PewDiePie just cruised by another online video milestone on the channel’s seemingly perennial trip of YouTube domination. The home of twentysomething shiny new Guinness World Record-holderFelix Kjellberg’s special brand of gaming and Let’s Play videos, personal vlogs, and charitable solicitations (that reportedly grosses its creator over $4 million per year) hit 39 million subscribers sometime on Monday, August 31, 2015, just 48 days after the channel crossed the 38 million subscribers mile marker. That means the channel amassed the latest one million members of its Bro Army (that’s what PewDiePie calls his subscribers) at a rate of 20,833 Bros per day, 868 Bros per hour, 14 Bros per minute, and one new Bro every 4.14 seconds.
For the uninitiated, below is one of PewDiePie’s latest uploads. And for the curious, Germán Alejandro Garmendia Aranis’ HolaSoyGerman comedy vlog channel is currently in second place on YouTube’s All-Time Most Subscribed Channels list with nearly 24 million subs. But at an acquisition rate of one new subscriber every 5.5 seconds, he’s not catching up to Kjellberg anytime soon.
We haven’t received a ton of new updates from CW Seed since it launched two years ago, but the digital platform run by The CW is still around, and it is now home to an exciting new show. Fans of the DC Comics universe can head to CW Seed to find Vixen, an animated web series set in the same world as CW shows like The Flash and Arrow.
The protagonist of Vixen is its titular superheroine (voiced by Megalyn Echikunwoke), who has the ability to communicate with animals and mimic their abilities in battle. The actors who portray The Flash and Green Arrow in The CW’s DC-related series also lend their voices to Vixen, furthering the idea of a connected DC universe that, like the sprawling entertainment empire Marvel has created, can attract fans across film, TV, and digital.
The first season of Vixen runs for six episodes, all of which are available via CW Seed. If you’d like to get a taste of the series before you dive in, you can check out the show’s Comic-Con sizzle reel:
Vixen stands on its own as a slick, entertaining animated series, but it also serves as a lead-in to The Flash and Arrow, which are weeks away from beginning their second and fourth seasons, respectively. Not only is Vixen a great opportunity to promote CW Seed, but it’s a great way for us to push into the launches of The Flash and Arrow,” said CW Seed exec Rick Haskins in an interview with Decider. “The last episode of Vixen on CW Seed will be the week before The Flash and Arrow premiere on air.”
Vixen is a strong showing that will likely be well-received by superhero fans. If, after watching it, you crave more DC programming, don’t fret–the comics studio has several other digital projects in the works, including a number of collaborations with the Machinima network.
Funny or Die has some new executives around the office. The digital media company has hired Owen Burke for the newly-created position of editor-in-chief, and has promoted Chris Bruss to the role of President of Digital Content.
Burke comes to Funny or Die already highly familiar with the digital media company. The executive has consulted for Funny or Die since 2007. Burke also executive produced the company’s The Chris Gethard Show for linear airing on Fusion. The new Funny or Die executive brings plenty of comedy experience to the table, having held the artistic director position at Upright Citizen’s Brigade New York theater and performing at the group’s Los Angeles-based location.
“Owen was born to be the day-to-day creative head of FOD,” Funny or Die co-founder Adam McKay said in a statement as reported by Variety. “He’s collaborative, smart and most of all very, very funny. And his dog-fighting days are a thing of the past.”
Bruss joined Funny or Die in 2009 as the company’s VP of Branded Entertainment. The new president also led the TV division of Will Ferrell and McKay’s Gary Sanchez Productions and was a producer for some of the company’s projects like Drunk Historyand Bad Judge. Together, Bruss and Burke will work to oversee the creation, production, and strategy of all digital content at Funny or Die.
Funny Or Die CEO and President Dick Glover added, “As Funny Or Die continues to expand our digital content in all forms on all platforms, I am incredibly excited to have two so talented people to run it on a daily basis.”
Felix Kjellberg (aka PewDiePie) has a new reason to thank all his millions of subscribers fondly dubbed “Bros.” The 25-year-old Swedish gamer and YouTube star is now an official Guinness World Record holder for most YouTube subscribers of all time.
Back in April 2015, PewDiePie boasted 36 million subscribers, adding one new fan every 3.6 seconds and a total of 23,800 per day. Now, the YouTube gamer and future author is sitting at a nice 39 million subscribers and over 9.9 billion collective views on his channel. Variety reports PewDiePie boasts more YouTube subscribers than Taylor Swift and One Direction’s combined.
Kjellberg joins a few more names being added to the Guinness World Record holders list. HBO’s Game of Thrones just landed the record for the largest TV drama simulcast for broadcasting season five’s premiere episode across 173 countries to stave off the show’s ever-present piracy issues. Swift is also a new Guinness record holder; the singer claimed the title for most million-selling weeks on U.S. albums charts.
YouTube creator HolaSoyGerman is currently in the #2 spot for most YouTube subscribers at 23.8 million. But that’s still a long ways off from 39 million, so PewDiePie doesn’t need to worry about giving up his Guinness World Record title anytime soon.
