learning how to work on cars from experts but you all really got me hooked. The car community is full of awesome people. Keep up the great work man!

[@tombarnhart9720]

It's great to follow someone with integrity and transparency on KZbin. Tony is a genuine dude. way to keep it real bro!

[@spudsmckenzie4123]

MTOD ended when they decided to go mainstream stupid and align with Discovery. They kicked all of us non-US citizens off the service and stuck with the shitty shows that Tony's tagline makes fun of; "Of we don't do X, we're gonna lose the shop!" Mighty Car Mods has the right idea and model. Grow with your fanbase but don't sell out to a corporation. They're the home grown car mod guys who've kept to their game and it is still going all these years later. The proof is in the viewership that they still have going well and Stay Tuned is in the same vein. Please don't change Tony, you're doing the kind of show that we gearheads like to watch. Plus you're a mad host as well. HRG was my second fave show right behind Roadkill because of you and Lucky. Man I miss watching you guys. Great times. Much love from across the pond. Keep being you, Sir Angelo and stay minty AF. 👌

[@MrGarycharters]

Yea I live in New Zealand and it was a kick to the balls I could no longer watch roadkill. MCM are awesome been a viewer from day 1.

[@Frosty_Skippy]

Sounds like you watch a derelict from northern Alberta 😂

[@spudsmckenzie4123]

@@Frosty_Skippy Ain't nothing like some Frostbackistani lubetub'n 😉

[@spudsmckenzie4123]

@@Frosty_Skippy Frostbackistani lubetube is the best.

[@smartgorilla]

Best thing ever said. The UK stuff is kind of dire and need something descent. This American non corp weird greedy channels need to go. I really can't stand it.

[@ZFX94]

I hope you never ,ever lose the shop, Tony

[@somerandomness4285]

Motor trend i feel started falling off once the magazines went away and even further now that its "seasonal" magazine on top of getting rid of engien masters, junkyard gold, dirt every day. Shoulda stayed how it was (given i still watch the shows)

[@robertvandervelden5917]

I feel bad I didn't recognize you at the Merrick Ice Drags with the Earl CaMino and Finnegan. You're are a kickass addition to alot shows you help with. Definitely the brains. I appreciate you Tony. Keep being you.

[@dakotataylor7909]

I think one of the most depressing falls was the /DRIVE channel getting paywalled and completely losing their footprint. That era of youtube was craziness.

[@Joebauers2505]

Lucky Has a youtube as well, honestly the companies selling for money is fine, with youtube we're lucky enough to find what ever kind of Automotive content we want even PowerNation is on youtube now. its a wild world to live in

[@thebeez9487]

Never got into Donut or Hoonigan.

[@michaelblacktree]

Same here. I watched some of their videos, and was like "meh."

[@userer4579]

Yep. Donut was supposed to be a "car channel" but they didn't really seem to know anything about cars. It was lame. Hoonigan was also lame but for different reasons.

[@The_TOMMYRAZOR]

Hoonigan really thrived through LockDown then slowly spiraled into massively unattainable builds and unfinished projects

[@digitallio]

maybe i’ll look at some of the videos in about 10 years

[@JDashRider]

I watched one Donut video years ago and thought they were a bunch of twatwaffles.

[@TheOneTrueHeavy]

hoonigan just filed for chapter 11 with 1.2 BILLION in debt. you hit the nail on the head.

[@MachtPlays]

lol fucking what. How is that even possible.

[@MachtPlays]

Oh cause it’s not. Hoonigan itself was not “in debt” to anything, it was the other companies (wheel companies) owned by the parent company that now owns Hoonigan.

[@lordraiden5398]

I bought a half decent 1967 Pontiac Catalina because of Roadkill. Proved how easy and cheap it was to pull a old American car out of a junkyard and get it running. The early shows were the best.

[@Peron1-MC]

while i do agree the early episodes where the best, theyre still putting out fun content :) all motortrend content is on HBO max(if youre american. otherwise use a VPN)

[@eriklarson9137]

Is it easy to pull a car out of a junk yard and license it? No. No it is not. It's impossible in most states.

[@KHALABEEB]

HOONIGAN- "IF WE DONT SELL THESE WHEELS AND CAR WASH SUPPLIES, WERE GONNA LOSE THE SHOP!!"

[@smartgorilla]

Brought to you by roto wheels

[@chillywilly883]

Que guy screaming in camera over something not that exciting….,.aHHahaAhhhhhh

[@picklefart]

This comment is under appreciated

[@smartgorilla]

@@chillywilly883 cuál hermanito el gordito o el flaco?

