Original Content on YouTube
August 26, 2012
Move over ABC, CBS, and NBC: YouTube is doubling down on original content. We’ve written before about Google‘s push to infuse more premium media content into YouTube. Now, ReadWriteWeb informs us that “YouTube Premium Channel SourceFed Racks Up 500,000 Subscribers.”
The ad-supported SourceFed is the first of YouTube’s Original Channel Initiative projects to reach such success. It and other shows that demonstrate potential were produced by folks with experience building audiences through the site. SourceFed, for example, is the creation of six-year YouTube veteran Philip Defranco. The article relates:
“James Haffner, SourceFed’s producer, believes the channel’s success lies in a couple of factors: First, the channel provides ‘easily consumable’ content that’s also accessible on mobile devices (accounting for 50% of views). ‘We get to have fun every day, but at the same time, we inform people,’ Haffner said. And because each video is short, people can pick and choose among segments. Second, the way the four SourceFed show hosts interact with fans is key, because it fosters a sense of online community. ‘Our viewers treat us like we’re their best friends,’ Haffner explained.”
This relationship with viewers is exemplified by SourceFed’s self-congratulatory video, which features fans describing why they love the channel. It’s Experimental Theatre for the Internet world. Interesting.
Cynthia Murrell, August 26, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext