The Collective Uses Metacafe As YouTube Alternative For Creators

Last June, the Collective Digital Studio bought Metacafe, one of the online video platforms that focuses mainly on premium entertainment. One year later, we are starting to see the spoils of that purchase, as the studio’s clients are experimenting with the platform as a way to set up alternative revenue streams to YouTube.

A quick jaunt over to Metacafe reveals that most of the site’s popular “web originals” come from Collective creators, such as Corridor Digital, Epic Meal Time, and The Annoying Orange. Where things get really interesting, however, is on each channel’s personal website. Some, like Epic Meal Time, stick to YouTube embeds, but others are experimenting. Freddiew’s Video Game High School uses Metacafe embeds for videos posted to Rocket Jump, while the embeds on Hannah Hart’s Hello, Harto webpage are a mix of YouTube and Metacafe.

“Metacafe and the owned and operated Collective Digital Studio web sites are additional avenues of syndication that we leverage for our content,” explained a Collective rep. “We have been running Hannah Hart’s Hello Harto on this platform to provide further exposure for this program that documents Hart’s big, crowd-funded tour to cities across North America.”

Finding alternative revenue streams is currently a hot topic for YouTubers; therefore, Metacafe (which, at the moment, has 40 million worldwide uniques) is a useful tool for The Collective. By splitting videos between YouTube and Metacafe, creators are clearly experimenting to see if the lesser-known platform provides better ad revenue. That Hart has now returned to YouTube embeds suggests it may not, but the presence of YouTube alternatives remains an enticing option for big-name creators.