'tis the Season of Travel

But it hasn't stopped. Every time something new from Watcher drops, people use it as an opportunity to post hatred about Steven Lim (which is disgusting and you should all be ashamed of yourselves) or show a grievous misunderstanding of how the company makes money.

A few days ago, the company apparently sent out a mass email to the subscribers of WatcherTV (and I say "apparently" because I am subscriber to WatcherTV and got no such email, and I've checked my deleted emails and junk mail) about a forthcoming sponsor made episode of one of their shows. Based on the screenshot I read of the email, they said it was originally going to be a YouTube exclusive, but after having gotten some inquiries from WatcherTV subscribers requesting they put it on the website, they were taking a poll to see if the people wanted it to be YouTube exclusive or to have the sponsored episode on the website.

People were acting like WatcherTV had run off with their money because after setting up a subscriber based streaming service, they were still going to be doing sponsored content. Y'know, the thing they wanted to leave YouTube originally. And people are acting like Watcher is saying that their money isn't enough and the subscribers are being ripped off.

And yeah, your money isn't enough. And that's the fandom's fault.

Originally, the idea was that if you didn't pay for the subscription service, you were going to miss out on a good chunk of their content going forward. The fandom gave a huge, riotous outcry about it and they backtracked to make it so that everything would eventually be on YouTube. WatcherTV subscribers just get it earlier (a month only.) That means that they aren't making a large amount of money from their subscription service because only the die-hards who have the money to spend are bothering to pay money to see content a month early. Most people don't mind waiting a month. (Hell, for years I had to wait longer than that to see DW in the US after it premiered in the UK over six months before. Needless to say, spoilers never bother me because it was how I engaged with the more British based DW audience for four whole years.)

So, yeah, they're going to have to do sponsorships, even with people investing in WatcherTV. And I am fucking sick and tired of seeing people complain about it. If you want them to keep making content and most of the fandom complains about the boys DARING to ask for them to pay to see it, then you're going to have deal with whole episodes of shows that are based around promoting games and films.

It's how people kept insisting that the only thing Steven (because neither Andrew nor Adam were ever mentioned. Much to think about) did was eating gold and ridiculously expensive food, when Worth It always was about showing how excellent food can be found at any price point. One of their earliest featured restaurants, Pasta Sisters, even got to open more locations because of the people visiting because of Worth It.

Especially how Worth It quickly evolved into focusing in highlighting underrepresented cultures, featuring tiny businesses helmed by minorities and showing how haute cuisine isn't only white people cuisine. The highest price point also became lower overtime, and instead of featuring dishes with truffle, caviar and/or gold, they started featuring dishes with incredibly elaborate and labor-intensive recipes.

try guys has already been making TV-caliber content for a while. without a recipe and phoning it in both feel like professional cooking shows, and the fact that they have actual celebrity guests adds to that. their audience is extremely familiar with them having this huge set and a ton of employees working to produce the videos they love. on top of that, they've been around longer. they mention at the beginning of the announcement they've been on YouTube for ten years, & dropout/CH similarly had been around for a while when it's streaming service dropped. try guys just always felt more professional & as a fan you immediately understand why they would need more money

(edit) also, they have formed an emotional connection between the audience and their employees! people love rachel & know how hard she works & want to see her get paid well for that work. not that the watcher team don't deserve that, but their audience is way less emotionally invested in their employees' wellbeings than with the try guys audience & their non-talent team (& I say this as a fan & regular viewer of both channels).

try guys already had experience with paid content that went over really well with their audience. their live shows proved that their audience was willing to pay a decent amount every once in a while for something cool, and they proved that they would actually provide something cool for that money. people pointed out how watcher neglected their patreon; the try guys made very good use of their live shows imo. and as a result, they are able to say "you'll get free tickets to the live shows!" which is a really good perk if you are someone who enjoys those. instead of paying $20 every once in a while for one live show, you can pay 5$ for free live shows and early content and exclusive new content.

plus, they also reveal their expanded cast, which is something all of their fans have been wondering about for over a year. it's not just keith and zach you get to see, but all of these people their audience now loves and is always talking about wanting to join the try guys officially. collectively the try guys announcement feels more positive in multiple senses, both in emotional vibe and in what the audience is getting out of this.

