With Phan and some of her online video peers already signed up to the platform, Beachfront is looking to expand its connection with more creators and expose their content to more viewers by way of vertical programming. “Unified audience targeting across screens isn’t just helpful to creators and brands, it also ensures that the content people select speaks directly to them,” says Frank Sinton, CEO of Beachfront Media. The latest of these verticals set to launch with Amazon’s Fire TV box and stick targets a very specific arena: The funny bone
Beachfront plans to bundle comedy creators and apps in a fashion akin to how ICON connects creators with the beauty and fashion worlds. “With multiplatform apps as the connective tissue, targeted content makes sure everyone gets what they’re after in the most useful, efficient way,” added Sinton. “And most important, it’s an intimate conversation between the content creator and fan, and we want to be certain they’re on the same page.”
Comedy creators and humor-based channels like Mishka the Singing Dog are already developing apps for their audiences and Beachfront and Amazon are hoping the success of individualized verticals will help viewers engage with content more quickly, more efficiently, and to greater monetary gain. Fitness and General Entertainment verticals also coming down the pipeline, too, once the comedy vertical is up and running. Needless to say, all the parties involved are hoping the size of audiences they all attract will be no laughing matter.
Endemol Beyond USA has a new brand partner (and a new network) for one of its upcoming series. The YouTube multi-channel network has partnered with Pizza Hut to launch Legends of Gaming on the upcoming gaming and eSports vertical called Smasher Networkon October 7, 2015.
“We could not be more excited to have Pizza Hut on board for both the launch of Legends of Gaming and our new eSports and gaming network Smasher,” said Endemol Beyond USA’s SVP of Sales Jeff Browning in a release. “Pizza Hut understands the huge appetite that today’s millennials have for both high quality e-sports content, along with amazing pizza and jumped on the opportunity to be part of this ground-breaking digital opportunity.”
Welcome to YouTube Millionaires, where we profile channels that have recently crossed the one million subscriber mark. There are channels crossing this threshold every week, and each has a story to tell about YouTube success. Read previous installments of YouTube Millionaires here.
Sisters Brooklyn and Bailey have come quite far in only two years of running a YouTube channel. Granted, the pair of 15-year-old identical twins hails from the family that runs the CuteGirlsHairstyles YouTube channel, so they have that experience in their favor. On their own, though, Brooklyn and Bailey’s quirky personalities and lifestyle, fashion, and comedy content on YouTube has attracted one million subscribers. We asked them about their quick rise to fame, and here’s what they had to say:
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have 1 million subscribers? What do you want to say to your fans?
Brooklyn and Bailey: Reaching one million subscribers almost felt unreal! It’s such a huge blessing to be able to meet them in person wherever we go, one of the best benefits of what we do! We would just like to tell our viewers (we prefer to call them “friends”) thank you so much for supporting us and letting us do what we love! We love every single one of you and can’t thank you enough for allowing us to be a part of your lives!
TF: Why did you originally start a YouTube channel? Did your mom’s success with CuteGirlsHairstyles have anything to do with it?
BB: Back in 2009, our mom began her channel CuteGirlsHairstyles where we acted as models for the hair. In those early videos, we rarely ever talked or showed much of our faces due to the safety concerns of our parents. Once the CGH channel took off, the subscribers commented that they wanted to get to know us kids a little more (some of them didn’t even know that we were twins, until they saw us together in our first video LOL)! So at about age 11, we begged our parents for our own channel and they told us we they would think about it after we turned 13. In March 2013, our BrooklynAndBailey channel launched and it’s been a great 2 ½ years since!
TF: What’s it like being in a family of YouTubers?
BB: Fun fact… we are actually YouTube’s first “2nd Generation” million-subscriber family! That basically means that our parents own a channel that has hit 1 million subscribers, and we as their kids also have a channel that has passed that mark! Being a YouTube family is unique, meaning that we all participate in the making of the videos with everyone knowing their part… even down to our 4-yr old baby sister who knows that filming means “quite time”! It’s almost like one big fun family project!
TF: You managed to hit 1 million subscribers in just two years. How did you manage to do that? Any tips you can share with readers?
BB: We managed to hit 1 million subscribers in less than two years, which was super exciting! We know that being part of the CuteGirlsHairstyles family channel gave us an already-engaged fan base that was hungry to learn more about us. When we announced that we had branched off with the B&B channel, the CGH subscribers came over by the tens of thousands! It was almost like they couldn’t get enough of us after wanting to know more for so long. It felt great to know that they loved us beyond just the hairstyles. Our growth since has been organic, with so many of the subscribers not even knowing who our mom is!
