These YouTubers Got HUMBLED Fast

Who is Watcher and why is everyone mad at them?
As seen on the Watcher KZbin description, "Watcher is a new production studio that is focused on creating television-caliber, unscripted series in the digital space." But they also decided KZbin wasn't good enough anymore?.. Well, I'm here to tell you why.
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[@lovelandfrog5692]

Do gotta love how Shane’s wife was scolding folks for not wanting to pay when their wedding was $200k and she had 3 wedding dresses 💀

[@missyrose2154]

The only reason she has what she has is because fans pay to watch her husband . Talk about ungrateful 😒 Ever hear of don’t bite the hand that feeds you Sara ???

[@growingsage]

THREE? Wtf? Why did she need three wedding dresses?

[@lydia_____]

She did what!?

[@sunnysidedown0451]

Usually I try to avoid "KZbin drama," BUT, I'm invested in this one because I've been watching Shane and Ryan since they were doing Unsolved Buzzfeed, and I've always been a big fan. This whole "thank you, audience, for making us who we are today. Now pay us $60 or you will never see any of our content again" thing left such a bad taste in my mouth. It showed their true colors and I'm so disappointed in them. I unsubscribed and everything. Makes me sad.

[@nevaehhamilton3493]

Don't be sad. Be angry instead. You were lied to. We were *ALL* lied to. And no one could have known that until it was too late. Shane and Ryan are no better than the likes of those online scammers and con artists, because we were led to believe they were different. They're all the same. BuzzFeed is a scam.

[@cassiusvoidkin]

Just a note. They are not in their mid to late twenties. Shane is 37 while Ryan and Steven are both 33.

[@janiceandthomas]

Yeah, other wise they would have been teens (I think?) when they started on BuzzFeed all those years ago lol

[@jackcollin1811]

I was wondering this when he said that, they definitely look more 30’s.

[@KOFNY]

“He’s not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed” - Tony Stark from The Dark Knight

[@bulkvanderhuge9006]

Here's what I'm thinking happened. Some dimwit came up with the idea of "If we have 2.8 MILLION VIewers on KZbin, and make $520K a YEAR from views, then if we take our content OFF KZbin and make those 2.8 MILLION people pay $6 bucks a Month, WE'LL BE MAKING 16 MILLION A YEAR!!!!! DUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRR" THat HAD to be the actual idea, because since they're making around $520K from YT, and Ad Revenue, and perhaps $63K from Patreon, they must've assumed, that they could afford to LOSE all of that, because all their viewers would follow them to their streaming service and GLADLY pay for all the FREE Videos they've been watching, netting them 16 Million.

[@charliebear154]

Steven. Steven was the dimwit. Joining up with him was the worst business decision they ever made. He’s a nepo baby with a super rich dad and just wanted more and more money, he single handedly ruined Shane and Ryan’s careers.

[@emilia4_]

@@charliebear154 yeah their content last year on watcher channel was still enjoyable, but ryan and shane let steven take on the ceo's responsibilities and oops

[@mjnoir1]

do we know for a fact that make 500k from KZbin?

[@AZrcUnkaiged]

Never watched their videos. Still love this rant. "I made a channel called Benny Has a Problem. It's about me!" And thats why I'm here.

[@tfordham13]

Well there were a good channel

[@bradtravis2440]

The first thing to do when a company is struggling is 'trim the fat' and focus on the core of what made you a success in the first place. Not take on lots more 'fat' that hasn't been market researched, and pay for it off the backs of fans with less money than you have. Do they 'need' 25 staff? Do they 'need' a studio in Hollywood? Do they need to produce too many spin-off videos that don't get as many views? I'd start trimming a lot of fat before offloading costs onto loyal fans that put you where you are in the first place. An inefficient, mismanaged bloated business model fueled by ambition (I don't want to say ego) is not the fans responsiblilty.