[@eriklarson9137]

Morgan Freeman voice - *and they did... They did lose the shop...*

[@HerbertMiller-n9t]

One of the great things about Capitalism is ,,,NO ONE IS REQUIRED TO SELL. If the owners of Hoonigan, Doughnut, or whatever believed and wanted to stay and make great content forever, then they could have, they didn’t HAVE to sell, they chose to sell. It’s just easier to blame money hungry corporations than the people that WILLINGLY sold to them.

[@StayTunedTA]

Honestly, good point.

[@The_TOMMYRAZOR]

@@StayTunedTA I think Hoonigan had to sell after Ken died due to some legal implications. I don’t know for certain, but I feel like they guys got blindsided

[@toocamcivic]

I know it’s not the same thing but one of the original slot car companies, and early RC products had something similar happen when their owner founder died. The shop mgr would have loved to have ran with it but before anything happened, a horizon Hobby bought Trinity corp. :(

[@chickenfishhybrid44]

Important point. That said, always easy to talk shit about these people that sell, but most of the individuals popping off in these comments about "muh corporate greed!" Would sell out their business in a heartbeat.

[@brandoncharley3070]

​@The_TOMMYRAZOR Hoonigan sold before Block died, something changed after he died for sure though. Hoonigan was WheelPros owned for a few years and still making good content.

[@TheD1CT4T0R]

In a similar vein, there was a guy named Ed Burkhardt who bought up a bunch of soon-to-be-abandoned railroad track and formed a railroad called Wisconsin Central, and it was damn successful. He then took it publicly traded because he needed some cash flow to make improvements, and as long as it was record growth, every quarter things were great. But you realistically can't have record growth every single quarter, and he also wanted to plow some of the profit back in to make further improvements. The second he tried to do that, the investors all voted him out, put their own stooge in charge, he moved to sell the whole thing out to a bigger railroad and all the investors made out like bandits while Burkhardt watched the company he spent years building vanish basically overnight. Any time you get involved with investors, it's a Faustian deal.

[@K4rt80y]

The important thing to remember is to keep 51% of the shares for yourself. That way you can tell the other investors to piss up a rope when you decide to reinvest money in the company.

[@leemen]

I wasn’t sure what happened to Tony and just found him. New subscriber. Loved the episode.

[@E.V.999]

You had me raising an eyebrow when you started saying your not tooting your own horn, then laughing red faced with the boat horn clip. Absolutely brilliant! and shows you have a good moral Compass / can call yourself out and thats pretty much trained out of modern peoples in today's world.

[@slowstang88]

I just miss Saturday morning horsepower TV and all the other associated hotrod shows. They allowed a poor southeastern kid to live vicariulously through them till I could make money and build my own stuff.

[@waynerohde1036]

The powerblock is now powernation and the shows are on regular TV at wierd times here. They do also have a good KZbin channel

[@slowstang88]

@@waynerohde1036 It isn't the same for me. Maybe it's hearing prices

[@chestersnapdragonmcphistic579]

We don't have unfettered capitalism in the US, we have a ton of regulations and taxes and inflation, all of which lead to centralization and corporate bloat trying to get an advantage, not by providing a better product, but by getting government privilege (lower interest loans) and other bureaucratic bullsh*t. A more accurate picture of capitalism is exactly what you and other people who left the big corps are doing: entrepreneurs. You find out what people want and provide it directly to them.

[@thefreedomwarrior]

Absolutely spot on comment. Thank you.

[@thefreedomwarrior]

It was also described to me as crony capitalism but my radio father, Rush Limbaugh.

[@chuckfinley3152]

Sir, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter

[@ooohry]

when

[@zappy7393]

100% crony capitalism. Full of lies, deceit and corruption.

[@roamin9871]

Once motortrend went to a subscription service we could no longer watch it in Australia. Was very disappointed

[@bradbutcher3984]

You can't watch it in America without a subscription.

[@Peron1-MC]

all motortrend content is now on HBO max and works with VPN. i highly recomend :)

[@ryanjackson2402]

Motor Trend, Hoonigan and Might Car Mods used to be the only thing I would watch. I lost all respect for MT when they left YT, it was upsetting that all of us viewers that literally made that channel what it is got slapped in the face and told we had to pay for the content. The Hoonigan daily transmissions was definitely the peak of their channel, it was great. After that it went downhill pretty fast but I was a huge Ken Block fan and Hert fan, it makes me really happy that Hert is starting a new thing and producing content again that feels like the old Hert. As for Mighty Car Mods, well nothing has really changed they have stayed true to their roots and still produce quality content to this day. On another note, I like how this channel has progressed! I feel like it started off kind of slow but I was here for it, now you guys are rollin and you have great numbers but I feel like its going to blow up soon. I know things got tough for you in your personal life and you were trying to really dial this channel in but I feel like you are less stressed and have this channel figured out! Keep it up guys.

