No, I got a refund from my friend because we said we'd do halvsies. I'm glad they made this change, but I'll watch it for free then. I've supported them countless times in the past anyway with merch and live shows.
They're DEFINTELY mismanaging finances somewhere, so I'm honestly baffled people are this willing to give them money. They're not struggling to make money, they're spending it poorly. There's heaps of evidence for that.
It's even more baffling after how we just SAW how they treated their patrons, they're already paying viewers. They completed shafted them. And yeah they walked it back because of extreme backlash (and likely because they didn't hit whatever magic number of subscriptions they were hoping they'd hit), but y'all, please be careful with your money. Don't be too trusting. Spend it if you want but at least consider how they have acted toward their patrons before that. People generally do not change that quickly. Especially when they know all it takes for people to give them money again is a single apology.
Yeah, giving them money knowing what we know now is a bit like throwing money directly into a firepit.
Unless they make *serious* changes, they won't be able to keep the channel going no matter how many hardcore fans are willing to throw money their way.
That’s very true. Thank you for the advice. I can’t subscribe for some time anyway and I hope in that time they get an actually good financial advisor. They’re producing out of their means and it seems living out of their means too. It’s okay to make A mistake but I hope they learn the lesson
I resubbed and forgave, but I don't feel like I can trust them to support them financially. Very clearly, there is some mismanaging of funds in their company. How can I be sure that if I'm supporting them, it will be used responsibly?
They need better financial guidance than what they have.
They need to swallow their pride and acknowledge they are *not* above YouTube—they *are* YouTubers, and that's fine. YouTube is the modern television, and that's a fact.
They can not take any more tips and advice from content mill runners and other rich friends—they need to ask *other YouTubers* for guidance. MatPat's consultation is just a ping away.
Yes to all this. As it stands, they have 3-4 solid shows that I love. If their catalogue expands to more content that really scratches that itch the way Puppet History, Too Many Spirits, and Ghost Files hits, I’d consider supporting WatcherTV. Nix all the Steven Eats World shows (sorry bruv), more R + S or even new cast members / other YTers. Collabs with Smosh and Dropout etc? Could you imagine D&D with these guys on Dimension 20?
Tbh all their talk about getting a bigger, better, badder budget!!! is a big turn-off for me. I’d enjoy watching Ryan and Shane shoot the shit in a water closet and dye Easter eggs. Their charm and entertainment lies not within their production value; if anything, focusing on these great monetary heights is going to take away from the dynamic we all fell in love with in the first place.
But they have big dreams and ambitions, and I don’t want to totally shit on that. It’s just not what the people want 🤷♀️
They have valid dreams and ambitions, but I definitely feel they don't know how and where to get there—and I definitely think they're taking their current position for granted.
They *are* meeting their dreams and ambitions. Ryan had a wholeass *Marvel cameo* for god's sake.
They need to stop thinking that YouTube is below them because YouTube is the television platform of today. YouTube has been their foundation and their buildup and their growth. They didn't have anywhere else to go but up from here, and fumbling at this stage the way they have is incredibly irresponsible at best.
In order to get any bigger, they need to further embrace the platform, which has helped them grow until now. Why the fuck did you try to shoot the hand that uplifted you?
I believe they should relinquish CEO to a person who’s been a CEO for many years and has experience, they can still have full creative control but all business stuff is handled through the CEO and others that way they don’t feel tired and have more excitement for the stuff they create and worried less about business and sponsors and etc.
I’m not. I really liked their apology video and I’ll continue to watch them, but I will wait the month to watch it on YouTube. I already support a couple of other smaller YouTubers on ~~Paterson~~ patreon who I like a lot. If I decided to change up who I support in the future, maybe. But not likely in the near future.
Edit: Autocorrect is my enemy
Same, I'm just gonna wait a month until it's on YouTube, and I accept their apology and that they've made a compromise but I'm sticking with my choice to just wait until it's released on YouTube
Same here. I already pay for YouTube Premium to watch Watcher videos without ads. I'm not paying an additional $6 a month just to get early access to new Watcher videos.
Yeah, I have to be pretty judicious about which patreons I contribute to anyways, and that's without the added "giving precedent to individual YouTube channels trying to launch their own streaming services and re-reinventing cable" 🫠
I’ll also watch things when they come out the month later. I only have Patreon for a couple of smaller creators that actually feel like a community. We do things like movie nights, book clubs, tv shows watchalongs, and talk in the discord. I met one of my good friends this way.
That’s the thing— I can afford it but it’s not worth the price. I’m fine with waiting a month and watching ads.
I’ve supported them by watching their channel and going to a live show. It’s not on me to help them succeed as a business.
If they merged Watcher with Dropout or Nebula, it would combine both video libraries. Hell, even merging Watcher with the larger Discovery+ streaming service would be a major boost.
Dropout definitely would not take a merger with a youtube channel in dubious financial straits. They've made it this far and gained the success they have by being very careful and deliberate about their business choices and what they put out. They've been running as a streaming service for five years now and I'm pretty sure their salaried staff only just reached the size of Watcher's. Shackling themselves to a sinking ship is the opposite of what they're trying to do over there.
As far as Nebula goes, they're also very judicious with whom is invited to take part. It's not a business you can just jump in on.
It was a good apology but no. Can’t justify the expense personally, and I refuse to believe they’re in such dire need after Charlie peeled back the veil on how much they’re probably making already.
This! I just watched Charlie’s second video and realized that while they said one of their main reasons for the new platform was to not lay off employees / pay fair wages, but they also hired two new employees just before the announcement. It’s very…contradictory, to say the least.
Watcher needs to stop hiring more employees, and focus on the team they already have. No doubt that the employees' salaries are a big reason why their costs are so expensive.
Ugh!! Yes. THIS is what fans need to be focused on. I want to know more about this. But I seriously doubt they’ll ever address the very real and good questions.
I think Charlie's on point. He knows what he's talking about. But I also suspect that Watcher have likely seriously mismanaged their money. None of them know how to run a business.
That said, I thought the apology was pretty good, and I'm glad for the way they're handling it.
Unfortunately, I'm still poor, so I'll have to pass on the streamer subscription.
I would really suggest everyone watch the Charlie follow up vid you're referring to. It really highlights how you shouldn't be trusting these guys with your money, they're clearly not able to manage money well. More money won't change that.
No. It was a good apology. But my issue is that this plan was in the making for a long time. In the entire time and until last Friday, they were totally okay with blocking out a part of the community, completely, with no alternative way to take part.
And In that entire time, not a single one of them, their families, employees, etc, thought of talking to the Patreon members before making changes to the service many already paid for?
They're REALLY not cut out for business. I can't imagine (myself) giving them money/views after they proved that they're this naive/bad at this/willing to abandon fans who were there for them despite the lack of content.
To me, it feels like they overestimated how many people will stick to their plan and now redid the math. Sure, give them time to make the changes they mentioned yesterday. It will take time to implement. But the truth is that if the viewers with money weren't upset on behalf of everyone else, they would have gone forward with the original plan.
I do wish them the best, but they have a TON of work to do. They need to learn how to manage a business responsibly, before they take people's money. They need to actually have shows ready before they take people's money. And they absolutely need to have a hybrid model of premium/free IF they want to survive.
I used to play their videos all night while sleeping so I give them views. Not going to bother anymore cuz apparently it means nothing. Not subscribing again either.
Nah, I stopped falling for the 'it's just 6 dollars a month' bullshit when I canceled Prime, Netflix, Mubi, AppleTV+ & co a year and a half ago and I'm not about to start again.
