It's me - ya Shaniac.

I think the move to WatcherTV is a good thing for Watcher Entertainment. I actually kind of saw it coming - the changes to YouTube ad revenue in the last couple of years have made it much less profitable for creators, not to mention unstable (from YouTube's ability to change the rules on them without warning, as well as the constant threat of demonetization for saying the wrong thing in a video). That's no way to run a sustainable business, and the best of Watcher's shows have always felt more like television than YouTube. They've also talked openly at various points within the last four years about their desire to create a network that can be a home for launching other creators, and to make the shows they want to make, they need a more stable income than they're able to get with the YouTube/Patreon model.

All of this was very clear to me from their most recent video, and I was completely taken aback by the level of anger, hurt and vitriol it caused among other fans. It made me realise that I'm significantly more willing, able or both to see things from Watcher's point of view than a large number of other people, and it's been profoundly depressing.

I think Watcher has definitely misstepped in how this announcement was handled. They wildly misjudged the mood of their audience - but I can see why they did it. For them, this is a change they were wildly excited about. It'll bring them complete creative freedom and increased financial stability. It's clear from the video that this is what they've always wanted, and when they found they couldn't do it on YouTube, they looked for another way. They knew they would lose some of their audience share. Probably, most of it. To me, it's incredibly telling about just how precarious and unrewarding YouTube monetization actually is that they feel releasing videos to a fraction of their audience is a better bet than continuing to depend on YouTube to stay afloat.

One thing that's become clear to me among all the rage and hatred is that many people seem to think Watcher have broken a promise to them. A promise to continue releasing all their videos to YouTube, nominally free to watch, that requires them to stagnate creatively, be unable to build a sustainable future for themselves and their employees, and remain beholden to sponsor slots featuring sketchy products (not to mention YouTube's in-video advertising). But Watcher never actually made any such promise. Nobody is owed free "content", and Watcher have said that they can't afford to keep making everything free if they're going to make the shows they really want to make. And to the people who think they should compromise to make sure it stays free - well, there's no right or wrong here, of course, but ultimately you're going to have to accept that what you want for Watcher and what Watcher want for themselves are actually different things.

It hurts, to part ways with something you love. I don't want to devalue that at all. There's grief to be processed for a lot of people, and as long as they're doing that in their own time and space and not trying to make Watcher responsible for their emotions, I have no problem with it.

What I do have a problem with, however, is the people who are lashing out at Watcher directly for making a decision they don't agree with, and demanding Watcher answer for their own pain and anger. Who are attacking other fans and weaponizing social justice language to try and position themselves as moral authorities in the discussion, and implying in the process that the right of team of independent creatives to be paid fairly for their work is less important than their own right to view it for free. Who are placing all the blame for the decision on Steven while absolving Shane (and frequently Ryan, though particularly Shane) from their own part in this decision, thereby implying that Shane and Ryan have no agency in the company they co-founded with a mutual friend of several years (which is rather insulting to the two of them, in my opinion). That's not only conspiracy thinking, it's racist.

I don't know Steven personally, but from being deep in the fandom for four years now, I know that he's an incredibly kind and sincere person who really lives his own ideals. It's him that's taken Watcher as far as it has, putting his own creative aspirations largely aside to run the business side of things, which Shane and Ryan, God love 'em, were really not capable of. By his own admission, he's a little awkward and doesn't always say exactly the right thing the first time around, but he always listens and learns. In short, he's human, and the way he's being spoken about right now by many people, both on social media and this website, is nothing short of disgusting.

If this post makes you mad, I invite you to sit with it and ask yourself why. If you think Watcher should answer for the way you're feeling; if you feel Steven is somehow more culpable than Shane or Ryan in this decision, and are looking for reasons to justify that feeling. If you can't see the difference between a small, independent company like Watcher wanting to make themselves financially stable and creatively free, and any multinational media company. Why you feel Watcher don't deserve to be paid fairly to make the shows they want to make, irrespective of whether you personally are willing or able to pay for them.

One criticism I've had of Watcher for a long time now is that I think they have actually let themselves remain too beholden to their fans and their opinions. I believe they care about and value their fanbase a great deal, and as a result, they've provided too much personal access to fans, and made apologies when they didn't actually do anything wrong, simply because people were angry and upset. Those mistakes are now coming home to roost. They were complicit in allowing their fans to believe that they would do and make whatever the fans wanted, and it's been a harsh awakening for a lot of people to find that's not true after all.

I think it will be good for Watcher to have increased financial stability and creative freedom. I think it will be good for them to build a little more distance between themselves and their often volatile fanbase, and give us a little less of themselves, so they can put that time and energy into art and creation. I hope that once the initial backlash has passed, many of us will move forward on that journey with them.

For those who can't afford or are otherwise unable to subscribe to WatcherTV, I want to shout out @prettyghoul's initiative to pair fans who'd like a free WatcherTV subscription with other fans who'd like to gift one to them. For those who are lucky enough to have some spare disposable income, I urge you to join me on the gifting side.

BREAKING: Andrew Ilnyckyj and Adam Bianchi join Watcher! The trio will produce and star in a brand new food show. “We picked up where we left off with Worth It, but we’re also making something completely new,” Andrew shared.

R.I.P. Matthew

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