[@stotty117]

Mcm are actually drop kicks that are not well like on the car community in Australia only ricers like them they build nothing but shit they built 1 good car the mad max s15 and then they where scared of it lol because it have a v8 with actual power in it lol they think 13s in the quarter is good lol my v6 famly sedan can do that lol and with the factory supercharger it gets 12s😆 😂 🤣 Moog had to go do a show to keep there lights on lol they are utterly failing they show up at race meetings and get laghed off the track they tryed to get in to the 4wd Sean and tryed there we are the shit funny how real men called them out and sed put yore money where yore mouth is lol and they back track so hard they can't build shit other then lower it wheels and cosmeticss lol that not a build

[@pizzandoughnutspage7817]

Remember suck squeeze bang blow…was the start of something great…and Your Way Video with Jimmy Biggs, the race coverage was ground breaking for 10.5, 275, pro street and many others 👍

[@chrishyde377]

Vice Grip Garage brought me here. To be honest at this point I prefer to watch your content. Keep doing what you do,

[@shh1234]

Old school VGG Derek is a fun watch but man he is spreading himself thin and some of the content like the Oriellys interview show and MT Roadworthy Rescues, blargh. Wish he wouldnt burn out.

[@nicolasedwards1860]

​@@shh1234I feel like he's spreading himself too thin and the content is taking a slight decline

[@gravely1000]

@@nicolasedwards1860 slight? early vgg was very entertaining. this new stuff looks like a money grab and good for him. Got him a nifty compound and such. I hope he paid cash.

[@americanautomobiletech]

Lucky Costa has been on KZbin for a long time as well, great technical content from him, and he’s hilarious.

[@UncleManuel]

The original guys from Donut and Hoonigan clearly said it: when these shows got bought out by investment companies things got nasty pretty quick. Promoting sponsor products became the #1 priority. After a few months they had enough as hosts of an "advertisement show" - they were deeply disappointed and just left... 🤷‍♂️

[@briscoelcamino7850]

Great video Toni. Really appreciate your insight on this deal. From the outside looking in and I was really wanting to know what was up. I will always support independent KZbinrs. You and them inspire the hell out of me to work on my garbage!

[@drew20238]

Awesome video Tony! BTW, I watched your Hoonigan beer interview several times, killed it. Really enjoyed hearing about your admiration for the other channels, especially Dave Chappell, great honest video content. Keep up the great work with the Pizza Squad! Thanks

[@johnnyturbo8460]

All the Engine Master, RoadKill, Road Kill Garage guys are starting their own youtube channels too. I bet they will be leaving Discovery too

[@6gunsand6strings]

Hopefully they will be collaborating with each other!

[@dfjelddalen]

Motortrend turning away everyone outside America sure helped them.

[@RyTrapp0]

edit: completely misread this(gotta love finishing sentences in your head instead of with your eyes😅), yea, everyone outside the US got boned on that situation

[@chickenfishhybrid44]

While I'm not glad for the people this happened to, seems like the people outside North America really want to be a factor in all this. Might just not be all that important lol, sorry.

[@deadmansfire]

@@chickenfishhybrid44 How come the international audience ,that include the UK and Australia (English speaking and able to pay similar to the Americans) should not be a factor?

[@caseyjones1999]

Junkyard gold, was a great show

[@ROBIN_SAGE]

Thanks for the update and insight Tony. I had recently noticed Frieburger started his own page, and was wondering what was up with that. Since I had been following him in Hot Rod, 4 wheel and off Road, Car craft etc since the late 80’s as a kid, I instantly subscribed. I remember talking to him in 2006 or 7 and he was telling me about his new endeavor, “Roadkill”, which was crazy talk for the time….. The dude is a visionary and I’ve often thought we shared the same brain. Keep up the great work!!!

[@JKadison]

Perfect explanation of how the system works! I was part of a company that did exactly what you describe and it's all about the money not the core that mead them who they were!

[@workingguy-OU812]

The dude you keep telling us is funny on Donut (James) is why a lot of us stopped watching Donut, and he is - in part - my guess as to why some of the staff left (though they wouldn't ever say that publicly). He's a presenter, but not really a car guy. Maybe he could entertain teenagers or something? Least favorite host out of the car channels I've subbed to.