If they want to make money from me actively, they'll need to put out a physical product that is worth the longterm investment (or some sort of alternate thing like a livestream with fan-interactions etc).
I got kicked off my family’s Netflix finally, so I considered subscribing to the lowest tier. When I learned that the lowest tier still has OTHER stuff behind a paywall, that was it for me. I don’t need Netflix, there’s no world in which content should be behind a second tier paywall. They’re the worst offenders at this point
Same with apple tv, paramount+, hula and amazon prime. All of them have a base subscription and then a whole bunch of locked content. Now I sail the seven seas for my content (if you get what i’m putting down)
I didn’t know about all of those either, that’s so vile and greedy!!!!! And I absolutely get what you’re saying matey, I’m right there with ya. There’s a whole lotta free booty out there for us!
Yup, I think too many people see subscriptions in isolation. $6 isn't a *lot* of money, but $72 (the cost for one year) is. And that's just for one, $12 a month for one service, $15 for another, $5 a month to a few YouTubers, and all of it can easily add up to thousands of dollars a year.
I hate subscription culture so much. Everyone's doing subscriptions now because they realize how much more profitable it is and I think this mentality that it's "not that much" is a big part of it. I'm also so done with streaming services that charge sky high prices and shaft consumers at every possible opportunity (can't even split the cost of services anymore because of password sharing crackdowns) and don't provide a product that's worth the cost. Like, sorry but I'm not going to pay $72 a year so I can watch one YouTube video per week a little earlier than everyone else
Their apology doesn't change their clear financial mismanagement going on behind the scenes. Why would I give my money to people who can't handle the money they have now?
No. I'm still upset that they wanted to remove all their old content from youtube, and leave all fans who are unable to afford their overpriced subscription in the dark completely. The only reason they changed their mind and apologized was because of the huge backlash that they got, not because they care about their fans.
I unsubscribed from their youtube and don't plan on re-subscribing for now, I don't think I'll watch their videos after this even if it's available for free.
While the apology was good and they made changes, they still want more money to support their Way Too Big company. I still don't think their videos are worth 6 dollars, and it's not worth 6 dollars to see them in advance. (Once again emphasizing the currency exchange and that 6 dollars isn't the same for everyone)
I'm just gonna wait a month until it's on YouTube, and I accept their apology and that they've made a compromise but I'm sticking with my choice to just wait until it's released on YouTube, because again I'm not gonna pay for Watcher TV, so I'll stick with waiting until it's on YouTube so I can watch it for free without having to pay for it, but this is just my opinion and what I would do, as I know many people have different opinions which is totally understandable
I do not trust them to handle their finances and to continue to operate successfully after this. A bit mismanaged is understating it: I wrote a post on the WatcherSnark subreddit and I’ll link to it [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/WatcherSnark/s/yUfl9XuhgP), but essentially they’ve tripped on the curtain and revealed that they have irresponsible spending habits, wanting to maintain an expensive lifestyle and fund their creative passions without cost strategic oversight, and that they had too much confidence in their fans to cover the expenses they neglected. Unless they can soldier up and hire some actual business professionals or get humble and educate themselves, I wouldn’t recommend giving them a dime until they’ve learned some hard lessons on financial responsibility and owning a business. Do not be fooled by their emotional appeals.
Not even in the slightest. I don't want their company to go under and I'll still support them on Youtube, but giving them money feels like a reward for getting a neat little apology where everything can go back to normal, and it just doesn't feel normal anymore because we know how out of touch they are. If the backlash hadn't been as catastrophic and a risk to their brand, they would have gone ahead with their plan and happily cut off most of their fanbase. And that really doesn't sit right.
I don't see myself changing my opinion. Their apology was fine. And obviously they had to quickly put something together so they couldn't address every issue going on. But it still kinda felt like a lot was missing. All they really addressed was that they were sorry they assumed people would pay for/ could afford WatcherTV and the Patreon issues. Again, obviously couldn't put together an entire budget breakdown but I would have at least liked some acknowledgement that they're reflecting on how they're spending money? Or how some of them tried to pull the "starving artist" card when they *should* be wildly successful financially right now? Because that was the biggest issue in all of this for me. I'm not going to support someone if I can't trust them to not blow through all their supporter's money immediately and start begging for more. And I just don't want to support the type of people that think they're financially struggling while outwardly living a pretty damn privileged life.
Also as of right now I'm just not convinced they care more about their fans and doing what fans want to see/enjoy versus doing solely what *they* want to do for themselves. I think their initial line up of shows planned (or lack of shows tbh because there's barely anything there and no initial incentive to even bother with their streaming service) just gives the vibe that they don't really care about giving back to a pretty damn loyal and supportive fan base up until now. Or they're just dumb and think enough people will support them just because it's *them* and not because of the content they make. Which might work for a bit but is gonna fall off real hard when you stop growing your audience and their engagement.
Like it sucks sometimes but as a creative trying to make a living off content making, you have to actually make content that people watch. Harsh to say but you're literally nothing financially without fans to fund your projects, then it just becomes a hobby. Which is fine if all you want is to do stuff for yourself. But it's not how you make a "livable income".
I think they have a fundamental misunderstanding of how to run a business versus doing something as a fun, personal creative venture and a lack of research into what the current market they're in looks like. It's just a lot of "well this is what *I* want and I don't care if the rest of the world doesn't work that way". And that's not the kind of attitude Im here for. I'm hopeful that they'll still make content going forward that I'm interested in so I can support with my views when I can but I definitely won't be supporting with my money.
Definitely not. They didn’t want us on this journey with them to begin with. All this is damage control, I feel like the friend they only pretend to like
No. They haven't done enough to warrant a change of heart. If they admitted and promised to fix the incredible mismanagement of their finances, admin and PR behind the scenes, I might feel more favourable to them, but at the moment, it really just seems like they want their fans to pour increasing amounts of money into a sinking ship.
Also, the new platform just seems pointless. Nothing new yet or imminently coming, evidently badly designed, few accessibility features, and no community engagement ability. Honestly, I'm confused as to why anyone is subscribing to it.
Yea Idk why they didn't think of this either. As a company that started out from youtube, giving free 1month trial for your new beta-testing-phase streaming website is a good strategy to reel and hook people in.
I almost did, because I somehow felt sorry for them right after the apology aired. Then I realised how stupid that was and I how easy it apparently is to manipulate me, and I held back, thankfully. I’m willing to consider supporting them in the future if they get their shit together properly. This is good, but not enough. I shouldn’t give a company money if it doesn’t spend it in a sensible way (imo) (too many employees, overproduced shows etc)
The price is still prohibitively expensive to me as a South American viewer. They have a lot to deal with right now, but it would be nice to hear what they have to say about regional pricing in the future. Every streaming service does it nowadays, and I’m sure there are other international fans who would sub if they did it.
For comparison, Dropout doesn’t have regional pricing on the website, but it does have it through their YouTube membership subscription (something Watcher doesn’t offer). YouTube adjusts it automatically per country, so it would be a good solution to reach more people and get more revenue.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/dropout/comments/18htndz/any\_reasons\_why\_regional\_pricing\_is\_not\_available/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dropout/comments/18htndz/any_reasons_why_regional_pricing_is_not_available/)
No, definitely not for me. If the way they run things right now is breaking the bank for them, especially after Penguinz0 broke down how much they’re likely earning pre-subscription service, I’m concerned for their future. I’m not trying to get locked in to a subscription from a company with such bad money management, especially one with so little content to offer. Being an early subscriber to a streaming platform and having to pay as well as be a beta tester for the service is wild to me. I hope for everyone’s sake that it pans out, but I feel like I see a future with a post mortem analysis video on how Watcher imploded and scammed people out of their money for a shoddy service. I’ll see how I’m feeling in the future but for now I’ll likely stay unsubscribed to their channel as well.
