opossumpitcher

[opossumpitcher]

I feel like I should say something in the interest of fairness since I talked a bunch of shit all weekend:

1. This whole reaction to the apology video like "but they have BETRAYED and the damage is DONE", friends it felt like a long time but it was three calendar days. Please get some perspective. They didn't kill your dog; they made a shitty decision, got roasted by the whole internet, and then basically changed the model what I personally hoped they'd do. You should want people to respond this well to criticism, or else what's the point of criticism?

2. It is way past time to talk about how YouTube is strangling the life out of its creators and by extension its whole platform. I worry that we're gonna lose that resource by attrition due to YouTube's unbelievably fickle and draconian policies, and it's past time to take Nebula seriously

3. And I refused to talk about creative decisions earlier but I will now: Whether you want lo-fi or TV quality is, again, a matter of taste. However, the person who decides what to pursue is the artist. I don't think it's helping in this case! But if I don't like it, I can just go.

Anyway quality apology, will be waiting on those delayed broadcasts

#they got roasted to hell on the Internet #that's punishment enough for me apology accepted

[opossumpitcher]

long (like ridiculously long) rant about watcher entertainment

Whilst the vast majority of the response to the watcher drama has been negative I still have seen a few people expressing opinions along the lines of ‘oh its just $6’  ‘shouldn't creators be paid for their work’ etc. I also think this situation is getting a lot of attention from people who don't necessarily watch Watcher, or haven’t keep up with them in years so here is my breakdown of why people are unhappy with the announcement that Watcher will be putting ALL upcoming content behind a $6 a month streaming service (with the exception of the premiere episode of each season going to Youtube.) 

The issue is not that it's $6.

The success of other internet companies like dropout and smosh is proof people are willing to pay for content they enjoy and to support independent content creators. I personally have given money to kickstarters, patreons, digital downloads etc in the past. But I do that because I know I’m valued as a fan with and without my money. I still get access to content on youtube for free. Even Dropout, who is a much larger and more expensive operation than Watcher, releasing 5 show a week, still maintains a steady Youtube presence.

The thing with these internet companies is they can be successful in creating something but they do have to understand that you are on the internet. You're not netflix or HBO or hulu or whatever. Watcher’s obsession with creating ‘television-calibre content’ worth $6 a month whilst also only having one show a week is unrealistic. They want to be independent creators but also television producers… but you’re not!  They hate being youtubers so much but YOU ARE. That’s how you gained a fanbase in the first place and you were successful at it! If you’re not happy being a youtuber that’s fine, move on and do something else. But you can’t expect it to be funded by the fans. So many famous artists create content they care less about that has a larger audience, and that in turn funds the stuff they DO care about. If you’re so dedicated to making expensive, high-quality productions you should be using these smaller cheaper shows to save money and fund them, rather than forcing everyone of your fans to pay a monthly subscription fee that I’m sorry, just isnt worth it or is simply unaffordable for the majority of your audience who you have now essentially told aren’t welcome or valued by you. And which one is it? 

Such a large percentage of your audience are casual viewers too. Why cut out that completely? What fans are you expecting to follow you to this ? Your most dedicated fans are there because they like Ryan and Shane, so why not push that? Are you trying to appeal to your fans or are you trying to make the content you want. There’s no clear creative direction that makes sense with this move and that’s why people aren’t supporting you. 

Also I’m sorry but how can we suddenly trust the content is gonna improve once we start funding it when there’s already been so many missteps both in their content and their business. Look at how many fans have said Ghost Files and Mystery Files have started feeling phoned in. Their patreon has been mismanaged for years, they barely promote it and the perks on there aren't really worth it (but they have 6000 paying members because people can and do want to support them!). They go months having barely any merch. There are ways to make money on youtube, they’re just not doing it well . 

And I’m sorry. But there is just absolutely no reason to have 25 employees. Shows like Survival mode should be cheap and easy to produce, and help bring in money to support larger ventures like ghost files. So why are there 18 people credited for a video of you playing Minecraft? And of course I don’t want people to lose their jobs. But continuing with this is going to cause EVERYONE to lose their jobs regardless. 

They also barely have a plan for their new content. People watch for Ryan and Shane, you KNOW THAT. So why is your first new big show hiring the worth it boys and doing a globe-trotting, crazily expensive show. Are you even really expanding your content if you’re still sticking to a one-video-a-week schedule with no present plan to change that? They have a survey for subscribers to vote which past show to bring back, but there’s obviously a major budget difference between filming something like Weird Wonderful World and something like SD&D&D… or at least there should be but there isn't when you employ 20 people to make one video. There’s such a clear lack of thought put into it that makes me even less likely to want to support. 

I want to say that they probably expected a negative backlash and thought they could just wait it out… but did they? Because WHY did they hype this up like it was an insane new announcement fans would go wild for. WHY do this several days before you have live shows where you let fans ask questions live to your faces? So much of this roll out makes absolutely no sense and makes Ryan, Shane, and Steve look so ridiculously out-of-touch with their fanbase, which only makes fans feel even less supportive. 

I think their defenders think we want to see Watcher crash and burn but the majority of us don't. I want them to be successful but this isn't the way to do it and I truly do believe it’s going to ruin their company. Unfortunately as much as I love them, I wont be supporting them. 

[opossumpitcher]

[opossumpitcher]

Okay look. Yall are being dumb about this. Steven food shows aren't what's expensive in watcher.