[@tfordham13]

Honestly i am a big fan of them and i onl watched ghost files, the creepyapasta reading and the unsloved stuff everything else is a waste and a lot of the staff is there friends Also i am pretty sure this wasn't there choice but of the mangaer or company

[@OurKindofEntertainment]

Shoot, I did a video on Saturday for my second channel and it got a good amount of traction helping the channel get to 10k subscribers yesterday! I don't normally cover content like that, but I was a fan of these guys since the Buzzfeed days and wanted to give my two cents considering I spent money in their merch store to get a Professor plushie a year or so ago. Been a full-time KZbinr for going on 7 years. Worked in a call center 3 years before I quit to work on my channel. In high school, I worked one summer at a Bojangles and one summer in a warehouse during my 2nd year of college. Those jobs showed me that I wanted to do something for MYSELF instead of working my behind off funding someone else's dream while I'm making peanuts compared to what the CEOs make from my hard work. I do NOT take what I do for granted! I know the support/views from my subscribers and customers in my eBay store are what help me continue to do what I do! What threw me off was how the Watcher crew just blindsided everyone with their announcement! Do they post quality content? Yes, but TBH (and this is coming from me as a fan not a hater) their shows don't have the same appeal as their Buzzfeed counterparts... Don't get me wrong, Puppet History is the S&*T! However, Ghost Files & Mystery Files don't do it for me the same way Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural & True Crimes did because there was a certain charm about Ryan's fear of ghost or the black screen with the blue and yellow text that just isn't there with the Watcher shows. Basically, Watcher doesn't produce enough content that I enjoy that would make me want to pay $5.99/month to watch... I know they said they will continue on KZbin with their streaming service being a way to watch stuff weeks in advance and ad free. However, will advertisers still want to work with them since their Goodbye YT video was them literally crapping on advertisers in the first place?

[@EnnnVyyy]

i genuinely liked them more when they were just buzzfeed unsolved

[@leademi1387]

Phil Defranco covered the follow up within one of his news episodes. I felt so conflicted when watcher did this because I love their content and I understand content being restricted and holden to advertisers, but when I found out that they were still keeping the patreon with this soured me. Why didn’t they even look into Nebula if they wanted to jump ship and not limit their content.

[@JasonLopezII]

Every time I get reminded of the old days of KZbin, it genuinely feels like a lifetime ago and it sinks in harder how the platform changed in the past decade especially with creators.

[@JKribbit]

It's just not creators that's changed, we the viewers changed too. I used to watched Nigahiga, Kevjumba, Phil DeFranco, Smosh, RWJ etc religiously through highschool and uni, and when I graduated and got a job, I suddenly stopped. Their content just doesnt entertain me as much as I got older. I still hop on to watch RWJ and PDF time to time but it's a farcry from when I used to watch them every single day.

[@nevaehhamilton3493]

Oh they didn't change, Jason. That's just their true nature coming out -that's a Moral Orel reference btw, it holds up pretty well-

[@vibespidersstudios8895]

I remember Keith said they buzzfeed used to give out badges to their employees and told them you’re amazing and keep on doing what you’re doing. I think will neff’s video is the example of what Buzzfeed does to people and the feeling everyone is out for each other to get the approval. I wish the watcher channel had someone in PR and knew what will happen. As much we ignore negative criticism then you forget there is a void of where to improve yourself. I say this whole sandal is just a learning curve to a lot of people that there isn’t times where you can get away with. I just hope watcher gets a better PR team and someone doing their finances because they can do their fancy projects with a team that knows better what they have.

[@TjValentine1]

Keep at it Benny cause this “non well researched” topic is probably the best example of explaining wtf is going on. Nobody has used the word pretentious to describe what they initially tried to do and it was spot on

[@laurelsilberman5705]

Thank you for the recap of the entire thing, very succinct and you give a good perspective. I don’t really follow the general KZbin drama but I did see that these guys were in hot water over the weekend and then it was ongoing into the first half of the week and all that, so I was just waiting for someone who was going to recap it all well in under ten minutes because like, I’m curious, but I really don’t need to spend half an hour listening about how three young content creators shot themselves in the collective foot because someone gave them bad business advice.