[@T1000AX]

the worst thing motortrend did was basically tell the rest of the world that sorry you can't watch your favourite shows like roadkill anymore. goodbye. glad you guys are making youtube channels that everyone is allowed to watch.

[@eriklarson9137]

I mean... ALL hot rodders that I have known since the 70s hated motor trend. Seeing all the YT hosts that joined them showed they wanted money more than they cared about hot rodding. Pretty freeking funny seeing how all of that worked out 10 or whatever years later. MT sucks, and has for decades.

[@Michael-fu5bg]

These orgs really screwed up when they didn't offer equity stake to any of these key creative talents to keep them on board. I havent watched a Hoonigan video since everyone left, and once Donut's through their backlog I suspect ill stop watching their content as well.

[@justinwebster7761]

Honestly I'm glad they didn't because they will get what they deserve the fans will show them with their dollars and that's the best way to handle these bastards.

[@UNITEDBYTRUCKS]

Outstanding info, Tony. Thanks for sharing!

[@geerat1205]

I remember first watching Tony in the Fishtail Cuda build. Glad you’re still around doing your thing, man.

[@killsalot78]

yeah motor trend went their own way, as in, going out of their way to gatekeep content and slowly lose money over the years. taking a 6 million subscriber channel and saying to all of those 6 million people, pay up chump. Is exactly a corporate decision and still pretty mean. I hope they paid you guys well because the only reason you aren't still doing hotrod garage comes entirely from the fact motor-trend thought they could squeeze us forever without realizing maybe I don't want to pay a lot of money to watch youtube quality content... Anyways love you tony, stay indie and don't forget about the fans!!

[@RyTrapp0]

That isn't actually how it worked out at all. MotorTrend's original content was funded by the "KZbin Original Channel Initiative" program, they were getting paid separately by YT to make those videos. Once YT ended the program, 'Roadkill'-like content couldn't exist on just YT ad rev(you understand that 'Roadkill' has always had a TV-style video crew with them... right? They were never filming it on iPhones) - so they launched their own platform to keep making the same quality of content instead of degrading the hell out of the content just to stay on YT. /Drive tried to keep making YT content after YT ended the program - they couldn't do it at all and quickly failed. MotorTrendOnDemand was such a major success - no, they didn't "slowly lose money over the years" just because you didn't transition over - that Discovery bought them to get their start in the streaming platform world. They didn't buy them because they were losing money and were a failing platform... Of course, it's all gone to crap now because everything Discovery has done over the last decade or so has gone to crap.

[@huntuhhh]

@@RyTrapp0 I would love to see the numbers that they were streaming pre-removal/post removal from KZbin. I would wager the overwhelming majority did not transfer over and they saw a sharp decline in revenue and viewership.. The only evidence I would have of that (because they’re streaming numbers are private ) is the fact they started pushing those little ad videos advertising the new roadkill episodes on KZbin trying to get people to go to the app to watch it … followed up swiftly by them bundling motor trend with discovery+ then moving all of motor trend to discovery+. Those are not actions taken by a media company that’s doing well … I switched over for a couple months and had the same thought. Why am I paying money for a subscription service full of (let’s call a spade a spade) crap when I only watch one show?

[@chickenfishhybrid44]

"Mean" lol

[@gravely1000]

kinda like photobucket...once a force in online pix hosting...now just an afterthought

[@AimlessMoto]

@13:27 to get to the point.

[@freshvintage]

Awesome video Tony! If everyone here hasn't heard, the same venture capitalists that wrecked Hoonigan, Donut and MT are ALSO buying up homes and rental properties (and jacking up the rent through the roof too), so you have VC firms to partially thank for rent prices in the last few years...

[@waynerohde1036]

I been saying it for quite a while that people need to stop selling real estate to corporations. They just make it unaffordable for us to own a home. There's even big corporations buying up all the rv parks now and turning them into bs!

[@chickenfishhybrid44]

From what I've been able to find, this has been being greatly exaggerated. While it's still not good, probably should consider banning or regulating what they can buy, I constantly see people in KZbin comments and other places of the internet talk like they own half the houses in the US or something. I think I've heard it's like 1% or less.

[@burtsgurt]

@@chickenfishhybrid44and with the amount of homes in the US, even 1% is WAY too much housing to be owned by corporations.