The Lost Scenes, which Anyone But Me creators Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward revealed to us back in July, fill in gaps among the show’s 26 episodes. As Miller previously explained, The Lost Scenes serve as a game of sorts for fans. “When we air, at the end of each new one we’ll put up a link to a particular episode for the fans to watch and see for themselves if they agree with where we thought a scene might belong,” she said. “Meanwhile, we hope they’ll watch every season so they can enjoy playing detective when the new scenes launch.”
The first of these scenes is now available on Hulu. Anyone But Me’s two stars, Rachael Hip-Flores and Nicole Pacent, both reprise their roles in the clip.
In total, there will be ten Lost Scenes, with a new one rolling out each week on Hulu. For those who have not yet watched any full episodes of Anyone But Me, all three seasons of the relationship drama are available on the same channel.
Jimmy Kimmel just invoked the wrath of millions of YouTube and gaming fans around the world. On August 28, 2015, Kimmel released a segment called “YouTube’s New Video Game Watching Service” where he introduces a fake service called “YouTube’s Watch Watch” for people who want to watch others watching video games. Essentially, Kimmel poked fun of the online video site’s newly-released gaming hub, the entire genre of Let’s Play gaming, and all the people who watch other people play video games.
As you can guess by the title of this story, the previous paragraph, and the premise of Kimmel’s “joke”, the bit didn’t go over so well with the online video gaming community and its tens of millions of fans. The clip of the segment currently boasts the title of the most-disliked video on the Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube channel, with over 63,000 thumbs-down (and only 5,300 thumbs-up). The ABC host received an influx of negative comments, which he referred to as an “avalanche of mostly misspelled vitriol.”
Kimmel then posted another video (which currently boasts 16,000 thumbs-down) to respond to some of the comments attacking him and his views. The ABC host mostly just ignored the responses in an attempt to point out the worst of the worst commenters, like one which called the host a “stupid beardless gorilla” who would lose his job in one year. Kimmel ends the clip saying he’s open to watching video game content if a YouTube gamer or game watcher were to invite him over, but ultimately telling video game watchers to “go outside and play.”
One famous YouTuber in particular didn’t take kindly to Kimmel’s response video. Philip DeFranco commented on the clip, saying, “Doubling down on an ignorant point of view by only showing the worst of the comments… Cool story. If you meant what you said about being open to this experience and it wasn’t just a setup for your ‘Go outside’ outro, then I am sure a few high level gaming youtubers would be happy to have you tag along.”
Amazon Instant Video has just implemented a new feature to make watching TV and movies easier than ever, from wherever, and whenever (regardless of the strength of your WiFi signal). Amazon Prime’s streaming video service now lets subscribers download television shows and movies to their iOS and Android devices for offline viewing.
Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S., UK, Germany and Austria will now be able to download and watch their favorite digital titles on both iPhones, iPads, and Android-supported phones and tablets for no extra charge. This allows Prime members to enjoy programming (including Amazon original series like the hit Transparent) even when they’re not near an internet connection. Amazon previously introduced the offline playback feature in the fall of 2013 for Amazon Fire device owners only.
“There’s no doubt that the way people watch entertainment is changing—anytime, anywhere viewing is important and we are excited to provide our Prime members with offline viewing capabilities on iOS and Android platforms starting today,” said Michael Paull, Vice President of Digital Video at Amazon, in a release. “We are proud to be the first and only online subscription streaming service that enables offline viewing—on vacation, in a car, at the beach, on a plane, wherever our Prime members want to watch they can, regardless of internet connection.”
Amazon has updated its Video app for both iOS and Android to support downloading of titles for offline viewing. You can download the Amazon Video app for iOS devices from the iTunes App Store; Android users can visit amazon.com/GetAndroidVideo for instructions on how to download the Android Video app.
There’s a new sports-related venture launched by a major media company and a famous New York athlete, and no, it’s not The Players’ Tribune. Vice Sports and founding partner Carmelo Anthony are behind The Clubhouse, a new digital destination that will give athletes a platform on which they can discuss their lives beyond the stadium.
To get a good idea of what The Clubhouse is about, we can look at its first series, which is titled Stay Melo. It follows Anthony, an eight-time NBA All-Star, as he travels the world and explores his passions outside of basketball. The first episode takes him to Cuba, where he learns about the local sports culture.
Anthony isn’t the only big-name athlete involved in The Clubhouse. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots tight end and noted party animal, will host also host a series under the banner of the new venture. “If you look at the world of sports coverage and video, one thing you almost never see is athletes doing the actual storytelling—so for us, this was a no-brainer,” said Will Kiersky, Vice Sports Publisher, in a press release. “The Clubhouse will be a platform where fans can connect more closely with some of the biggest stars in sports. Melo and Gronk are fantastic athletes to start this project off with, and we’re excited to keep expanding our roster.”