[@Chunacus]

Oh yeah so glad that Watcher back peddled are hard as they did. Good for them but yeah I wouldn’t pay 6 bucks a month just for Watcher. Also unlike Watcher’s 6 bucks a month, Dropout is only 5 dollars…a year. Big difference there

[@expressiondestination6430]

Thank you for doing a video on this Benny because I've had a problem with it for a while. I understand we all have bills, and we all love being able to do the things we love, but when you go from "here watch all my content and if you wanna pay me personally to make cooler stuff here's a link but you absolutely don't have too." To then turn around and mention pateron in every video and start to make more content for their "optional" subscribers and start to make you feel like know you're just a cash cow and if you want content from someone you enjoy you know have to be paying like an exta $10 for something they could give you for free. It's just sad to go from feeling like a community to just another revenue source. One of the main reason why I can't do KZbin, that and I could make a soilder blush with how I talk😂😂

[@RainCheck797]

"I understand we all have bills" this has been pissing me off (not you), people say this to try and be compasionate, I get it. But CEO Steven Lim drives a tesla. His car costs more than many (probably most if you consider their demographic) viewers make in a year. Let that sink. The studio and their *houses* are in LA. I could go on. The point is they want us to feel sorry and quilted because they "can't afford to keep going." They're asking us to foot the bill for their ambitions (that viewers don't want) but only so they don't have to compromise their life of luxury. These guys have made several bad business decisions (don't hire 25 people if you can't already afford it) and are guilt tripping people with "we can't afford it shtick."

[@expressiondestination6430]

@RainCheck797 THANK YOU!!

[@RainCheck797]

@expressiondestination6430 I honestly only came for puppet history, but I'm staying to eat the rich, as Shane told us. In this case it's them.

[@96smittyjr]

I love any rants you do. Honestly both are fine. I had never even heard of these guys until you just brought it up. While I think I prefer the random researched topics, topics like this can be refreshing to see

[@badtemper88]

My wife and I are Watcher fans and this whole thing really disappointed us. Didn’t expect such an out of touch take from these guys. I’m glad they changed their minds I really hope they learn from this. PS Steven Lim has the most expensive least watch show on watcher

[@jperrin1983]

Clicked on this cause I watched another watcher reaction video...halfway through I was like...wait...is this comicstorian? Subscribed!

[@kingshadow8782]

😢😭🤧Benny you will always be remembered by your Biggest Fan King Shadow and you helped me got into reading a lots of Comic Book Stories you will deeply missed by all your Biggest Comic Book Fans!

[@alexflo6840]

Yeah it’s crazy , I didn’t really know who the watcher were until all of this went down. It’s pretty crazy to think a channel with those numbers in subscribers and views are so out of touch with their audience.😬

[@bulkvanderhuge9006]

Exactly. THe entire "Goodbye KZbin" video was the first time I ever heard of these guys, so they don't have as much clout as they obviously think they do.

[@MisaelMatute76]

As someone who does watch them and has been following their progress, let me tell you that this was totally out of character. Like Charlie said in his video, some suit guys must have gotten into their head. Or like this video said, someone was telling them how great they were and how they should be "independent" from KZbin or something along those lines...

[@missyrose2154]

They are popular there is no doubt about that . They therefore assumed well fans may grumble but no way they wont actually pony up to keep watching . They never stopped to think about if their fans could afford to do that or if their site even made sense from a financial stand point . They admitted they didn’t consider the impact on the people who made them what they are . They basically told their fans out of the blue with NO warning hey thanks for making us popular and giving us the amazing lives we have now either pay us or never see our content again . I mean what the literal f***?!

[@mjnoir1]

are their numbers that great though? less than 3 million subscribers most of their videos don't make over a million views compared to what they did at BuzzFeed

[@mjnoir1]

​@@MisaelMatute76that does seem like what happened there was an air of discomfort in the room . they kinda knew this was bullshit and they had to go with it

[@lorib360]

Shane is 37.

[@tfordham13]

A dude all ready covered the follow up

[@davidtheprankster6813]

People have been doing weird things to bodies for so, so very long. Smashing heads of suspected vampires, putting bells in case they're not dead, and the act of loving said bodies has been well into the BC era. But, this video is great! I know plenty of KZbin channels that have lost their way and become more greedy. But, it is the way of the world. I mean, that has been the foundation of many of your videos.

[@Onyx-_-liquor]

i'm a relatively new fan of watcher, i discovered their channel like 3 months ago, this whole thing even now i still am in disbelief! the whole video i was REALLY expecting some sort of joke at the end or even a new video the following day saying it was a study a social experiment or something! its so while they truly thought that this was going to be the right idea.

[@triggerfairy4070]

They tried to pull a Matpat but then found out, they arent worth much.

[@0Mitzuio]

I understand KZbin isn't what it once was; however, what makes them think launching a streaming service solely of their content would generate more revenue? Especially given they have a Patreon.

[@bulkvanderhuge9006]

I think they foolishly believed that all of their followers (Something like 2.8 million?) would follow them and gladly pay $6/mo, netting them 16 million annually.

[@0Mitzuio]

​@@bulkvanderhuge9006 MoistCritical said he can pay his 25 E-Sports employees solely with his streaming revenue, and they're making more money than their regular job employees. He also mentioned they likely make as much or even more than him, so there's literally no excuse.

[@nevaehhamilton3493]

Because they're scammers. They knew what they were doing? Plus, it's clear they're narcissistic.

[@nerdyrockcomics5428]

Benny, have you ever watched the dropout content like game changer and dimension 20? I'll say that that content is worth the six bucks month because it's something they weren't doing on KZbin with CollegeHumor. Same with rooster teeth and their shows like haunter and in theater mode. It's stuff that couldn't work on KZbin but completely works on its own platform. I think the problem is is that these guys were just going to take the regular content they were making and put it behind a paywall. There was nothing new or innovative or that they couldn't make work on KZbin

[@twiddledeebarna3257]

It is sad. I have been watching Ryan & Shane since Buzzfeed. I was skeptical when they left to form Watcher. I honestly don't think the content is as good. Something seems off. Now that they are leaving You Tube I can't afford to stream them on there own service.

[@nevaehhamilton3493]

Ryan and Shane are evil people. They let their true nature come out when we made them comfortable enough to do so. They lied to you. They betrayed you. They're only sorry they got caught. They have no remorse. They have no human emotions. It's not sad. If anything, it's infuriating. Because we are now seeing an influx of so many people we used to watch back then turn out to be worthless scumbags who never even deserved to be famous in the first place.

[@pwpresents5660]

I’ve got a pretty decent system when it comes to streaming content. I only pay for Netflix, because everyone in my house uses it. And I only buy three months of Disney plus when there's a deal on to watch the specific shows I’m after. Everything else can go to hell.

[@FearfulEntertainment]

"nobody covered it" dude I saw this already discussed on three different vids 3 days ago

[@missyrose2154]

If they had a brain in their heads they would have offered the pay site and being able to keep watching for free if your willing to wait from the get go . And we wouldn’t have this problem. As you said they got full of themselves and let their egos make this dumb decision. Like many others I believe this decision was largely Steven’s who I truly don’t think is needed on Watcher at all. Fans show up for Ryan and Shane and their dynamic. It remains to be seen if Watcher can survive or if they are permanently damaged now

[@bladegirlx]

Never heard of them in my life

[@chicken-films10]

I like the watcher. I'm glad they changed their minds.

[@sarahhankins2907]

Plenty of people already covered it and it's just Watcher.

[@TheRealAceA]

This is the sad truth. Unfortunately as someone that's 24 this is why I get turned down from things I want to do. I looked at as another immature kid of my generation😓

[@antoj.5119]

I stopped watching them because they dropped the unsolved crimes after buzzfeed. I hope they bounce back from this and work to earn fans' trust again. Btw, very nice channel! Subscribed! Cheers from Brazil! 🇧🇷

[@kranzferguson1852]

I really want to know if any of these exclusive content streaming apps make more money than KZbin. Like has this worked for anyone.

[@XzReHD]

Love listening to you rant about current topics Benny!

[@WheelsOzzy]

Watcher is just Rooster Teeth-lite

[@dharmabird1]

I miss rooster teeth already

[@tfordham13]

Nah there better

[@yobwoc1000]

Buzzfeed food mystery skit was hilarious

[@bryceharriet9209]

Benny the messiah! 😂

[@Marx1684]

6:14 Good stuff. I enjoy grown men Tubers. 8:26 The channel about you hits. I got used to Rob’s Explanation style for most drops & frequent Comic Breakdown & a few others. I just came up on Rob (before I deleted an account). I enjoy your personality apart from the comics & your takes on different subjects is fun. I enjoy you running free & didn’t like everyone voting in furries. They’re overdone. I don’t drop hate in comments because Inget enough myself from folks I’m not even talking to that want to sound smart. I just hush & move on until the next drop.

[@secondchance5914]

Got these guys confused with the try guys

[@PhanthomWails]

So legitimate question, how was their idea different to Dropout TV? I understand that the PR behind Watcher’s transition was abysmal and it created a lot of the current discourse. I just wanted to see if anyone was aware of the differences. Cause I don’t remember see this much hate for Dropout’s service.

[@greyblueme9711]

The core difference I see people mention between the two is that Dropout has history for why it is what it is. They used to be college humor so they already had a dedicated fanbase, Sam funded out of his own pocket to restart, it is very much a passion project. Dropout still releases episodes & shorts on KZbin to reach a wider audiences and never attempted to cut them off. Watcher does not make as much content as them (1 series a month Vs an episode of a different series releasing depending on the day of a week) so the 5.99 price wasn't justified at all (I had disney+ & hulu for 2.99). Then there's the cast, watcher has failed to expand their personalities while Dropout has a revolving door of people to make more content. Hell, they've even failed in comparison to the Try guys. Who have managed to even integrate their staff as likable characters to their audience like Rachel/Miles and guests like Kwesi to the point the audience praises & welcomes appearances.

[@joserocha7850]

I like both types of videos benny!

[@Marx1684]

1:34 There seem to be people that buy into the individual & people that buy into the interests. If you leave the platform, you’re losing the folks who just happen to pick you up while scrolling for something interesting while holding the core. 2:53 Yuck. This isn’t smart. They hurt their current base. Nasty business.

[@anniesmith6220]

Everyone is acting like the guys completely destroyed their brand but they will be able to bounce back quickly from this. By their next video I’m sure they will still have the normal 2+ million views possibly more. If anything since so many KZbinrs posted on this it’s probably helping them get more viewers. I wonder if they lost KZbin sponsors? 🤔

[@mizunopearl]

I think their platform is DOA.

[@bulkvanderhuge9006]

Considering that NOW, all you have to do is just wait a month, and they'll put the paid content on KZbin, there's ZERO reason to pay $6 a month to see the content a month early. It was never going to work anyway, they were going to be losing ALL of the revenue they were getting from KZbin, and then they were going to have to pay for their own bandwidth and streaming, and they were talking about adding THREE MORE HOSTS, as if they were expecting ALL of their 2.8 Million Viewers to follow them and pay $6 a month.

[@mizunopearl]

@@bulkvanderhuge9006 They certainly didn't do themselves any favors with the way the handled it but looking at platforms like Rooster Teeth that are being shut down Watcher wouldn't have lasted.

[@kronos1794]

Mind telling me where you got your shirt?

[@martafuentes4453]

U did your job. U said perfect I would not pay to c them went I am seeing them for free in KZbin. They got greedy💰💵💸

[@JeannieLove]

The crazy eyes at the end lol

[@theflowerhead]

My first vid. I liked hesring your perspective.

[@Bboy20clo]

Benny!! Been watching sense 2014 cuz of comics always keep up the great content

[@TevyaSmolka]

This topic is super interesting in my opinion

[@yobwoc1000]

Right on Benny

[@JenneeB927]

How much money do these dudes need? Maybe they need to pay themselves a little less. Maybe not have 200k weddings or eat 10k steaks.

[@Meocross]

What pisses me off the most about subscription services is that the ANNUAL plan expects you to dump essentially 1 month of rent to them in a single day, "but don't worry it's once a year!" fck you, i KNOW you have the power and the coding to make that annual plan more lenient so that i don't feel the pinch. What if i have an emergency and have to use that money to go to the hospital? No well fck the customer right? As it is all about recouping the the LOST days you didn't get the money rather than customer satisfaction.

[@IAmMightyMike]

I feel a bit bad for Steven Lim. He was getting the shit end of the stick in allllll of the comments sections. On his personal IG, Twitter.

