Comcast’s previously-rumored streaming video service is a real thing, and it’s now here. The cable provider has launched a beta version of its free, ad-supported Watchable digital video platform.

Comcast’s Chief Business Development Officer Sam Schwartz describes Watchable in a company blog post as “a new, cross-platform video service that curates a selection of the best content from popular online video networks and shows in an easy-to-use experience.” Users can choose from over 150 different shows in categories like Auto, Entertainment, Funny, Gaming, Music, and Sports.

Watchable is of course a step outside Comcast’s traditional service area of cable television, but Schwartz seems confident in the video platform’s ability to attract solid viewership. “We think Watchable can be a unique place that curates and distributes the best content from some of the most recognized brands and producers on the web,” Schwartz wrote. “Plus, many of our Watchable partners have not traditionally had distribution on the TV and we can give them a path to reach new audiences and further monetize their content on the biggest screen in the home.”

Watchable has a fairly well-rounded roster of content partners. The ad-supported video service will run programming from about 30 different brands, including AwesomenessTV, BuzzFeed, Collective Digital Studios, Defy Media, GoPro, Jukin Media, Machinima, POPSUGAR, Red Bull, Tastemade, Vice, and Mashable. Adam Ostrow, Mashable’s Chief Strategy Officer, believes Watchable is a perfect fit for his digital media site’s distribution goals.

“We’re very excited to be apart of Comcast’s Watchable platform,” Ostrow said in a release. “At Mashable, we have always believed in a distributed approach to media, and with its presence across Web, mobile apps and set-top boxes, we think Watchable will be a great new way for the digital generation to engage with our video content across the many platforms they use on a daily basis.”

Schwartz noted in the Comcast blog post Watchable will continue to develop as the cable provider receives feedback from customers. In the future, Comcast plans to add more programming from additional content partners. The cabler will also give users the ability to share videos and personalize their Watchable experiences.

You can access Watchable via watchable.com or through the service’s app for iOS. If you’re already a customer of Comcast’s X1 entertainment operating system, you can also view Watchable content via that platform.

Filed under: Articles, Comcast, News by Bree Brouwer
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AOL already distributes a plethora of celebrity-powered web series, and now, it has teamed up with an entertainer who may be its most famous creative partner today. The tech giant has announced a partnership with Snoop Dogg, who will create and star in a series that will focus on his charitable efforts.

AOL did not share a title or an exact release date for Snoop’s series, but it did offer a few descriptive lines. The main focus will be the Snoop Youth Football League, which the rapper started a decade ago. The SYFL gives underprivileged children the opportunity to play organized football against one another. The series will follow some of the most interesting teams in the league and follow the lives of players and coaches both on and off the field.

The web series, which is co-produced by AOL and Snoopadelic Films, will be the latest digital venture for Snoop Dogg, whose WestFestTV YouTube channel has more than 1.3 million subscribers. “Mentoring kids through SYFL means more to me than anything else I do,” he said in a press release. “It’s my way of continuing to connect with the communities that move me. I get to know kids and parents with great spirits from all over, and it becomes something far beyond football.  It is important to not only be a football coach to these kids, but to be a life coach as well. It’s our way of sharing a life together. This series will finally give the world a chance to witness the stories, talent, and commitment SYFL represents in the same way I do.”

When it arrives, the new web series will join other notable AOL programs led by celebrities. Among other shows, both Steve Buscemi’s Park Bench and James Franco’s Making A Scene recently returned for their second seasons.

The eight episodes of Snoop’s upcoming web series will arrive on AOL “later this year.”

Filed under: Articles, Celebrity, Channels, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Through the online comedy network Above Average, Broadway Video has made a mark in the web video world. Now, it has a plan to reach a more targeted group of digital media consumers. Lorne Michaels’ company, best known for producing Saturday Night Live, has announced Mas Mejor, a studio that will be aimed primarily at Latino audiences.

Many of Above Average’s best videos have been led by SNL cast members, and Broadway Video is also making use of the sketch show’s alums as it prepares to launch Mas Major. It has tapped Horatio Sanz and Fred Armisen to work with up-and-coming creators (like Vine star David Lopez) to produce a bilingual mix of web series and editorial content, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Both Sanz and Armisen have Latino roots themselves; Sanz was born in Chile, and Armisen’s mother is from Venezuela.

Mas Mejor will work with a number of different distribution partners, including NBCUniversal’s Telemundo. “We’re excited to work with Telemundo Digital and our other soon-to-be-announced distribution partners to provide a platform for the many talented Latino performers and creators here and abroad,” said Broadway Video Enterprises president Britta von Schoeler.

There is already a breadth of digital content aimed at Latino viewers, but based on the pedigree of its executives, Mas Mejor figures to make a strong entrance into its field. It is set to launch in January 2016.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Production Companies by Sam Gutelle
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A year after its launch, Marriott Content Studio has already produced two short films, several web series, and additional branded videos. Despite that prolific output, the production company run by hotel brand Marriott isn’t slowing down anytime soon. It has launched Hot Shoppe, an animated web series it produced in conjunction with Believe Entertainment.

Hot Shoppe is a five-episode web series about the history of the Marriott brand, with each episode focusing on one of the company’s five core values. The series’ title refers to the original name for the Marriott Corporation; it was known as Hot Shoppes, Inc. for four decades between its founding in 1927 and its re-branding in 1967.

Here’s the first episode:

“Original content creation is not a new idea for Marriott,” said Debbie M. Harrison, Marriott International’s Global Officer of Culture, in a press release. “In the 1960s, Hot Shoppe produced a weekly comic book; yesterday’s comic book is today’s YouTube video. We were innovative in the 1960s and today we’re continuing our innovation tradition communicating in new and engaging ways.”

Hot Shoppe joins several other web series produced by Believe Entertainment. The entertainment company, known for its 2011 web series The Lebrons, recently launched a studio division of its own.

All five episodes of Hot Shoppe can be found on Marriott’s YouTube channel.

Filed under: Articles, Branded Entertainment, Featured, News, Studios by Sam Gutelle
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Well, that was fast. Barely a year after introducing the Milk Video service to the market, Samsung has decided to stop supporting the app starting November 20, 2015.

Samsung took to the Milk Video app page in the Google Play store to announce the service’s impending closure. The South Korean tech company noted it’s still “committed to providing premium entertainment services.” However, no information has been revealed on how those premium entertainment services will be provided or how Samsung will handle its previously announced Milk content partnerships with brands like Vice and Funny or Die.

When Samsung launched Milk Video in 2014, the tech giant was positioning the service as another reason to purchase a Samsung device over competitors like Apple. At the time, Samsung’s VP of Content and Services Kevin Swint said users had no one app to visit for video content. Milk was intended to be that single video destination, “adding value to owning a Samsung device.” However, it seems this vision didn’t hold up for the Korean tech giant. Variety broke the news in May 2015 of layoffs at Samsung’s content unit, only a few weeks after Swint left the company all together. As for this recent Milk Video closure announcement, a Samsung rep declined to comment to Variety on how the decision will affect the service’s employees.

Samsung has also warned users the Milk Video app may disappear from their devices with a future software update.

Filed under: Articles, Branded Entertainment, News by Bree Brouwer
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The North American International Toy Fair is a 113-year-old trade show for toy industry professionals, retailers, and press conceived of and run by the Toy Industry Association (aka TIA). Since way back in 1903, the tentpole event has provided major players (like Mattel, Lionel, Playmobil, Hasbro, and Lego, among others) the opportunity to show off their latest and greatest innovations and wares (like Avengers–themed Lego minifigs that now sell for $1,125) to 30,000 or so industry bigwigs and buyers, who then promote and sell them to the billions of denizens of the world at large.

The event is a kind of real-life realization of the dream job Tom Hanks lands in Big. And you’re just as likely to have an unplugged Zoltar grant you a wish as you are to get a ticket, as International Toy Fair is a trade-only event where attendees must register and fulfill a laundry list of requirements in order to get in the building and the general public is not allowed to attend. At least the general public was not allowed to attend until now.

That’s because Toy Fair just introduced Play Fair. Come February 13 – 14, 2016, Play Fair will “bring new and beloved toy and pop culture brands together under one roof for an interactive and fun-filled live event open to families, collectors, and media” right alongside Toy Fair at New York City’s Javits Center.

“Our launch of Play Fair couldn’t come at a better time, as we’re seeing a growing number of studies and reports that underscore play’s crucial developmental benefits to children, and its impact on the happiness and well-being of adults,” added Steve Pasierb, TIA President & CEO, in the release. “We look forward to welcoming families from far and wide for a spectacular event filled with magical moments and playful experiences that they will be re-living and talking about long after they leave the show.”

Pretty cool, right? If you’re wondering why Tubefilter is covering the announcement, the answer is threefold. 1) We think it’s pretty cool, too. 2) LeftField Media is partnering with the Toy Industry Association to bring Play Fair to the masses. If that name sounds familiar it’s because it’s who we’ve partnered with for our upcoming Stream Con NYC and we’re big fans of all they’re up to. And 3) As an overwhelming majority of advertisers finally start to realize the power and appeal of online video creators and social media influencers, those individuals with actionable followings are being incorporated into marketing a growing number of new products, including toys. YouTube channels featuring kids and adults playing with and unboxing children’s toys get an unbelievable amount of views, so expect them to be a big part of the consumer-oriented Play Fair.

You can learn more about Play Fair, including how to get tickets to the event, at PlayFairNY.com. If you’re a YouTube creator interested in learning how you can be involved in Play Fair, hit up LeftField Media right here. 

Awesome Star Wars Lego image by the talented D. Martin Myatt and Rebelscum.com.

Filed under: Articles, News, Play Fair by Joshua Cohen
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Flula Borg, fresh off his Streamy Award win, has a message for his followers: As the title of his new album attests, he wants to get physical. Flula, a YouTube star known for his funky fresh musical creations, has released his first EP, titled I Want To Touch You.

I Want To Touch You contains five tracks, all filled with the sort of percussive beats and ridiculous lyrics that make Flula’s videos so entertaining. On his YouTube channel, he has spent the past few months sharing music videos that accompany some of the songs on his new album. In “Dinosaur DJ,” for example, Flula dresses up in a saurian costume and spits out dope raps. “Booty GPS,” on the other hand, features a guest appearance from fellow YouTube star Mamrie Hart. The biggest production, however, is the title track, which features singer Ava Pearl and actress Milana Vayntraub.

The other songs on I Want To Touch You are a bouncy dance track called “Pump Your Rumpus” and “Clouds,” which includes a guest appearance from Miranda Sings alter ego Colleen Ballinger.

Flula, who is also known for his overly literal interpretations of American idioms, offered a comment on his new album, in his own singular way. “I am hoping that this Album shall touch the Brains and Hearts and Kidneys of Humans and Not Humans as well,” he said. “To speak of Not Humans, many of the Tones in the Album are so very high that only a few Poodle Species, and also Mariah Carey, can hear these.”

We hope Mariah Carey listens to Flula’s new album so she can comment on the musical easter egg he apparently left for her. Mariah (and everyone else) can pick up I Want To Touch You for $4.95 on iTunes.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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The BBC has some big plans for getting into the family entertainment streaming industry. The British broadcaster and media giant will launch a new streaming video-on-demand service for kids and young teens, tentatively dubbed iPlay.

BBC’s iPlay will be a family-friendly version of the broadcaster’s current iPlayer streaming service. The iPlay platform will host content from BBC’s large library of programming, as well as its related channels like CBeebies and CBBC. Alice Webb, Director of BBC Children, told StreamDaily iPlay will also support learning through content like podcasts and blogs.

Later on, the service will likely work with outside companies to develop even more content like interactive games and feature-length films. Webb said the BBC also has plans to feature live events on iPlay. The broadcaster will even add new teen content to the streaming service, aimed at helping 12- to 15-year-olds understand topics like news and current events as they transition into adulthood.

“We know that, while TV is still important, content no longer has to go hand in hand with the big screen in the corner,” Webb explained. “So we’ll take our great ideas and develop them in new ways to reach, inspire, and entertain children wherever they are, whenever they want it.” Overall, Webb noted BBC’s goal with iPlay is to turn the service into a one-stop shop for all things family-related the BBC and its content partners have to offer.

The BBC, while it’s no stranger to online video, has been working hard the last year or so to bring more of its content online and to a more global audience. The British media conglomerate recently decided to shut down its BBC Three linear channel and move it to online-only to save on costs and also to reach more digitally-minded millennials. BBC is also introducing Americans to the breadth of its content by launching its own streaming service, set to arrive some time in 2016.

Filed under: Articles, BBC, News by Bree Brouwer
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Facebook is seeking to pull in more marketing dollars from the television industry. The social media site and online video giant has announced the new TRP Buying product to help television marketers more easily raise awareness of a campaign through video ads.

TRP stands for target rating point, which is a metric used by the TV industry to refer to specific audiences within a larger, impressions-based campaign measurement (known as a gross rating point). Facebook’s new product allows advertisers to use TRPs to plan and buy video ads and integrate the ads with their linear television campaigns. Facebook wrote in a blog post marketers will then be able to verify their TRP delivery within Facebook and across both the site and TV outlets via Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings system.