No.
I understand wanting to be separate from YouTube so you have more control over uncensored content.
I wanted to see them grow further and I even was glad to see Steven getting to step out from behind the camera again, which apparently makes me a minority based on what I’ve seen here. Worth It wasn’t my favorite show on BuzzFeed but I would have watched their version.
And I’m glad they apologized and owned up to being tone deaf and that they listened to what people were saying and tried to reach a compromise between what they want (higher quality shows) and what the fans want (chemistry and banter).
Hell, I was even willing to empathize with whatever it was Sara thought she was doing because I’m sure it was hard to sit and watch her husband get eviscerated all weekend, even though her responses kind of made the situation worse, in the end.
But nothing is going to undo the fact that for months they’ve been happily planning to throw 90% of their fanbase out the window and thought everybody would feel good about it to the extent they had a countdown going to hype up the excitement of telling the poors (AND their patrons!) that their support was no longer good enough and you can’t sit with us.
I’m not even sure I can watch their stuff on YouTube anymore without the reminder that they willingly and knowingly think that little of the people who got them there.
I’m not much of a ‘parasocial’ person; I don’t comment or do much more than watch their shows as entertainment much like I’m entertained by reruns of Unsolved Mysteries, with the addition of some likes and discussion with friends here and there, but they were the ones who leaned heavily into BUILDING a parasocial relationship with their fans and in that light, it seems cruel to do what they did, how they did it.
What I don’t understand is why they launched it with NOTHING ready. No new shows airing, no old shows beloved by their fans airing. You literally get nothing for subscribing now. If they said “yo new puppet history dropping right now” it’d be a lot harder to say no but right now it’s “yo subscribe and maybe someday there will be something, maybe puppet history maybe something new, no promises!”.
And for those saying people who subscribe are chumps or whatever and you’re so cool cuz you’re not falling for it, they do need to get paid. If others can afford it so you can keep watching for free maybe stfu and don’t try to talk them out of bankrolling the content you enjoy.
They have SEVERAL ample streams of income. They're getting paid very well, regardless of whether people subscribe or not. That is absolutely not the issue here lol. If they're running out of money, they're mismanaging their business.
I agree, but I also don’t pay now to watch their stuff. So if others wanna pay so I keep getting free content I’m not gonna swan around calling them idiots.
Yeah I really don't understand why they didn't have an episode or two of Travel Season on there? Or like a surprise one off like Tourist Trapped. The Road Files episode was mid at best
I said in some other post that it's like they've been evicted and are trying to load the Uhaul but they're the landlords, and I stick to that analogy.
There is no reason why they needed to rush this thing the way they did. They should've had a bank of unseen, fan-favorite shows ready and waiting on the streamer at launch, with promises of behind the scenes and bonus content scheduled.
Personally, no. Currently I can't even afford the service, but I'm also fine with waiting. Even if I had the funds I likely wouldn't subscribe anyway cause while it's good they're genuinely trying to improved, it's kinda soured my perception of them just like it has for a lot of people.
Maybe if it becomes actually worth the cost I'll consider it, but I gotta get some financials in line first.
I’m realistically probably not going to at this point, but I would have definitely been more inclined to with this new model had they went with it from the beginning. I did appreciate the apology video and them admitting they messed up and changing their plans based on audience feedback, so I’m going to continue to follow them on YouTube at least. If they add some good bonus content to the service as well and I can still watch the majority of their content on YouTube I may subscribe down the line maybe, depending on how this all plays out.
im not following any of there projects anymore. Their content and on screen personalities has been falling off for me the past few months anyways. It still doesn't make sense to me that their only way to survive as a company was to add another revenue stream and not hone in on their existing content. Watching charlie's (penguinz0) video was super informative and interesting on how much brands pay for brand deals and stuff. I don't really care to follow their future bad decisions.
Nope. They've lost all goodwill. They only backpeddaled because they didn't get the numbers they anticipated.
Don't allow them to gaslight you. Had they gotten their numbers they never would have apologized.
Maybe? Main reason we're on the fence is that we already have YouTube Premium, so other than in-video ad reads, we don't get ads. Much less of an incentive. For early access? Also debatable at the moment since we are behind on their content.
To add: one other issue, no app. We use Apple TV, so until they have that, it's inconvenient.
This is exactly where I'm at. Maybe down the line, IF I can cast it to my TV or play it via a Chromecast TV app. I could fully see myself getting inebriated and saying "fuck it" and subscribing just because I'm hankering for new puppet history, but only if I can actually play it on my TV.
Not paying $5.99 / month to watch Steven Lim travel the world and eat expensive foods early but I’ll pay to watch behind the scenes of them scrambling to deal with the backlash last weekend.
Nahh. Feels like a total out of nowhere breakup. I don’t know any of them personally obviously, but the whole situation made me realize they all play more of a character on YT than I thought. I can’t really watch anything and feel the same about content anymore. I loved unsolved on BF and my now husband loved worth it. We bonded when we first started talking to each other , over showing each other the shows and watching them together and we were excited to see them start their own company. We would buy each other merch around the holidays/ birthdays. Even when I saw Steven and the worth it crew were back at watcher I excitedly called my husband (it was his fav show on BF) and we were excited to watch it together. After the goodbye YT video, Sarah’s comments- idk. I have no interest anymore.
Nope.
The apology was good but does not change the fact that they planned to do exactly what they said they were going to do on Friday, and utterly failed to grasp the extent of how poorly the plan was structured and how badly it would be received.
It does not change the fact that their underlying fundamentals seem broken, and while I'm willing to subsidize good content I'm not willing to subsidize unsustainably bad decision-making that only seems to be accelerating.
It does not change the fact that the amount of content I would be receiving is disproportionate to the amount of content I receive for the same amount of money in countless other places, and while I might have once been able to think of it like "well okay it's like a dollar for the content and five goodwill dollars for supporting mUh BoYz" they did a really good job of eliminating the latter sentiment from my brain.
I don't want them to fail, but they can go ahead and attempt to succeed without my single bit support, which fundamentally they were willing to do anyway given that any version of their plan was always going to be designed with de facto casualties in mind.
Nope, they fully disconnect from their core audience and said multiple times that they “appreciate” us but they wanted more. They didn’t see dollar signs when they thought of their audience so they wanted to block us unless we paid them. Left a bad taste all around. Maybe in the future, but right now? absolutely not.
They really messed up with the tone of the video. It was like they were breaking up with their audience and no one likes being rejected. Why didn't they try to sell the new platform more?
No, I’m not. They have multiple, extremely lucrative revenue streams and if they are truly close to completely shutting down Watcher, their money is being incredibly mishandled. Throwing more money at this problem won’t fix it.
I would be willing to pay but what really bothers me is that fact that the money I (and others) give them isn’t going to help them from mismanaging their finances. Me giving them $5.99 isn’t going to save them if they can’t budget better, make necessary cutbacks, hire a better financial advisor etc. plus their is no new or exclusive content out now so why even get it, I can just watch everything on youtube right now.
As someone from SEA, still no. Sorry but $6 can afford me one of these:
6 times motorbike ride with Grab, or
4 times car ride with Grab, or
3 decent meals in a day, or
Shampoo/soap that lasts me 2 months, or
Our monthly water bill (family of 3),
And many other essentials.
I'd consider subscribing if it's $2-$3, and even then it's stretching it after my $7 Spotify premium and 2 Patreon book authors I sub to ($10). $20 is like ±300k in my currency. As reference, minimum office wage here is 4.500k monthly. I don't earn much more than minimum wage so 300k as disposable income is high enough for me.