TF: What is each of your favorite videos that you’ve made to date, and why?
BB: We have lots of favorite videos! Last year we filmed our wisdom teeth video, which is a fan favorite, and in May we posted our Expectation vs. Reality “Last Day of School” video! Those two videos have millions of views and were so fun to film and hilarious to watch! Our favorite collab videos were “The Other Parent Trap” parody with Studio C, and our cover of Lennon & Maisey’s “A Life That’s Good” featuring Peter Hollens! Both of those were so much fun to film because they allowed us to explore beyond our comfort zones into acting and singing.
TF: What’s the best part about being twins on YouTube? The worst?
BB: The best part about being a twin channel on YouTube is that so many people have a natural curiosity about twins. It give us the opportunity to show everyone what its like to have someone who looks and talks just like you. Although we are identical, we have completely different personalities that show through in our content. Part of the success may be that that if a viewer doesn’t relate with one of us, she/he might relate with the other twin instead! Also it is amazing to live, share, and experience all this with someone who completely understands! We have a built-in friendship, and hope to be making videos until we are old grannies! The worst part about being a twin on YouTube, or in life, is always having to answer the question, “Which one’s Brooklyn, and which is Bailey?”
TF: Fans really seemed to love your Parent Trap parody with Studio C. What did the planning and production process look like for that video?
BB: The “Other Parent Trap” Parody with Studio C was one of our favorite videos ever! We had been superfans of their show for a very long time, and we adore their skits! We shouted out to the Studio C channel last November, and after they saw such a huge spike from that, the writers began working on a collab video idea. Of course, the Parent Trap theme was perfect since twins always dream of switching places! The filming of the video was very different from what we are used to, given that they had makeup artists, stylists, a producer and director, extras, a set, and an “actual” script! We just kind of soaked it all in, observing the shots, learning everything we could, and the video turned out perfect! The Studio C cast was so supportive and hilarious, it was difficult not to have a great time! (Acting wasn’t totally foreign to us, as we had a small role in a movie called “Food Boy” when we were seven.)
TF: Your most popular video is where the two of you got your wisdom teeth out. Why do you think that video did so well? What’s it like watching yourselves go through that entire process?
BB: The wisdom teeth video is our most watched video by far! We think the reason for this is because you can’t plan the reaction! For identical twins, our anesthesia-induced emotions were exactly polar opposite with one twin happy as a lark and the other so super sad! It was the interaction between us that has people laughing and watching the video over and over again! Another reason we think this video was so successful is because it is so relatable! Most teens have to get their wisdom teeth out eventually, so naturally they are curious to see what that process is like!
TF: If there was one video you could make about a topic unrelated to your channel’s current coverage, what would it be about and why?
BB: We really try not to tie our channel down to one specific type of video. We’ve covered everything from fashion, cooking, hauls, makeup, DIYs, and now sketch comedy with Studio C. The one music cover we filmed, Lennon & Maisey’s “A Life That’s Good”, lives on Peter Hollens’ channel, so we’d really love to explore more with music on our own channel!
TF: What’s next for your channel? Anything fun?
BB: We’d really love to do more with music on our channel, since we both enjoy singing. We are working on some stuff there, so stay tuned! People also comment often about how beautiful our eyes are, wanting to learn our eye makeup routine, etc. Starting our own mascara line is something we’d love to do, and we could literally sell millions! A clothing line, oh – the possibilities! We are only 15, but we can dream… right?
Dude Perfect will join the ever-growing list of YouTube stars making the jump to television. The sports and comedy supergroup, consisting of five best friends based out of Dallas, has landed a series order for The Dude Perfect Show (working title) at TV network CMT.
Produced by Rob Dyrdek’s Superjacket Productions, The Dude Perfect Show will follow the YouTube supergroup as the members go about their daily video-making lives of coming up with concepts and figuring out their next viral video. The series will also show how all five members of the group work with athletes and celebrities, meet fans at events, organize performances and stunts, and more. Dyrdek will executive produce The Dude Perfect Show alongside Superjacket’s Shane Nickerson and CMT’s Jayson Dinsmore and Matthew Trierweiler. The comedy and live-action stunts TV series is set for release sometime in 2016.