Facebook’s justification for this specific new ad product stems from supporting research conducted by Nielsen and commissioned by the social site. For instance, Nielsen found that when TV and Facebook were combined across 42 different campaigns, advertisers saw a 19% increase in reach versus just TV alone. Additionally, in these same campaigns, Facebook impressions were twice as likely to reach the target audience than TV impressions.

“TV ad campaigns supplemented by Facebook advertising provide an ideal combination for marketers to both reach large audiences and build their brands,” said Graham Mudd, Facebook’s Director of Ads Product Marketing, to AdWeek. “Now we’re making it even easier to extend and augment TV campaigns through the introduction of TRP Buying, so advertisers can plan, buy and measure Facebook ads using the same guarantees and Nielsen verification they’re used to with TV.”

In addition to TRP Buying, Facebook announced three other ad-related updates. First, its new brand awareness optimization tool, available as limited release in October, will help marketers buying or bidding on ads to “find the audiences most likely to recall their ads.” Second, Facebook partnered with Millward Brown Digital to deliver more mobile polling options to advertisers. Finally, the social media site now lets advertisers add video to its carousel ad format.

You can read more about Facebook’s TRP Buying and other ad announcements on its company blog post. The site currently claims four billion video views per day.

Filed under: Articles, Facebook, News by Bree Brouwer
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With the recent launch of YouTube’s gaming hub, Twitch now has some real competition in the world of video game live streaming. YouTube’s new service has received a lot of positive feedback so far, and in order to keep pace, Twitch has announced several new features of its own. During the first annual TwitchCon event, which took place between September 25-26 in San Francisco, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear revealed his company’s plans to launch direct video uploads and playlists for its streamers.

Twitch is first and foremost a platform on which gamers can live stream their play sessions (and pick up thousands of viewers along the way), but the new video uploads will let those gamers share with their fans without having to first complete a live stream. Twitch’s playlist feature will also afford the site’s users an opportunity to move away from streams by allowing them to share a selection of archived videos on their channels, even when they’re not live.

Both of these new features are clear attempts to compete with YouTube. Twitch’s high-quality live streams have always been an undeniable strength, but skipping around those streams to find specific moments has stood out as a specific weakness. As a result, many of the site’s users have spread their video presence across two platforms: They stream live on Twitch, and then collect the best moments from their streams in highlight videos posted to YouTube. By enabling video uploads and playlists, Twitch has a chance to keep some of that “highlights” traffic on its own site, and that’s particularly important given YouTube’s plan to host more live streams of its own, thus making inroads into Twitch’s territory.

Other changes coming to Twitch include an update to the site’s “Whispers” feature and a switch to HTML5 in favor of Flash. Shear’s entire keynote address, which also includes an appearance from popular streamer djWHEAT, can be found on Twitch’s official channel:

Watch live video from TwitchCon Kappa Theater on Twitch

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, TwitchTV by Sam Gutelle
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[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a new weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by OpenSlate. It’s exactly what it sounds like; a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given timeframe. You can check out all of our Tubefilter Charts – with new installments every week – right here.] 

Scroll down for the Tubefilter Chart.

It’s another installment of the Top 100 Most Subscribed YouTube Channels Worldwide and a new breakout creator is in the very top spot.

Chart Toppers

Step aside, PewDiePie. A 20-year-old YouTube beauty and lifestyle guru had the most-subscribed YouTube channel in the world in August 2015. Rachel Levin added an incredible 702,000 subscribers to her RCLbeauty101 channel during the 31 days of the month, giving the Pennsylvania native and burgeoning force on YouTube the #1 spot on the worldwide chart. Felix Kjellberg’s familiar PewDiePie channel is nearly 100,000 subscribers behind in second place, having added 609,000 subscribers to its Bro Army.

In a very, very close third place is fernanfloo. The El Salvadorian gamer almost beat out an international icon, adding more than 607,000 subscribers during the month. In fourth place is elrubiusOMG. The Spanish gamer saw a 5% increase in his subscriber acquisition rate, ending the month with more than 574,000 new subscribers.

And rounding out the Top 5 is One Direction. The British boy band that will soon disband released several new singles on its YouTube channel, which helped it to more than 510,000 new subscribers.

Top Gainers

The honor of one of our our Top Gainers this month goes to RCLbeauty101.