With its focus on unfiltered content hosted by pro athletes, The Clubhouse is reminiscent of The Players’ Tribune, which was co-founded by Legendary and Derek Jeter last year. While The Players’ Tribune has seen some success, its widely-circulated pieces have mostly been text articles (with a few notable exceptions.) Therefore, The Clubhouse has a chance to find its own niche if it can hone in on video content and provide fans with the sort of behind-the-scenes access they crave.
One by one, tech giants have bought into the power of original programming and launched their own studio wings. Apple, it would seem, might be the next company to take that plunge. According to Variety, the Cupertino-based corporation is in talks with Hollywood execs to produce content that could allow it to rival Netflix.
Variety’s sources didn’t offer many specific details about Apple’s plans, and they offered several different viewpoints regarding the direction the company will head in. Some believe Apple could try to compete with Netflix, while others foresee a smaller operation, at least at the start. What’s more clear is that Eddy Cue, a 26-year Apple veteran, is serving as the head of the recent content push.
Apple’s competitors have had mixed results with original content. Amazon, for example, has triumphed with shows like Transparent and has several more high-profile projects on the way. Microsoft’s content studio, on the other hand, was plagued by internal disorganization and ultimately closed down before the vast majority of its projects ever reached viewers.
If Apple is going to make a content push, now is definitely a good time to do it. The company has plenty of money it can use to acquire worthwhile projects, and it has shown interest in upping its over-the-top presence. It will soon release a digital TV service aimed at cord-cutters, and a handful of exclusive shows or movies could be a nice complement to that offering.
Obviously, this is all a very rough sketch, but Apple could certainly be an intriguing player in the digital video space. The company declined to comment on Variety’s report.
StarMaker, best known for its app aimed at aspiring musicians, has recently become more invested in online video. Close to a year after the launch after its StarMaker Network, the company has launched an original content initiative that includes a new web series called Collab Lab and a partnership with online dance network DanceOn.
Collab Lab features musical covers led by content creators from within StarMaker’s talent network. One of the most visually stunning of these collaborations pairs singer Andrew Garcia with beatboxer KRNFX for a mashup of The Weeknd and David Guetta.
The partnership with DanceOn is centered around a single called “Ya Know I Can’t Dance.” You haven’t heard of this song yet–because it hasn’t been written. Instead, StarMaker will turn to social media, where its followers will write the song’s lyrics and sing them. At the same time, DanceOn will turn to its own network, where it will gather dance clips that can be featured in the song’s video. This campaign, which is currently underway, is a fun, crowdsourced music project that doubles as a talent search.
“With these types of innovative programs, top-tier partnerships, and our new premium original music, StarMaker brings the biggest opportunities to our talent network so its members can achieve the fame they deserve,” said Nathan Sedlander, President and co-founder of StarMaker, in a release.“ With the latest features in our updated app and our original music initiative, we’re taking our talent to the next level and showing the world how pop hits are now being made.”
StarMaker also has plenty more video projects in the works. Upcoming series include commentary show One to Watch and A Day In The Life, which will go behind-the-scenes with the network’s partners. Keep an eye out for these programs on the StarMaker YouTube channel.
Digital media company Defy Media has aspirations in the film and TV worlds, and in order to further its plans, it has notched a deal with a Hollywood agency. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Defy is the latest partner for talent house WME.
Through its deal with WME, Defy Media will explore its ambitions across multiple platforms. One partnership facilitated by WME has already been announced: It’s a pact between Defy and the RatPac Entertaiment studio that will cover several projects.
“We’re excited to partner with WME as we further ramp up our IP development and expand our footprint in television, film and other platforms,” said DEFY Chief Content Officer Barry Blumberg in a press release. “We’re seeing an increased appetite from our audience for high quality short and long form programming across our digital and OTT platforms and we’re energized by the growing opportunities to bring our content to traditional television and film audiences.”
The first film spun off from Defy Media’s network of creative partners was Smosh: The Movie, which brought the stars of the Smosh YouTube channel to the big screen and premiered over the summer. Thanks to the WME deal, we’re expecting plenty more feature film ventures from Defy. This time, we hope Walmart gets its sticker in the right place.
The team of hosts and producers at The Young Turks has produced hard-hitting, progressive news commentary for more than a decade. Now, the political network is adding its fans as contributors. It has announced TYT Next, a program that will crowdsource relevant videos from viewers and will allow some frequent submitters to become part of the TYT team.
The big appeal of the TYT Next program is TYT’s plan to promote regular submitters who deliver strong work. The best videos from TYT Next will be shared across TYT’s network of channels. If five videos from one submitter are shared, that person will be ungraded to a paid contributor. At ten videos shared, submitters have the opportunity to become TYT hosts themselves.
With TYT Next, The Young Turks is throwing its hat into the ring of digital news companies that crowdsource submissions from around the world. Entire companies, such as Storyhunter, are based around this premise, and established media companies are quickly climbing on board. National Geographic, for example, is planning to source nature documentaries from its fans through a program called Your Doc.
For its first round of TYT Next, The Young Turks is asking its viewers to submit videos related to sports. The best ones will be distributed via the TYT Sports channel. If you’ve got a good idea, you can send in your submission via e-mail.