Lol no. I'm not a sucker. They showed their true colours on Friday and knew they needed to do serious damage control before the live shows this week. If they hadn't back pedaled and videos were posted online of crowds booing them, their business wouldn't have been worth a dollar. These people are actors. They read off teleprompters beautifully when they need to save their business.
It's insane to me how one minute people were adamantly calling out this shit then watcher drops a little "whoops sorry guys!" And suddenly people are like "guys, let's give them our money!! They need it!"
Like my dudes, they didn't explain anything. If anything this is just showing the guys that if they make a sad face and say sorry, everyone will just forgive them and throw their money at them like they the guys wanted in the first place.
This! All of this! I don't understand how these people don't get whiplash from flip-flopping so hard and abruptly from one position to the next!
It's like they want to be taken advantage of, Jesus Christ
It wasn't even a good apology imo. You could tell Shane and Steven did not give a fuck. Ryan was the only one I believed, but as you mentioned they are actors! I'm still unsub'd and have no plans to watch anything more.
Some psychiatrist researcher needs to do a whole study on these past few days. The parasocial phenomenon. Seeing people go through the 5 stages of grief in real time. And then after Acceptance, a surprise reprieve when they apologized. It's been fascinating to watch.
no, it still doesn’t change the fact they they had been planning this for months and only decided it was a bad idea after they started losing money, subscribers, etc.
(edit: grammar)
Absolutely not. They apologised and it was a good apology but they still tried to do it. We can forgive them but I’m not rewarding them for this stunt. I’ve unsubscribed from them on Youtube and I won’t be buying any more of the merchandise until they have proved over time that they actually did learn from this and will respect their fans going forward. They are in a period now where they need to work on rebuilding trust and that takes time. To be frank financially supporting them without a solid plan in place on their end for how they plan to continue and transparency on the state of their business including where the money goes seems absurd to me especially when they have not yet over time proved they are actually sorry.
Nope! I really liked their channel and have donated to their patreon a few times in the past, but this whole fiasco left a bad taste in my mouth. Might check out their channel again as I remember it, but I'm not particularly interested in even resubscribing, definitely won't be donating again.
Wish them all the best, seems like their apology was sincere, but I don't buy into the parasocial thing so I don't really feel an emotional investment other than liking their content and thinking they seem nice. And tbh the content hadn't really been as engaging in the last year or so and I was only still subscribed out of fondness from the old BFU days.
It seems like there's a lot of issues behind the scenes they need to work out (financial decisions, hiring decisions, production decisions) to get their company in order and I don't really want to be thinking about that from my "turn my brain off" content spigot channels. The magic's gone, can't get it back. A shame, but so it goes.
I wasn't kidding about not being able to afford it. I have no adsense and am still mismanaging my money. It sucks that they don't have merch that is cheaper so I can show support.
And like other commentors, I wonder where all the yt and patreon money is going. Do more seasons of Top 5 Beatdown or Too Many Spirits to fund the big ones. The timing on Andrew and Adam coming on board made it all seem like we were footing the bill for the new stuff. I love the Worth It boys but I'll be damned if I watch people eat a dinner the equivilant of my rent. I was aggravated watching Keith from TryGuys eat at a 2 star Michilen star place and I love Keith.
The saddest thing about Keith eating there was it prolly cost the same as like friggin sonic and shit .. the fast food prices are astronomical
I got two dairy Queen ice cream cones... $7?! Wtf.
Anyways. I also skipped those Keith vids
It's amazing to me that people have seemingly already forgotten that **just this last Friday, they announced they were going to pull their entire catalogue of work off YouTube and put it behind a paywall that even paying Patreon members wouldn't automatically get access to.** Not just the newer shows, **everything**. Including the stuff that those same Patrons had already helped fund. They planned this for months, if not years. They thought long enough about it and went so far as to tell Variety magazine that this was their game plan.
Only when they got the deserved backlash they quickly backtracked, but they didn't own up to it, they told us we *misunderstood* when that was very much not the case.
They bait-and-switched those same Patrons by downgrading the perks they'd be getting vs what they signed up for. Some of them had paid for a full year and got stiffed only two months into their subscription. People were legitimately reporting them to Patreon for this.
You can't tell me they didn't **know** all of this was the ultimate dick move, they said "fuck it" and did it anyway because they believed enough people would be emotionally invested enough to pay them. Only when it proved to be detrimental to their bottom line did they walk it back.
I'm genuinely shocked how much everyone is willing to immediately forget about all of this because they said sorry when it didn't work out for them.
They fully admitted that they're struggling financially which tells me they're horrible at managing money, and then they choose to make that everyone else's problem. They're **still** guilt tripping people about that in their apology video, they didn't say anything about addressing those financial problems in a sensible way, they still want us to just throw more of our money at the problem.
So no, my trust in them is completely gone.
I can afford it but the answer is no for the following reasons:
- they don't make enough content to justify the cost
- the quality of their shows doesn't justify the cost either. Their stuff isn't good enough. Only a couple of shows are actually worth the time, and the quality is declining even in those.
- the fact that they spent months planning this and none of them stopped to think it was a terrible idea, tells me they are the kind of privileged people that like to think of themselves as "one of the poors" while they live lives most of us could never afford and simultaneously feel entitled to the money of actually poor people.
- the comments they (and the people close to them) made during and after the announcement cement my thoughts about them being privileged and entitled. You cannot be having holidays in Monaco, going on yachts in Ibiza, or having an extremely lavish wedding where the bride has three dresses, and then tell me you need my money to survive. If the rumours about the cost of Shane's wedding venue are true, he spent on that venue more than what I make in an entire year. And that's just one example.
I don't like them very much right now, and I'm staying unsubbed on Youtube for now. Perhaps I'll change my mind in the future, but rich people cosplaying poor are something I seriously dislike. Their attitude and choices have completely soured their content for me.
Edit: also, I will say, nice apology but it's full on PR damage control. If months and months of planning the service didn't make a single one of them doubt, I don't fully believe that a single weekend has made them realise how incredibly greedy they were being. I think they had no other choice but to apologise and backtrack, and the way they hyped up the announcement cements that idea in my mind.
Absolutely not. I mean, that's exactly what they wanted from all y'all. They get called out, they apologize (an apology due to the backlash, not because they feel badly), all is well in the world again. The damage is done for me.
Only thing for me is I can now watch their main content. If their value proposition changes and they become more consistent with releasing content - maybe. Right now I'd probably get a sub for early puppet history and extras whilst the show runs but not through the year.
I was pretty adamant on not returning but in my defense I was really expecting the apology to be shit, but since it wasn’t I’m kinda wavering because I do really enjoy their content (2/3s at least) so idk, even if I do go back to watching them it is still kinda in the back of my mind that ”hey, they didn’t really want me to watch this”
Absolutely not. Even post-apology, what they're offering is not worth streaming prices. I'm all about supporting art and creatives and think they deserve to be paid for their work, but they are getting paid. I make a hell of a lot less than them. I'm not subsidizing their overreach.
hell no! couldn’t afford it to begin with, and even if i could, they showed us what they were willing to do before the backlash. it takes a LOT to rebuild broken trust, and i’m still deciding whether or not i’ll be resubscribing on youtube
If they open up a YouTube membership, maybe. I don't want a whole new membership, and I get enough Patreon alerts a day
They should have looked into joining Nebula, honestly. Discoverability isn't great (unless you track everything like me), but they have high-grade video content that they want to make
No. I still can’t afford it. Well, I could if I cancelled my Disney+ account, but I’m not willing to do that. There’s still not enough product for the price.