“We are super excited to be working with Superjacket and CMT on the series,” Dude Perfect said in a joint statement, as reported by Variety. “We have fans from all over the world constantly asking us for more visibility into the daily lives of Dude Perfect and how we get to work with these amazing athletes, entertainers and iconic sports venues. This show will regularly take fun to the next level and allow the viewers to virtually join us and be part of our incredible journeys.”
“Way beyond the insane trick shots, these guys are truly an All-American brotherhood that turned a passion into an amazing business,” added Dyrdek. “This show will give their fans and the world an inside look at their camaraderie and the fun they have behind the viral hits they produce.”
The Dude Perfect guys made the announcement about The Dude Perfect Show in a video on CMT’s website, which you can see below. The YouTube supergroup currently boasts over 6.6 million subscribers and more than 905 million total video views on its channel.
Stephen Colbert is using a wildly popular app for promotional purposes. The long-time comedian has turned to Snapchat to release a series of videos as part of a marketing campaign for his upcoming The Late Show with Stephen Colbert debut on September 8, 2015.
Starting September 3, Colbert will release his videos on Snapchat until the premiere of his new CBS show. The talk show host’s clips will live on the Snap Channel section of the app’s Discover platform. Colbert’s first Snapchat video features him saying hi to viewers (who he believes like to be called “Snapstronauts”) and explaining how his upcoming CBS show will be a lot like his Snapchat videos but “in landscape mode.”
Colbert is no stranger to digital media. The comedian and TV host took over David Letterman’s duties as the new host for the Late Show, and quickly turned to YouTube to post a video on the show’s official channel about his chin of hair dubbed “The Colbeard.” Colbert also launched a web series in July 2015 where he talks directly to the viewer, who he assumes is on lunch break and watching YouTube videos at a desk.
You can catch the first episode of the Late Show with Colbert as host on CBS at 11:35 PM EST on September 8.
Tastemade will soon be on traditional television. The food-based YouTube network has made a deal with the Cooking Channel to bring its digital series Grill Iron to linear TV starting September 5, 2015.
Grill Iron shows viewers the football tailgating culture around various U.S. college campuses, and introduces local chefs who cook up meals inspired by the eating habits of the fans. The Cooking Channel will make a seven-episode series of Grill Iron for linear TV by combining two of the web series’ segments to make one half-hour episode.
The Grill Iron TV show deal stems from the relationship between Tastemade and the Cooking Channel’s parent network Scripps Networks Interactive, which led a $25 million funding round in Tastemade in June 2014. Tastemade started working with Scripps to figure out how to pull in additional revenue from linear television while keeping its focus on developing content for digital income streams. The two companies eventually agreed on Grill Iron.
“Every day we wake up and think about audiences that are primarily consuming the content on social and mobile platforms – that will continue to be our primary focus,” said Tastemade’s co-founder Larry Fitzgibbon to Variety. “But we have learned over the last year that we can take this content to larger screens. To the extent we can reach a broader audience through partners with great distribution, we’ll look to do that.”
Tastemade recently joined Snapchat’s Discover platform, alongside fellow content partners Mashable and IGN. The culinary-centric network claims to reach 30 million monthly video viewers and 88 million social media followers.
Snapchat has just reached an impressive milestone. The messaging app which deletes photo and video communications after a short period of time now boasts four billion video views per day. Yes, you read that right. Four. Billion. Video. Views. Per. Day.
Snapchat claimed about two billion video views per day in May 2015. Only a few months later in July, Snapchat’s ad page boasted the app received three billion views per day. This means Snapchat managed to pull in another one billion views each day over the course of just one month. Snapchat’s four billion figure is on par with Facebook’s numbers, which reached four billion views per day in April 2015. It’s also worth noting Snapchat has reached the impressive metric with just mobile video views. The platform doesn’t have a desktop iteration and there is no embedding of videos onto other sites.
According to Business Insider, sources familiar with Snapchat’s operations say the four billion views each day stem solely from the company’s Live Stories content format. Live Stories are curated, sponsored feeds of users’ videos and images surrounding one particular theme or event. Snapchat started emphasizing this media format to advertisers on its platform back in April 2015 when it halted the sale of Brand Stories, a type of sponsored brand content Snapchat users apparently preferred less than the Live Stories and their integrated ads.
Welcome to the Fund This column! Each week, we’ll look at a planned web series or other online video project currently in search of funding on crowdfunding sites. We’ll tell you what the series is all about and explain why it is worth your money. Do you have a project that’s currently being crowdfunded? Contact us to let us know and we may feature it in upcoming installments and check out previous installments righthere.