[@Galaxies3000]

I have to say, I was very confused by this video because I thought you were a different Benny that I subscribed to.. the other one does photoshop.

[@IAmMightyMike]

Benny what are you talking about the biggest commentary channels talked about the apology😅

[@mjnoir1]

if they just want to survive and grow they need to downsize and get more sponsorships maybe sell off ghost files to a tv network or something. watchers biggest strength is shane and ryan if watcher folds they can spin off. steven lim and the rest cant

[@twizted_goblin]

I never even know they existed I know there's Buzzfeed but I always known that as a new source now it pops on Facebook it's very rarely but I see it and then no there are actually people that had youtube channels that was very new and then seeing that do the corporational thing and put it behind the pay wall what everybody is already complaining about gaming doing it but now we got youtubers doing it not just so more insane it's already irritating as hell and we get so many ads you get ads from youtubers themselves Then you get some one minute ads from some random game and some other random stuff and always on repeat every 4 minutes suck so much I don't need to want to pay even more and hope they maybe don't have ads in it life is so insane on the Internet

[@Riceburner427-x8q]

Keep them coming 🎉

[@demigod1014]

Does anyone know every channel in the comicstorian universe

[@BennyHasAProblem]

The comicstorian Multiverse contains Comicstorian Comicstorian Full Story Mangastorian Absolutely! Benny has a Problem Eligible Monster Gaming lore Dungeons and Ale The last two I only release stuff when we have it no schedule. I'm expecting a big multiverse crossover soon, the Comicstorian Wars

[@demigod1014]

@@BennyHasAProblem what about tales of earth or 3 stories and a beer

[@bulkvanderhuge9006]

LOL, the screenshot you show in the video literally says "2.84 M Subscribers" and you then say they have "1.5 million subscribers"

[@tonyblank2022]

:)

[@dbzlinkinpark99]

Talk about the crazy world of adult doll toy replicas

[@MSGSDestiny]

The only segment i watch on Watcher is the one where they read creepypastas.

[@alexgsproductions]

Are You Scared? was a great segment.

[@infinityawesome8715]

Well if you like that watch CreepCast

[@MSGSDestiny]

@alexgsproductions That's the one. Shame it's only like 6 episodes a year.

[@MSGSDestiny]

@@infinityawesome8715 ooh, thanks. I'll have a look then.

[@alexgsproductions]

@@infinityawesome8715 Creepcast is good, but I prefered Are You Scared.

[@PerOlsen-dn6kk]

I must be the only one who thinks their content is awful.. and they are aiming for TV-level content? Yeah.. their stuff would fit very well on TV like their "ghost" hunting show.. there are several terrible shows like that already on TV. Spoiler alert: ghosts aren't real and those shows are really boring.

[@nobodyexceptme7794]

Lol what? They were wildin

[@Satya.G-_-]

2:29 they have 6k paying members. others r free.

[@KingsNJenssons]

Isn't backing a patreon practically you wanting their content?

[@alfonzoc_Father_Misfit_Batman]

👍

[@lou1sch3n]

So sick of everyone commenting on this shit. Old news.

[@bulkvanderhuge9006]

You just commented on it.

[@windsonma8209]

I know every one might want my Head for this but it sounds like to me that Those Guys are Just Trying to Graner Attention which makes their 'Apology' feels Insincere because before this Rant I Literally have Never Heard about these guys and because of it I Personally Don't Think I'll be watching any of their Content On Any where........... Sorry.........See I Don't Mean that Apology

[@strife9878]

Kinda what happened to George Lucas

[@NickeyWilson316]

Benny there Fallowers DIDN'T WANT MOREE LOL

[@mikerosoft2179]

benny i think you would still make 900 extra channels just cos you can lol

[@BennyHasAProblem]

I do lol, I like making content

[@JokersVsZombies]

This dude seems too old to report on social media drama 😂😂😂

[@boredbitch666]

learning more Benny lore is like learning unknown batman lore. more. MOre. MORE!

[@SuperShanko]

This is fine since you as a YT’er are talking about fellow YT people. Now if I had a critique, I’d like to see more attempts at out of the box comics, lesser known ones that could use a boost like….. The Goon or something.