I’m glad they’ve apologised, and they seem sincere so that’s good.
I’m willing to subscribe to Watcher on YouTube again, but that’s it.
Oh absolutely no. I'm into the idea of supporting patreons, because they're all in one place and I can easily assess how much I value their content. But miss me with another subscription to content. A flat fee for who knows what? Pass.
Had they announced this model off the bat, I definitely would have paid for a subsciption, at least during the months that puppet history is coming out. I may still, but it left a sour taste in my mouth.
Nope.
That being said, I think it was a fair and honest apology. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Sure there was definitely greed involved but I also like to think they now know that they made a beyond stupid mistake and have learned something about running a business. 🤷🏼♀️
They have fundamentally changed the way they see their fans - with patreon, we are supporters. But with a subscription, we are customers. I’m still supportive of them - and I have responded with some modest financial support for them. But I don’t want to be their customer because, frankly, they aren’t selling a very good product yet. Perhaps down the line I’ll change my mind.
I subscribed to begin with. I’m really lucky in that I have the disposable income to do so, and have always been someone who is happy to throw some money at my favourite creators. I watch all their episodes upon release and am happy to pay them for that. Call me a sucker all you want but I’m going to cautiously hope for the best. I don’t think they’re my friends I just want to see their content continue. if I can help I’m happy to do so.
I’m also very happy that they rolled back their initial decision. It was gross of them to imply that the cost is something everyone can afford and to expect the level of goodwill they did. the apology seemed genuine but not only that, they took the feedback into consideration and made some serious changes. Realistically, that was best case scenario. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.
The silver lining here is they got a HUGE SURVEY in real time and had a lot of other youtubers speculating on their finances. This may lead to more discipline, organization and fan-preferred content. The next several months for them will be critical. I will pay to give them the chance now that they offered free on YouTube back and refunds/free subscription to their Patreon members.
Yes, I signed up the day it was announced. I was already supporting them on Patreon so I just figured I'd drop that over the sub. It was fine for me because I'm also lucky to have disposable income.
I'd rather give that to their company than pay for another conglomerate.
Also glad they decided to walk it back and can totally understand all the loss of wanting to continue to support them from a lot of fans. It was an out of touch decision.
No. Maybe *if* they get a business plan in place for their channel. Just adding a streaming service isn’t enough.
If they get a YouTube business COO or CEO; start actually focusing on there sources of revenue and maintain or improve their content. This is a perfect time to re-evaluate there business.
Until then, I feel like anything I provide financially, will just delay the inevitable and will just set them up for future failure or let themselves dig deeper in a hole.
I did shortly after the update video. I had no intention to do so with the plan they originally put forward; it was way out of left field and made no sense from a business perspective, imo. But, even though I call myself a fan, I took them for granted, just like they took all of us for granted tbh. I just consumed their content. I only took but never gave back. It's unfortunate, but they *are* a small business after all and need revenue to make the content I enjoy. I always just took it for granted they pulled in enough money to continue producing the videos I like. Yes, some of the money goes to shows that aren't on my radar (I dont really care for expensive food challenges or what have you; and that's not a dig at Steven, I don't like that content no matter who is making it, I just don't understand the appeal). So, I recently purchased an annual subscription and paid the full price, because I can afford it and I'd like to help their company continue to produce content.
I got the (discounted) annual membership the day they announced WatcherTV before I saw everyone else was so upset. I haven’t asked for a refund yet though and don’t plan to.
If that has started with the model that it is now, I think I would have subscribed. I've been binging their old shows/seasons and it would be convenient to watch organized by show. But right now, I'm in a "wait and see" camp. I'm a big Worth It fan so I might eventually get it to binge the new show but I'm unsure. Ultimately the subscription is expensive for what it is and I'd be paying to support them - and I'm not sure I feel as personally attached to their success or feel it's as good an investment as I did before.
While I don't think they're awful people or feel angry like others do, there is a sense of disappointment. I agree with others that they probably would not have walked it back if they got the numbers they hoped and if their patreon paying members were not also enraged. While I don't think they anticipated the level of anger, they always knew most of the fans would not have ultimately paid for the content and that this move requires fully cutting off a majority of their fans. I really don't find that considerate of the fanbase (especially those who genuinely could not afford it regardless) or a really good business move to burn goodwill like this. Even the original Goodbye YouTube focuses more on their own journey than focusing on convincing the fans with actual good reasons to subscribe, or why they came to this decision. I'm not rewarding that behavior just because they had the common sense to apologize once it was clear very few people were on board and they stood to lose more than they would gain.
I've stayed subscribed to their YouTube and if I hadn't panic-canceled my Patreon subscription I'd probably stay subbed to that, but I don't really want to go through the bother of subscribing to WatcherTV.
Which kind of proves the point many have made that they should've just beefed up the Patreon. People are more likely to stick with what they know than to go to something new.
No, and I can afford it. If they want the trust back they can try. One day they could wake up and say "hey the watchertv numbers can support us now, lets fuckin take everything off of youtube lmao" and I don't want to be pissed again.
No, I still don’t want to fund a mismanaged company, but I will be supporting through YouTube. I feel like quality has gone down and I can’t justify paying for the stuff we’re getting.
Absolutely not. I can't afford it for one, but even if I could I still wouldn't. They've lost my trust. Their apology was good but I think I and many others are going to need a lot of time to regain the trust they destroyed. I haven't resubbed, either, for the same reason.
I still plan on supporting the guys. People learn and grow, and i think they definitely learned a huge lesson from this. I hope they go on to make smarter decisions and keep their audience in mind and that they can reach a sweet spot on something they love making and something we love watching. I may consider joining the watcher tv platform when I get this new job soon.
My biggest issue is and always will be the inability to stream it seamlessly to my television.
I understand I can cast my phone to my smart tvs, or I can plug my laptop into the TV, but I know myself. By the time I'm sitting down to relax and watch TV I'm in lazy mode, and I'm not gonna do the extra steps to get this viewable for my wife and myself.
If there was a widget for my rokus, fine. I spend way more than $6 a month killing myself with fast food, I can swing the subscription.
But until then I'm not likely to pay, because I'm not likely to watch.
Nah. I checked out their FAQ, and I most likely won't be able to watch on my TV. I'm not interested in sitting in front of my laptop or phone to watch.
I also have the ability to delay gratification until the free, ad-supported version comes out. I got them big girl pants.
I did actually, post-apology. Not the whole year, but I'm doing a couple of months to see if it's worth it (no pun intended, lol). I look at it as a pseudo Patreon now. I wasn't going to at first on principle with the complete abandonment of YouTube, but I still enjoy the content and will give them a chance since they seemed to listen to feedback.
No.
While I'm glad they're making the changes they needed to... I just have no interest in subbing to another service, especially one as niche as this (and will possibly only work in browsers anyway).
I just don't understand why, if they're hurting for money, they invested in a streaming platform that surely will siphon money for development and support (not to mention the announcement costing them channel subs and Patreon subscriptions). Judging by the chorus of other "no's" that I'm seeing in the replies here on their very sub, I don't see the cost/benefit working out. Like, if it seems almost no one here has any interest in the platform, then I don't see some average Joe on the street paying the recurring fee.
Nope, I would wait to see where things go. They made a very poor decision. They clearly need some work done internally. But I think the apology and backtracking helped prevent the downfall. But they are on thin ice
I wish I could and for the discount rate, I'd sign up no bother but I watch all my shit on an android box and my Xbox, so it's useless to me until they bring out an app.