Description: Burp Girl is seeking funds to tell the eight-episode story of the titular female superhero who defeats villains through her ultimate superpower: burping. She’s joined by a host of other crazy characters who also have repulsive powers and titles, like Fire Crotch, Dandruff, Fatman, Nose Picker, The Urinator, and Upchuck. Burp Girl already has a pilot episode, thanks to Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and YouTube Space LA’s “World of Superheroes” contest from earlier this year.
Creator Bio: Burp Girl creator, director, and star Christina Jacquelyn Calph is the brains behind the comedy YouTube channel Bad Girl’s Ball. Calph originally started acting in New York City and landed roles in feature films like Arthur (with Russell Brand and Helen Mirren) and Tower Heist (starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy). Calph also landed roles in several television network series like Made in Jerseyand Deception before moving to Los Angeles to pursue digital media entertainment and content creation.
Best Perk:Big superhero fans who can’t wait to see what Calph has cooked up with Burp Girl should consider dropping $60 on “The Early Burp Gets the Worm” perk. At this level, backers will receive access to all Burp Girl: Season One episodes a day before they’re released to the public. Additionally, $60 backers will get all perks from the previous tiers, including a custom video of Calph appropriately (inappropriately?) burping your name or preferred phrase.
Why You Should Fund It:At first glance, the concept of Burp Girl might seem immature, and even downright gross. However, it’s clear Calph has put a lot of thought into developing the entire world of Burp Girl as more than just a comical, superficial take on superheroes fighting villains. On the project’s crowdfunding page, Calph said the series will also address the “dilemmas of being a disgusting superhero.” If executed well, Burp Girl could provide some smart commentary on how to deal with society when you’re considered outside the realm of “normal.”
Plus, Calph’s acting history and recent experience creating the Burp Girl pilot mean the creator knows what she wants and what she’s doing with the web series. If Calph can get enough funding, the first season’s production quality will likely be at a level higher than many web series’ debut seasons can claim.
Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.
CBS and the National Football League (NFL) have just made a decision which should make lots of cord-cutting football fans happy. The Eye network will live stream coverage of two regular NFL games for the first time this season.
CBS said it plans to stream a national broadcast of the October 4, 2015 game between the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins starting at 9:30 AM EST. The network will also stream the Thanksgiving Day (November 26) match between the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys at 4:30 PM EST. In addition to these two regular season games, CBS will broadcast four playoff games, all of the AFC playoffs coverage, and Super Bowl 50 from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. All live streamed games will be available for free, and viewers won’t even need to be paying subscribers to a cable or satellite TV provider to watch.
You can watch the upcoming live streamed regular-season NFL games on CBSSports.com via select devices, including tablets, desktops, laptops, Xbox One, Roku TVs, Roku set-top boxes, Chromecasts, and Apple TVs.
Auritt brings to Fullscreen several years of experience as MTV Networks’ VP of Scripted Development. There, the executive produced shows such as Faking It, Eye Candy, and The Shannara Chronicles. Before MTV, Auritt worked at Alloy Entertainment, HBO, and Film 44.
As for Chen, the new VP of Unscripted Development at Fullscreen comes to the network from AwesomenessTV. Chen’s Director of Development role at the fellow YouTube network included producing original series like Life’s S.o.R.a.d. Chen has also produced online video content for blogging network BlogHer, and worked on non-scripted television series such as The Bachelorand The Bachelorette.
Auritt and Chen will oversee their respective departments at Fullscreen and help develop programming and cross-platform distribution for created content, expanding on the work the network has done with its originals like its O2L documentary. The two women execs will replace Fullscreen’s Chief Content Officer Michael Goldfine, who joined the network back in October 2014. The VideoInk reports Goldfine’s departure was a mutual split.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Polly and Katy to our team,” said Fullscreen Founder and CEO George Strompolos in a release. “They’ve worked with amazing young talent and have the perfect mix of experience to cultivate fresh, creator-driven content for the Fullscreen audience.”
Fullscreen currently boasts a roster of 70,000 content partners who collectively claim 600 million subscribers and more than 5 billion monthly video views.
Machinima is dealing with the repercussions of not-so-transparent business deal. The self-described “many-2-many” YouTube network has agreed to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the network practiced deceptive promotional techniques when it paid several YouTube creators to endorse Microsoft’s Xbox One video game console and related games.