[@bgee461]

I was scared to watch this thinking I'd hate the talking head format for Stay Tuned. But, I support, so I must watch, and I'm glad I did. Great stuff. Dave dirthead shed is a FANTASTIC show. Love it ❤ On a side note, you know how I found your channel Tony? No? Well I tell you anyways. I clicked on one of those "great buys lists" and I just agreed on much of it. You should do one like once a season, maybe a mid week release

[@dhag72]

Thank you for sticking with your roots. Im sure you could have done some crazy changes to the channel along the way, but I appreciate sticking with what youve built. I come to KZbin for your type of content, its nice to have a channel that you know is going to consistently produce quality content. Plus I think its cool that you take the time to address comments here and there. I appreciate you guys. Keep it comin!

[@shoveI]

"There was this idea that was either told to us or imagined, probably a lot of both that we were all building something together. But that thing that we were building wasn't ours and it never was and it never would be. And I think that that's the original sin [...] - we don't own it and we never owned it. None of the guys who made it got rich when it was sold and more importantly without owning it we don't get to decide what it does, which is scary when you're the face of it" - James Pumphrey describes the problem with America while describing why he left Donut.

[@chickenfishhybrid44]

America? This is happening in essentially the entire world at this point and has been for decades.

[@kenjohnson878]

I just canceled my dish subscription after 30 years because all the automotive shows have gone away and 167 dollars a month is ridiculous.

[@petedholm]

Oh yeah, and let's get Stay Tuned to 1 million subs. Tell your friends. I mean, after all, he came up with the damn twinpala!!!!

[@K4rt80y]

I did my part!

[@ccubsfan94]

The biggest killer for MT is it went away from YT. This killed it for 2 reasons. I watch YT every day, subcribed to many channels. Now i have to go out of my way to watch Roadkill and the bunch. The kicker of that is, that randos on YT aren't seeing the new content appear. You had to be in the early days or maybe snag an episode on TV to even know it existed. Also, the removal of the comment section. The intercourse (is that the right word?...) Between the audience, creator, and the audience is what made it feel like a community, and not a lecture.

[@viscountslappy5085]

And yet youtube.com/@roadkilltvshow?si=siwbUlaVKuNkFIUy

[@Korruptionen]

Been following since your first episode with Lucky. Thank you for all you've done for car culture, taking chances, and getting into the throttle ahead of the societal curve.

[@HighRevNation]

It's been a trend that was bound to happen. I'm glad to see you were able to make an exit when you did to create this channel!

[@sbroz1424]

This is exactly what happened to "Wheeler Dealers"

[@toocamcivic]

Edd actually taught you a thing or 2 when he was still there.

[@conductorcammon]

Yup. Really sad.

[@swellguysc]

What exactly? I loved Edd although his taste did get a bit esoteric. I think both Ant and Elvis are quite good as well. Mike is a cornball but entertaining.

[@David9523]

@@toocamcivic He has his own YT channel as well now and it's actually pretty good

[@conductorcammon]

@@swellguysc Conpany bought out the show...changed everything, then Edd quit.

[@ljkking622]

Tony needs to understand capitalism and corporatism are different.

[@redgtr]

I hadn't been watching hot rod garage for a while when you first started this channel, so I was a little bummed when you first left. But then I went back recently and started watching the last few seasons you were in. Seeing how you worked with your guys during covid, it was a whole different feel and you seemed a lot happier. So I get it now

[@adventuresofabbott4374]

Of all the car program guys who i have met in real life at events, you Tony are the most legit, down to Earth real.

[@bhohenbrink]

Ever since Discovery took over Motor Trend, it seems a ton of shows just got canceled and it seems my 5 dollars a month subscription gives me access to a billion episodes of mecum auto auction and zero good shows. I look forward to every weeks episode of my fav youtubers including stay tuned and, no disrespect to Alex Taylor, but HRG hasn't been the same since you left.

[@RyTrapp0]

Yea, I think 'Roadkill', 'Roadkill Garage', and 'Hotrod Garage' are the only shows left now. Such a bummer.

[@AK-DIRECT907]

They are buying the viewers.

[@NeverLetOff]

Let's go!!!!

[@StayTunedTA]

LEt's GOOO!

[@mikefoushee9975]

Tony, I am super stoked on this video. All I really watch is KZbin car content, love all of these channels; but no bullshit you're my favorite personality. Love seeing you lean into something that's clickbaitish. Would love to see you grow, fam! Great job.

[@thectcarkid4654]

I’m pretty legal/business illiterate, but I know there were big headlines recently about non-compete clauses no longer being allowed by the FTC, I imagine that’s why a lot of these guys were able to strike out on their own all at once

[@1leggeddog]

Short answer : these channels got bought by big companies and screwed up everything. Classic. The lesson is : never sell.