One of the easiest ways to go under as a business is not managing your cash flow. And that's exactly what's happened here. Buzzfeed has a number of pans on the fire, if they need to shift budget around that's something they can do. A single studio on the other hand, cannot.

But guys come on. Let's not be dumb here. It's not Steven's show that's costing them too much money. Like, i'm not a fan of Steven, I don't watch his content so I can't speak on its quality. And the optics of the golf leaf tesla caviar situation aren't good. But I'm imploring yall to consider this from a more realistic perspective.

They've made some really poor financial decisions for ghost files and they're pretty plain as day to recognize. Firstly, the studio. A fixed cost. Every month they have to pay rent for a place that by their estimate is expensive. This is an expense that adds ... very little? To the viewing experience if we compare it to the buzzfeed set up. Hence, no new revenue from this investment.

Second of all. 25. People.

25 people =25 people's salaries. And not just anyone, these are producers and sound people and graphics animators and all that jazz, thats not chump change. You have to pay salaries every month whether youre making money or not. Once again, fixed cost with very little direct impact on revenue. No one is watching the show that wasn't watching it before based on its production value.

Plus, a bunch of upfront costs. Booking the venue for ghost files, the transport, lunging your whole crew with accommodation to who knows where.

Consistent cost every month + massive irregular costs for your main revenue source + a long production period = cash flow shortages . These videos are definitely filmed way before they're released, meaning you have to pay these costs before you can actually start making any money.

They make a ton of money, enough for teslas and caviar and all this jazz.... just not consistently. Some videos do better than others, they push their podcasts and low cost shows to try to fill the gap between high income series but like I said, fixed costs. You still have to pay rent this month even if you're planning to make a million dollar next month.

This is 100% about getting a more predictable and more stable source of revenue to fill the holes in their poor cost management. I promise you the expensive food isn't what's making the $100 000 dollar hole in their pocket.

This is why they didn't do a transition or try alternative forms of revenue or whatever, they looked at their costs, they looked at the revenue problem and they looked at the costs of doing this internationally and they said huh this would be alot easier if revenue was consitent and didn't think further than that. Steven's show was mentioned because on YouTube the costs wouldn't justify the additional expense, but if you've got consistent revenue to play around with you get better utilization of your staff, particularly for editing back to back shows instead of one block of production with majority of your staff idling the rest of the time.

This was a terrible financial decision because they didn't do enough market research and aren't controlling thier expansion. It is not because Steven Lyn wants to eat caviar or whatever. Yall are being Dicks.

#this is the best explanation I've heard #I've been trying to grasp why they'd make such a decision

[opossumpitcher]

“Artists need to be paid for their work!”

Agreed however they ARE getting paid!! If Patreon+ ad revenue+ merch sales + tour sales isn’t enough to cover the cost of the videos Watcher has been putting out, maybe the answer is to downsize and scale back instead of punishing their audience for their poor financial decisions.

[opossumpitcher]

I am curious about what Watcher’s response is going to be (if they respond at all) since I really don’t think they anticipated the level of backlash that they’ve been getting for their streaming service

#apologies for spamming this #it's been on my mind for days

[opossumpitcher]

[opossumpitcher]

funniest take I’ve seen during this whole mess with Watcher is someone getting mad about the paywall and calling Ryan, Shane and Steven greedy & then saying “this has ruined Taylor Swift day”

[opossumpitcher]

My nuanced opinion is this: they're not the most evilest greediest capitalist pig dogs to ever exist let's get out the guillotine etc etc, HOWEVER Watcher TV is still the dumbest fucking decision they could have possibly made

[opossumpitcher]

can’t wait for the next season of Make Some Noise

[opossumpitcher]

“well, maybe shane was outvoted” “this is steven’s fault” “i think ryan-” these are all grown men with dick and balls

[opossumpitcher]

RIP Watcher, 2020-2024

[opossumpitcher]

Okay can we stop acting like Shane and Ryan are hostages? They are grown men and this is their company too. Even if Steven is the driving force, they are supporting this with their full chests. Ryan said it’s the “right thing to do” and Shane had the professor say “ well why not?” Which is every bit as tone deaf as Steves “ everyone and anyone can afford it”

#theyre all equally responsible i just can't fathom how all three of them agreed to such a terrible idea #im curious to know why they did this and what the thought process was beyond “making more money” or having “higher production value”

[opossumpitcher]

Shane “share the passwords” Madej you’ve got some explaining to do!

[opossumpitcher]

Do I feel bad about how mean some of the Watcher comments are? Ah, sort of.

But mainly when I see people posting things like 'I no longer have to pretend that anything they did on Watcher was as good as Unsolved' I'm struck by how it just shows that people followed them, and stuck with them, out of love, loyalty and respect. So when the illusion of those feelings being mutual was shattered well, this is basically post-divorce honesty hour. It's the parasocial relationship break up equivalent of 'I never really liked your apple pie.'

#i wanted to like watcher more but atp ive only stuck around for puppet history

[opossumpitcher]

"Steven isn't solely responsible for the paywall shift" and "Nobody wants to watch Steven eat insanely expensive food and have to pay for it" are statements that can coexist btw.

[opossumpitcher]

steven lim: we actually need more money for higher production value so that you guys have the best! and we're bringing back a super expensive show! for you guys, the fans!

the fans: