In the United States, YouTube has been generating more watch time per month than Netflix (and every other streaming service) for the past two years straight. That’s just a fact.
And it’s a fact that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos doesn’t seem to like. He’s been talking a lot about YouTube recently, and the crux of his messaging is, Hey, creators and viewers, you may think you’ve got it good on YouTube, but trust me, you could have it better on Netflix. Just a couple weeks ago, at a Paley Media Council event, he said Netflix is the “spending time” business, while YouTube is the “killing time” business.
Eesh. It is true that Netflix has access to massive production power, but it’s pretty adept at killing things, too. Creators want control over what they make, and when and how they make it, which is what keeps them on YouTube.
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All that being said, Netflix is obviously combing YouTube for budding talent. And some creators are willing to make deals with it. Like Tony Hinchcliffe, the comedian host of live-filmed conservative humor podcast Kill Tony.
Here at Tubefilter, we track the performance of every sponsored video published on YouTube each week, and we’ve seen Kill Tony pop up in the top 5 most-watched on multiple weeks. The podcast (which features Hinchcliffe and a rotating cast of other comedians) used to generate around 10 million views per month, but in the leadup to the presidential election, it surged to nearly 40 million VPM.
That jump was likely due to Hinchcliffe and guests’ overall pro-Trump stance–a stance that got Hinchcliffe a spot onstage at a Trump rally, where he bombed with both sides of the aisle after calling Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.”
But the wave of backlash didn’t dissuade Netflix from tapping Hinchcliffe for a three-episode + one special deal, part of its continuing focus on stand-up comedy originals.
The three episodes are Kill Tony installments, where newbie (and sometimes established) comedians do 60-seconds of stand-up, then get roast-style feedback from Hinchcliffe and other career wisecrackers. The first episode (notably featuring guest Joe Rogan, who also built his podcast on YouTube and then cashed out with a lucrative Spotify deal) was filmed live at the Comedy Mothership in Austin, Tx., and went live on Netflix April 7.
If these episodes aired on YouTube, they’d probably snag Hinchcliffe 5+ million views’ worth of ad revenue plus a decent chunk of sponsor change. We’ll probably never know what Netflix paid him, but the platform might release viewership information in the future.
As for ad revenue, though…Hinchcliffe might still be pulling some in for this episode, because to advertise it, he posted a two-hour-and-six-minute video on the Kill Tony YouTube channel when the episode would normally go live. But instead of actual content, the video flashes a message:
“For the first time in 12 years, this Monday’s brand new episode of Kill Tony will not be posted on YouTube. But fear not, because there is a brand new episode for you to experience…and it’s one of the greatest episodes ever.”
It then fades into the Netflix logo, then repeats the message, then the logo, then repeat…We doubt anyone is tuning in for the video’s full duration, but a whole lot of people have clicked on it, giving him ~330,000 potential views’ worth of ad dollars.
Netflix says premiere dates for the next two episodes are forthcoming. Episodes that aren’t part of the Netflix deal will continue posting on YouTube as usual. Hinchcliffe’s special will be a solo 60-minute stand-up premiering sometime in the coming months.
Kill Tony isn’t the only creator news coming out of Netflix. The platform today released Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, a documentary about Piper Rockelle, her momager Tiffany Smith, and the large group of tweens and teens recruited for Rockelle’s YouTube “Squad.” In 2022, 11 of those squad members sued Smith, accusing her of abuse, exploitation, and failure to compensate them for their appearances. Smith settled the case for $1.85 million in October 2024.
Netflix’s documentary follows former squad members, cataloguing their experiences through their years working with Smith and Rockelle, and what their lives have been like since.