also: no one can say for certain whether or not they decided to keep posting on YT after the watcher debacle, but I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt & believe that they always intended to stay on YouTube. it makes sense as a business decision & it's clear they've been working on this for some time (despite what some people seem to think??). tbh I don't think they were trying to be cruel to watcher in their announcement, I think they just saw that shitstorm and understood they needed to make it clear to their audience that they are not making the same mistakes. EDIT: in the most recent trypod, zach confirmed that they have been planning to 1) create a streaming service 2) keep posting content free on YouTube since 2023. so, no, they did not create 2nd Try or decide to stay on YouTube because of Watcher. stop trying to manufacture drama.

also also: they have, especially in the trypod, been very candid about their struggles with the algorithm and appealing to youtube's demands for content. in one episode I remember them talking about how they wanted to reject the "constant expansion" mindset, placing more focus on what their existing audience wants rather than trying to constantly get new people. they have been open about how certain things they want to do are not viable because of monetization issues; smoke show is a recent example of this.

another edit: also in the recent episode of the trypod, Zach says that they reached out to Sam Reich of Dropout for tips on starting a streaming service & things to avoid. we have no way of telling if Watcher did this, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was also key in why they turned out differently.

the reason why 2nd try is getting a better reception that watchertv is that 2nd try doesn't look half assed. there are lots of people saying that the try guys just "learnt from watchertv mistakes" and took advantage of it (okay?), but they have actually been working towards this for months, which is why they are launching with an app, new shows and new cast members they have slowly introduced to their audience for the last year.

all watcher did was make a tear jerking video declaring everything was going behind a paaywall and then frantically backtrack on almost everything

aka where Try Guys succeeded where Watcher failed. As someone who pays for both streaming services.

Try Guys: No interruption to the experience of non-paying fans.

Watcher: Was willing to strip away everything from non paying fans.

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Try Guys: $4.99 a month

Watcher: $5.99 a month.

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Try Guys: Did not have a countdown to asking fans to pay.

Watcher: Had a countdown to announcing pay or we take everything away.

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Try Guys: Introducing multiple new cast members.

Watcher: Bringing on 2 guys.

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Try Guys: Next day podcast talking to their fans as if they are business partners. Explaining the nitty gritty details of why they made the choice.

Watcher: Didn't expect fans to ask any questions and to just do as they're asked, while hiding the real intentions behind the decision.

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Try Guys: Spent a year preparing

Watcher: Spent a month preparing.

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Try Guys: Has new content immediately.

Watcher: Asks you to wait a month for new content, but pay now.

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Try Guys: Launched with tv apps and mobile apps.

Watcher: Launched with desktop only which went against their claimed goals.

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Try Guys: Exciting video with all the new cast present.

Watcher: Video announcement (counted down to) was somber and sad. They didn't appear excited. Told fans "if we see you, we see you"

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Try Guys: Change introduced as a "expanded choice"

Watcher: Change introduced as "mandatory"

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Try Guys: Expressed how much fans are integral to them.

Watcher: Expressed how their goals are most important.

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Try Guys: Free trial.

Watcher: No trial

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Try Guys: N/A.

Watcher: Snide posts in regard to backlash.

didn't call anyone poor

launched worldwide (did watcher ever do this?)

the streaming service is for ad-free extra and will air the videos first YouTube will have the normal content later (aka the non-youtube friendly bits will be on the streaming service and the live streams and if you want to watch it first there but a youtube friendly version will be available after)

arent removing their entire backlog from youtube

and theyve been making big production content since buzzfeed days, and have ALREADY introduced a wide range cast these last few years and tons of new shows, something watcher cant claim

does it suck that everyones making a streaming service? absolutely but i wouldnt trust youtube either

and i think thats a genuine distinction people need to consider, mythical grew from two guys into an entire company that was able to buy another group entirely, but mythical does have some exclusive content and exclusive perks on their mythical society site, however their main content is still free and avaliable and they slowly expanded their cast and now have a big roster of familiar faces, yes a lot of the content is still focused on rhett and link, but i feel like that's something that the try guys are sort of doing, and i think it leaves a decent legacy

did i watch watcher because of steven lim? no

do i watch any watcher content with steven lim? no

did he deserve to be dogpiled on and have all the blame of this decision put on him, despite the fact that shane and ryan would've 100% had a say in this decision? no the fuck he did not