While other channels had a higher month-over-month increase in their subscriber acquisition rates (see One Direction, RackaRacka, Samgladiator, Olli43, and a few other in the chart), Rachel Levin‘s YouTube channel filled with lifestyle sketches, makeup tutorials, beauty tips, lifehacks, and more witnessed a sizable percentage increase in subscribers and added more than any other channel in the world during the month. Videos like DIY Weird Back To School Supplies You Need To Try! helped the 20-year-old’s YouTube channel to a 78% month-over-month increase in new subscribers, more than 702,000 new subscribers on the month, and the #1 spot on the worldwide chart.

Channel Distribution

The Top 100 Most Subscribed YouTube channels in the month amassed in aggregate a total of 31,033,871 new subscribers. Here’s a look at the distribution of a few of those channels broken down by the most-represented YouTube Multi-Channel Networks on the chart:

• VEVO: 15 channels in the Top 100 Most Subscribed, with One Direction the top channel in the network at #5.
• Collective Digital Studio: 11 channels in the Top 100, with Roman Atwood Vlogs at #22.
• Maker Studios: 10 channels in the Top 100, with PewDiePie at #2.
• BroadbandTV, Fullscreen, Machinima: 6 channels each in the Top 100, with BBTV’s fernanfloo at #3, Fullscreen’s PopularMMOs at #27, and Machinima’s HolaSoyGerman at #8.
• Stylehaul: 4 channels in the Top 100, with AlishaMarie at #43.
• Big Frame, Divimove, Omnia Media, WMG, ZoominTV: 2 channels each in the Top 100, with Big Frame’s Miranda Sings at #46, Divimove’s elrubiusOMG at #4, Omnia’s Gudjon Daniel at #23, and WMG’s Ed Sheeran at #70.

And here’s a look into the distribution of the this month’s Top 100 by country of origin:

• The United States: 50 channels in the Top 100.
• Great Britain: 11 channels in the Top 100.
• Brazil: 10 channels in the Top 100.
• Canada: 6 channels in the Top 100.
• Spain: 5 channels in the Top 100.
• Netherlands: 3 channels in the Top 100.
• Chile: 2 channels in the Top 100.
• Australia, Denmark, El Salvador, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, Ukraine: 1 channel each in the Top 100.

As always, keep up to speed with the latest Tubefilter Charts and all of our news at Tubefilter by following us on Twitter, becoming a fan on Facebook, and watching our videos on YouTube.

OpenSlate is a video content analytics platform that tracks more than 225,000 YouTube video channels and measures their ability to attract, engage and influence an audience. By providing one consistent measure of quality – the SlateScore™ – OpenSlate helps marketers, producers and agencies hone their online video marketing strategy.

Filed under: Articles, Matthew Santoro, News, Statistics, statistics, YouTube, Youtube Chart by Joshua Cohen
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While it promotes homegrown stars Tyler Oakley and Lilly Singh in the United States, YouTube is also giving some love to a pair of popular channels that hail from across the pond. It will launch a multi-platform advertising campaigns in support of cooking channel Sorted Food and soccer hub Copa90.

Sorted Food, on which four cheery chefs share their culinary adventures, has emerged as one of the UK’s most popular homegrown YouTube channels. In addition to the 1.3 million subscribers Jamie Spafford, Ben Ebbrell, Michael Huttlestone, and Barry Taylor have accrued on their channel, they have also gone on a quest to find the Internet’s best burger and embarked on a worldwide tour in partnership with Today.

Copa90, on the other hand, is a compendium of soccer highlights, features, and interviews. Its most popular videos feature guest appearances from the likes of Lionel Messi, Kieran Gibbs, and YouTube star KSI. It is notably one of the few channels run by a larger company to be featured in one of YouTube’s creator-focused ad campaigns. It is produced by Bigballs Films, which also now claims American soccer channel KickTV within its network.

As with other channels YouTube has spotlighted in its creator-focused ad campaigns, Sorted Food and Copa90 will be advertised both online and on display ads that will appear in London’s Tube stations. Rich Waterworth, YouTube head of marketing in Europe, told the UK’s Independent the two featured channels have an “ability to connect with their fans in an honest and personal way”.

This is the second time YouTube has centered a batch of advertisements on its British stars. Last year, shortly after launching its first creator-focused ads, it used TV commercials, billboards, and digital placements to support beauty star Zoella, slow-motion goofballs The Slow Mo Guys, and Vice News.

Sorted Food and Copa90 are the 11th and 12th poster children YouTube has featured since it first launched its creator-focused ad campaigns in April 2014.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Sorted Food, YouTube by Sam Gutelle
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