Yeah1 Group, the first publicly-traded Vietnamese media company, made headlines stateside last month after acquiring Los Angeles-based multi-channel network (MCN) Scalelab (which reps Jake Paul and MrBeast) — and then selling it back to its original owners for $12 million mere months after Yeah1’s own MCN status was unceremoniously terminated by YouTube.
The termination of Yeah1’s status as an MCN — which YouTube attributed to “egregious and repeated violations of our policies,” though the video giant declined to provide specifics — was reportedly due to misconduct at the hands of SPRINGme, another Thailand-based MCN owned by Yeah1.
And the fact that roughly 1,160 Yeah1 channels were to be released on March 31 appeared to spell doom for the publicly traded company — which would no longer be able to monetize by taking a cut of their AdSense earnings — given that YouTube ad dollars accounted for 28% of the company’s total revenues (to the tune of $20 million) last year. Yeah1 also reportedly lost $100 million in market value in the week after it disclosed that YouTube had terminated its partnership. (That said, the company says it also operates film and TV divisions).
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Now, however, in what could mark a glimmer of hope for Yeah1, the company disclosed in an update to shareholders that the initial YouTube termination date of March 31 has been delayed by two weeks.
“Yeah1 Group and its affiliates have just been officially notified by YouTube this morning that they will delay the effect of the termination, which was scheduled for 31st March 2019, by 2 weeks,” the company shared. “The multi-channel network continues to remain operational. We will update shareholders as and when additional information is received from YouTube.”
While it appears as though a solution may be in the works so that Yeah1 can remain on the platform, it’s unclear whether such termination decisions are reversible. It’s also unclear whether this marks the first time that YouTube has ever terminated an MCN partnership. We’ve reached out to the video giant for comment on all of the above and will update this story with any additional information.