Back in 2013, Microsoft launched its new Xbox One system and generated significant hype online, but Ars Technica reported in early 2014 Microsoft may have paid for some of this buzz. At the time, the publication reported Microsoft had teamed with Machinima and some of its creators to pay them up to $3 CPM (cost-per-thousand video views) on videos promoting the new XBox one and some select game titles. The catch with this deal was that it required creators to keep everything secret in order to claim their monetary rewards.
Machinima’s secrecy surrounding the Microsoft deal is ultimately what got the network in trouble with the FTC. The Commission filed a complaint regarding Machinima’s questionable marketing practices. The official complaint laid out a very detailed description of what the network did at each step during the Microsoft deal, including promising Microsoft’s advertising agency Starcom MediaVest Group the Xbox One-centric videos would get at least 19 million total views.
The Commission explained how Machinima gave five different influencers access to pre-release versions of the Xbox One and several launch titles to make videos supporting Microsoft’s new products. Adam Dahlberg (aka SkyVSGaming) was reportedly paid $15,000 for his two videos, and Tom Cassell (aka TheSyndicateProject) received $30,000 for his clips.
The FTC then pointed out how Machinima underwent a second marketing campaign with Microsoft. This stage of the deal included Machinima promising to pay a larger group of creators $1 for every 1000 video views on content created to endorse Xbox One and its game titles. Machinima paid out up to $25,000 for this portion of the marketing push.
Machinima’s settlement means the network is not allowed to perform similar marketing practices in the future. The M2M network will also need to enforce its creators disclose when they are being paid to endorse an advertiser’s products or services. Machinima won’t be allowed to pay any creators who refuse to disclose their relationship with an advertiser, and the network will need to follow up 90 days after the start of a campaign to make sure creators are still releasing necessary disclosures.
The FTC also held Microsoft and Starcom MediaVest responsible for not enforcing full disclosure of the creators’ relationships to the companies. However, the FTC noted both companies had policies in place requiring such disclosure and the instances of deceptive promotion were isolated and not regular occurrences on Microsoft and Starcom’s ends. An FTC release also said both companies also reportedly contacted Machinima to “remedy the situation.”
This is only one of the most recent complaints filed against YouTube creators or networks by an advertising and media watchdog organization. Back in November 2014, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority accused creators Dan Howell and Phil Lester (AKA Danisnotonfire and AmazingPhil, respectively) of not disclosing their relationship to Oreo in a collaborative promotional video for the cookies. More recently, the Committee of Advertising Practices in Britain put out a set of branded content guidelines to help digital creators better understand when they are legally required to reveal when they receive compensation from an advertiser.
“When people see a product touted online, they have a right to know whether they’re looking at an authentic opinion or a paid marketing pitch,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a release. “That’s true whether the endorsement appears in a video or any other media.”
Hulu has a new paid option for potential and current subscribers. The streaming video-on-demand service has just implemented a new ad-free subscription option for $12 a month.
Hulu’s ad-free service will remove ads from almost all of the programming titles in Hulu’s library. The new option sans ads costs $4 more than the streaming service’s current premium tier (previously dubbed Plus), which will still be available. Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins told Variety he believes offering both options will help hasten Hulu’s growth, and his company has no immediate plans to abandon the ad model.
“There will be a little bit of switching at the beginning but I think both plans are going to grow dramatically,” Hopkins explained.
There’s a small hitch to Hulu’s new ad-free offer, though. Seven “exception” TV shows will still require ads; these titles include include New Girl, Scandal, Once Upon a Time, Agents of Shield, How to Get Away With Murder, Grey’s Anatomy, and Grimm. One 15-second ad will play before these titles and another 30-second spot will air at the end, but no commercials will interrupt playback in the middle of these programs.
Hopkins explained these titles are restricted by pre-existing rights deals. “They have other commitments that they couldn’t free them up for a complete commercial-free offering,” the CEO said. Hopkins noted Hulu would clearly notify subscribers of the shows which still have ads.
Hulu’s decision to add an ad-free option to subscribers has been long-awaited. For a while now, the streaming service has received criticism from consumers for charging for Hulu’s premium option but still serving up ads. This caused Hopkins to consider reducing the amount of ads on the service back in October 2014. Hulu seriously started looking at an ad-free option in July 2015.
Hulu’s ad-free option now puts the service in line with competitors Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, who don’t run ads on their service’s streaming titles. However, we’ll have to see how many Hulu subscribers are willing to pay $12 a month (or $144 a year) to remove ads. Netflix is an overall cheaper option at $9 per month ($108 per year), and Amazon offers free streaming to Amazon Prime users (which costs $99 per year).