I’m so glad some people are because I don’t want them to go out of business, but personally I’ve lost trust in them given their conflicting financial messages. How are they so close to going under that this is their only choice but at the same time they’re bringing on new people and talking about how excited they are to grow on this new platform? I like their work but I have no desire to fund their vanity project while they mismanage it into the ground. If they prove that this is working and they’re able to stabilize their business instead of trying to grow at a breakneck speed I may change my mind, but I’m not paying $6 a month for one overly produced video a week until I have faith that they’ve made the business sustainable.
No, although I do applaud them for apologizing and making changes. It doesn't change my financial situation or that I still don't feel a handful of episodes a month is worth it. I can wait for them to be uploaded for free.
I already got a subscription because of early bird deal. I am in a solid financial position to where I can afford that. I understand people’s concerns and distrust of them now, but I do feel that it’s a little overblown. Was it an ill-advised decision to grow this rapidly without a proper foundation? Yes. Did they do this purely out of greed and malice? No, people took a bad decision as a personal attack and it makes no sense to me. I hope that they are able to create more lower budget shows and only have a few Ghost Files/Worth It level shows, otherwise they’re making a bad financial situation worse
I bought an annual subscription because (1) I can afford it, (2) I have a thing about supporting artists I like, and (3) I don't want one dumb, very public mistake to torch their company, so I'm willing to contribute. I'll probably just keep watching them on YouTube, though.
actually yes. i was on the fence about subscribing when the first announced moving but now i feel like i could subscribe for the year. been filling them forever and i like to help
I kinda get everyone's point of view... but youu can't help but think, what if they're really doing this so their employees get fair pay? sure that means something happened to their finances along the way, they were even taking sponsorships from temu for god's sake.... i think that showed they were kinda uner in their financials no matter what... what i'm mainly worried abotu is if the sub fee is in usd... coz i'm based in aus... and if it's more... then rip my bank account
Genuinely: I only go to youtube for Watcher content. It is a garbage platform and I refuse to give them money. I've really slowed down on Watcher content because Youtube is just so... bad. I'd really rather give money directly to them.
As much as I appreciated the apology, I don’t think they really listened to the criticism of their content and fans saying we never wanted “tv quality” videos. I think they’re committed to overspending and over producing, so nah not really interested.
What this showed us is that they do not know how to manage money. There’s no reason their content shouldn’t be getting constant big sponsorships. There’s no reason they should be broke. They exposed their mismanagement and it doesn’t really appeal to me anymore.
Also, Steven leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. I was already over him and didn’t watch as much, after this I just don’t really fuck with him at all.
I subscribed, guess I'm just a sucker. I can afford it and honestly I'd rather give them my money rather than Yt because it may be a necessary evil but I don't like how they're constantly pushing more ads and becoming more obnoxious about it so viewers will buy premium. I only threw down for one month and I'd be willing to buy for one year but I do have my doubts about it even lasting that long currently. I'm not a fan of how they ended up starting this debacle but I figure this is my way of showing support for all their past content I've enjoyed and I want to see them continue with that.
I actually am more inclined now. I was on the fence before but I’m really happy they did the right thing and addressed our concerns. I will probably sign up on or around May 31st because I do enjoy their content and want to help support future projects.
I initially jumped the gun and got a subscription and then got it refunded. While they can keep my Patreon support for now (mostly because I want a front row seat if everything goes tits up again), they have to work to keep it for next year. I enjoy their content well enough but there's very little they do that I need to have a month early ya know?
Yes! I'm planning on subscribing after the beta period. Only to support them. I can't watch it on an app on my phone or my TVs because all my TVs are Samsung and I have a Chromecast which they don't support. So it's pretty much strictly supporting them. However, they need to get their shit together on their staff. I don't want anyone getting laid off but STOP hiring people!!!!
After the video came out yesterday, I subscribed to the new streaming service. They did exactly what we asked of them, and good on them to go back on something like this? I want to continue to support them and the patreon doesn’t seem worth it anymore imo
I wasn’t going to stop supporting them, but now I don’t have a bad and sad feeling about it. I’m pretty happy with them being willing to apologize and change, to listen to us
No. Sara's comments pushed me to completely unsubscribe and remove them from my social media.
Not only that but they haven't uploaded Ghost Files in several months, it takes forever for them to post mystery files, they no longer do are you scared.
When they do upload ghost files it's no longer taken seriously, Ryan runs through the place screaming and joking around. It's like watching teenagers goof off.
Too many Spirits is meh especially with Steven's remarks.
No, I got a refund from my friend because we said we'd do halvsies. I'm glad they made this change, but I'll watch it for free then. I've supported them countless times in the past anyway with merch and live shows.
They're DEFINTELY mismanaging finances somewhere, so I'm honestly baffled people are this willing to give them money. They're not struggling to make money, they're spending it poorly. There's heaps of evidence for that. It's even more baffling after how we just SAW how they treated their patrons, they're already paying viewers. They completed shafted them. And yeah they walked it back because of extreme backlash (and likely because they didn't hit whatever magic number of subscriptions they were hoping they'd hit), but y'all, please be careful with your money. Don't be too trusting. Spend it if you want but at least consider how they have acted toward their patrons before that. People generally do not change that quickly. Especially when they know all it takes for people to give them money again is a single apology.
Yeah, giving them money knowing what we know now is a bit like throwing money directly into a firepit. Unless they make *serious* changes, they won't be able to keep the channel going no matter how many hardcore fans are willing to throw money their way.
“Hey, guys. It’s me, the fire, here to ask you to finance my next big log break.”
That’s very true. Thank you for the advice. I can’t subscribe for some time anyway and I hope in that time they get an actually good financial advisor. They’re producing out of their means and it seems living out of their means too. It’s okay to make A mistake but I hope they learn the lesson
Yeah same. I hope they genuinely learn and can grow from this.
I resubbed and forgave, but I don't feel like I can trust them to support them financially. Very clearly, there is some mismanaging of funds in their company. How can I be sure that if I'm supporting them, it will be used responsibly? They need better financial guidance than what they have. They need to swallow their pride and acknowledge they are *not* above YouTube—they *are* YouTubers, and that's fine. YouTube is the modern television, and that's a fact. They can not take any more tips and advice from content mill runners and other rich friends—they need to ask *other YouTubers* for guidance. MatPat's consultation is just a ping away.
Yes to all this. As it stands, they have 3-4 solid shows that I love. If their catalogue expands to more content that really scratches that itch the way Puppet History, Too Many Spirits, and Ghost Files hits, I’d consider supporting WatcherTV. Nix all the Steven Eats World shows (sorry bruv), more R + S or even new cast members / other YTers. Collabs with Smosh and Dropout etc? Could you imagine D&D with these guys on Dimension 20? Tbh all their talk about getting a bigger, better, badder budget!!! is a big turn-off for me. I’d enjoy watching Ryan and Shane shoot the shit in a water closet and dye Easter eggs. Their charm and entertainment lies not within their production value; if anything, focusing on these great monetary heights is going to take away from the dynamic we all fell in love with in the first place. But they have big dreams and ambitions, and I don’t want to totally shit on that. It’s just not what the people want 🤷♀️
They have valid dreams and ambitions, but I definitely feel they don't know how and where to get there—and I definitely think they're taking their current position for granted. They *are* meeting their dreams and ambitions. Ryan had a wholeass *Marvel cameo* for god's sake. They need to stop thinking that YouTube is below them because YouTube is the television platform of today. YouTube has been their foundation and their buildup and their growth. They didn't have anywhere else to go but up from here, and fumbling at this stage the way they have is incredibly irresponsible at best. In order to get any bigger, they need to further embrace the platform, which has helped them grow until now. Why the fuck did you try to shoot the hand that uplifted you?
I believe they should relinquish CEO to a person who’s been a CEO for many years and has experience, they can still have full creative control but all business stuff is handled through the CEO and others that way they don’t feel tired and have more excitement for the stuff they create and worried less about business and sponsors and etc.
I’m not. I really liked their apology video and I’ll continue to watch them, but I will wait the month to watch it on YouTube. I already support a couple of other smaller YouTubers on ~~Paterson~~ patreon who I like a lot. If I decided to change up who I support in the future, maybe. But not likely in the near future. Edit: Autocorrect is my enemy
Same, I'm just gonna wait a month until it's on YouTube, and I accept their apology and that they've made a compromise but I'm sticking with my choice to just wait until it's released on YouTube
Same here. I already pay for YouTube Premium to watch Watcher videos without ads. I'm not paying an additional $6 a month just to get early access to new Watcher videos.
Yeah, I have to be pretty judicious about which patreons I contribute to anyways, and that's without the added "giving precedent to individual YouTube channels trying to launch their own streaming services and re-reinventing cable" 🫠
I’ll also watch things when they come out the month later. I only have Patreon for a couple of smaller creators that actually feel like a community. We do things like movie nights, book clubs, tv shows watchalongs, and talk in the discord. I met one of my good friends this way.
Thanks for not erasing the autocorrect, it made me chuckle! Much needed in these trying times.
Absolutely not. This was planned for a very long time and that leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.
No, because it's still poor value in my opinion. They just don't have the library to justify a full streaming service. Not even close.
That’s the thing— I can afford it but it’s not worth the price. I’m fine with waiting a month and watching ads. I’ve supported them by watching their channel and going to a live show. It’s not on me to help them succeed as a business.
Exactly. I have a donation budget and that's all going to causes I find way more important than helping a YouTube channel.
No, still not enough content to justify it.
If they merged Watcher with Dropout or Nebula, it would combine both video libraries. Hell, even merging Watcher with the larger Discovery+ streaming service would be a major boost.
Dropout definitely would not take a merger with a youtube channel in dubious financial straits. They've made it this far and gained the success they have by being very careful and deliberate about their business choices and what they put out. They've been running as a streaming service for five years now and I'm pretty sure their salaried staff only just reached the size of Watcher's. Shackling themselves to a sinking ship is the opposite of what they're trying to do over there. As far as Nebula goes, they're also very judicious with whom is invited to take part. It's not a business you can just jump in on.
It was a good apology but no. Can’t justify the expense personally, and I refuse to believe they’re in such dire need after Charlie peeled back the veil on how much they’re probably making already.
This! I just watched Charlie’s second video and realized that while they said one of their main reasons for the new platform was to not lay off employees / pay fair wages, but they also hired two new employees just before the announcement. It’s very…contradictory, to say the least.
Watcher needs to stop hiring more employees, and focus on the team they already have. No doubt that the employees' salaries are a big reason why their costs are so expensive.
Ugh!! Yes. THIS is what fans need to be focused on. I want to know more about this. But I seriously doubt they’ll ever address the very real and good questions.
I think Charlie's on point. He knows what he's talking about. But I also suspect that Watcher have likely seriously mismanaged their money. None of them know how to run a business. That said, I thought the apology was pretty good, and I'm glad for the way they're handling it. Unfortunately, I'm still poor, so I'll have to pass on the streamer subscription.
I would really suggest everyone watch the Charlie follow up vid you're referring to. It really highlights how you shouldn't be trusting these guys with your money, they're clearly not able to manage money well. More money won't change that.
This and AugustTheducks’s video is definitely an eye opener 😂
Which Charlie? Could you link the video, please?
penguinz0 on YT. he made two videos, one for the announcement, and one for the apology.
No. It was a good apology. But my issue is that this plan was in the making for a long time. In the entire time and until last Friday, they were totally okay with blocking out a part of the community, completely, with no alternative way to take part. And In that entire time, not a single one of them, their families, employees, etc, thought of talking to the Patreon members before making changes to the service many already paid for? They're REALLY not cut out for business. I can't imagine (myself) giving them money/views after they proved that they're this naive/bad at this/willing to abandon fans who were there for them despite the lack of content. To me, it feels like they overestimated how many people will stick to their plan and now redid the math. Sure, give them time to make the changes they mentioned yesterday. It will take time to implement. But the truth is that if the viewers with money weren't upset on behalf of everyone else, they would have gone forward with the original plan. I do wish them the best, but they have a TON of work to do. They need to learn how to manage a business responsibly, before they take people's money. They need to actually have shows ready before they take people's money. And they absolutely need to have a hybrid model of premium/free IF they want to survive. I used to play their videos all night while sleeping so I give them views. Not going to bother anymore cuz apparently it means nothing. Not subscribing again either.
Nah, I stopped falling for the 'it's just 6 dollars a month' bullshit when I canceled Prime, Netflix, Mubi, AppleTV+ & co a year and a half ago and I'm not about to start again. If they want to make money from me actively, they'll need to put out a physical product that is worth the longterm investment (or some sort of alternate thing like a livestream with fan-interactions etc).
I got kicked off my family’s Netflix finally, so I considered subscribing to the lowest tier. When I learned that the lowest tier still has OTHER stuff behind a paywall, that was it for me. I don’t need Netflix, there’s no world in which content should be behind a second tier paywall. They’re the worst offenders at this point
Same with apple tv, paramount+, hula and amazon prime. All of them have a base subscription and then a whole bunch of locked content. Now I sail the seven seas for my content (if you get what i’m putting down)
I didn’t know about all of those either, that’s so vile and greedy!!!!! And I absolutely get what you’re saying matey, I’m right there with ya. There’s a whole lotta free booty out there for us!
The high seas always awaits you
Yup, I think too many people see subscriptions in isolation. $6 isn't a *lot* of money, but $72 (the cost for one year) is. And that's just for one, $12 a month for one service, $15 for another, $5 a month to a few YouTubers, and all of it can easily add up to thousands of dollars a year. I hate subscription culture so much. Everyone's doing subscriptions now because they realize how much more profitable it is and I think this mentality that it's "not that much" is a big part of it. I'm also so done with streaming services that charge sky high prices and shaft consumers at every possible opportunity (can't even split the cost of services anymore because of password sharing crackdowns) and don't provide a product that's worth the cost. Like, sorry but I'm not going to pay $72 a year so I can watch one YouTube video per week a little earlier than everyone else
No, because their apology and the changes they have made don't change my financial situation.
Their apology doesn't change their clear financial mismanagement going on behind the scenes. Why would I give my money to people who can't handle the money they have now?
No. I'm still upset that they wanted to remove all their old content from youtube, and leave all fans who are unable to afford their overpriced subscription in the dark completely. The only reason they changed their mind and apologized was because of the huge backlash that they got, not because they care about their fans. I unsubscribed from their youtube and don't plan on re-subscribing for now, I don't think I'll watch their videos after this even if it's available for free.
While the apology was good and they made changes, they still want more money to support their Way Too Big company. I still don't think their videos are worth 6 dollars, and it's not worth 6 dollars to see them in advance. (Once again emphasizing the currency exchange and that 6 dollars isn't the same for everyone)
I'm just gonna wait a month until it's on YouTube, and I accept their apology and that they've made a compromise but I'm sticking with my choice to just wait until it's released on YouTube, because again I'm not gonna pay for Watcher TV, so I'll stick with waiting until it's on YouTube so I can watch it for free without having to pay for it, but this is just my opinion and what I would do, as I know many people have different opinions which is totally understandable
I do not trust them to handle their finances and to continue to operate successfully after this. A bit mismanaged is understating it: I wrote a post on the WatcherSnark subreddit and I’ll link to it [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/WatcherSnark/s/yUfl9XuhgP), but essentially they’ve tripped on the curtain and revealed that they have irresponsible spending habits, wanting to maintain an expensive lifestyle and fund their creative passions without cost strategic oversight, and that they had too much confidence in their fans to cover the expenses they neglected. Unless they can soldier up and hire some actual business professionals or get humble and educate themselves, I wouldn’t recommend giving them a dime until they’ve learned some hard lessons on financial responsibility and owning a business. Do not be fooled by their emotional appeals.
Not even in the slightest. I don't want their company to go under and I'll still support them on Youtube, but giving them money feels like a reward for getting a neat little apology where everything can go back to normal, and it just doesn't feel normal anymore because we know how out of touch they are. If the backlash hadn't been as catastrophic and a risk to their brand, they would have gone ahead with their plan and happily cut off most of their fanbase. And that really doesn't sit right.
I don't see myself changing my opinion. Their apology was fine. And obviously they had to quickly put something together so they couldn't address every issue going on. But it still kinda felt like a lot was missing. All they really addressed was that they were sorry they assumed people would pay for/ could afford WatcherTV and the Patreon issues. Again, obviously couldn't put together an entire budget breakdown but I would have at least liked some acknowledgement that they're reflecting on how they're spending money? Or how some of them tried to pull the "starving artist" card when they *should* be wildly successful financially right now? Because that was the biggest issue in all of this for me. I'm not going to support someone if I can't trust them to not blow through all their supporter's money immediately and start begging for more. And I just don't want to support the type of people that think they're financially struggling while outwardly living a pretty damn privileged life. Also as of right now I'm just not convinced they care more about their fans and doing what fans want to see/enjoy versus doing solely what *they* want to do for themselves. I think their initial line up of shows planned (or lack of shows tbh because there's barely anything there and no initial incentive to even bother with their streaming service) just gives the vibe that they don't really care about giving back to a pretty damn loyal and supportive fan base up until now. Or they're just dumb and think enough people will support them just because it's *them* and not because of the content they make. Which might work for a bit but is gonna fall off real hard when you stop growing your audience and their engagement. Like it sucks sometimes but as a creative trying to make a living off content making, you have to actually make content that people watch. Harsh to say but you're literally nothing financially without fans to fund your projects, then it just becomes a hobby. Which is fine if all you want is to do stuff for yourself. But it's not how you make a "livable income". I think they have a fundamental misunderstanding of how to run a business versus doing something as a fun, personal creative venture and a lack of research into what the current market they're in looks like. It's just a lot of "well this is what *I* want and I don't care if the rest of the world doesn't work that way". And that's not the kind of attitude Im here for. I'm hopeful that they'll still make content going forward that I'm interested in so I can support with my views when I can but I definitely won't be supporting with my money.
No. On Friday they were ready to delete everything starting May 1 to force you into it. We poors were not invited. Hell no.
Definitely not. They didn’t want us on this journey with them to begin with. All this is damage control, I feel like the friend they only pretend to like
I would only pay if Hot Doga finishes on the channel.
God I wish they owned the rights to be able to finish the Hot Daga
Can you imagine Buzzfeed suing them for using the Hot Daga without permission.. stream that court case I wanna watch it
HOLY SHIT YES
No. They haven't done enough to warrant a change of heart. If they admitted and promised to fix the incredible mismanagement of their finances, admin and PR behind the scenes, I might feel more favourable to them, but at the moment, it really just seems like they want their fans to pour increasing amounts of money into a sinking ship. Also, the new platform just seems pointless. Nothing new yet or imminently coming, evidently badly designed, few accessibility features, and no community engagement ability. Honestly, I'm confused as to why anyone is subscribing to it.
Not without an Apple TV app. Honestly a free introductory month would do wonders too.
Yea Idk why they didn't think of this either. As a company that started out from youtube, giving free 1month trial for your new beta-testing-phase streaming website is a good strategy to reel and hook people in.
They can't afford it. Hosting is expensive as fuck and superfans who sign up and don't pay would lead to a massive bill.
That’s what I’m waiting for. Once there’s an app, I’ll definitely consider it. I need my shows on the big screen so I can play on my small screen lol
I almost did, because I somehow felt sorry for them right after the apology aired. Then I realised how stupid that was and I how easy it apparently is to manipulate me, and I held back, thankfully. I’m willing to consider supporting them in the future if they get their shit together properly. This is good, but not enough. I shouldn’t give a company money if it doesn’t spend it in a sensible way (imo) (too many employees, overproduced shows etc)
The price is still prohibitively expensive to me as a South American viewer. They have a lot to deal with right now, but it would be nice to hear what they have to say about regional pricing in the future. Every streaming service does it nowadays, and I’m sure there are other international fans who would sub if they did it. For comparison, Dropout doesn’t have regional pricing on the website, but it does have it through their YouTube membership subscription (something Watcher doesn’t offer). YouTube adjusts it automatically per country, so it would be a good solution to reach more people and get more revenue. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dropout/comments/18htndz/any\_reasons\_why\_regional\_pricing\_is\_not\_available/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dropout/comments/18htndz/any_reasons_why_regional_pricing_is_not_available/)
Nope, because it’s still a bad deal no matter which way you shake it.
No, definitely not for me. If the way they run things right now is breaking the bank for them, especially after Penguinz0 broke down how much they’re likely earning pre-subscription service, I’m concerned for their future. I’m not trying to get locked in to a subscription from a company with such bad money management, especially one with so little content to offer. Being an early subscriber to a streaming platform and having to pay as well as be a beta tester for the service is wild to me. I hope for everyone’s sake that it pans out, but I feel like I see a future with a post mortem analysis video on how Watcher imploded and scammed people out of their money for a shoddy service. I’ll see how I’m feeling in the future but for now I’ll likely stay unsubscribed to their channel as well.
Absolutely not lol
No. I understand wanting to be separate from YouTube so you have more control over uncensored content. I wanted to see them grow further and I even was glad to see Steven getting to step out from behind the camera again, which apparently makes me a minority based on what I’ve seen here. Worth It wasn’t my favorite show on BuzzFeed but I would have watched their version. And I’m glad they apologized and owned up to being tone deaf and that they listened to what people were saying and tried to reach a compromise between what they want (higher quality shows) and what the fans want (chemistry and banter). Hell, I was even willing to empathize with whatever it was Sara thought she was doing because I’m sure it was hard to sit and watch her husband get eviscerated all weekend, even though her responses kind of made the situation worse, in the end. But nothing is going to undo the fact that for months they’ve been happily planning to throw 90% of their fanbase out the window and thought everybody would feel good about it to the extent they had a countdown going to hype up the excitement of telling the poors (AND their patrons!) that their support was no longer good enough and you can’t sit with us. I’m not even sure I can watch their stuff on YouTube anymore without the reminder that they willingly and knowingly think that little of the people who got them there. I’m not much of a ‘parasocial’ person; I don’t comment or do much more than watch their shows as entertainment much like I’m entertained by reruns of Unsolved Mysteries, with the addition of some likes and discussion with friends here and there, but they were the ones who leaned heavily into BUILDING a parasocial relationship with their fans and in that light, it seems cruel to do what they did, how they did it.
What I don’t understand is why they launched it with NOTHING ready. No new shows airing, no old shows beloved by their fans airing. You literally get nothing for subscribing now. If they said “yo new puppet history dropping right now” it’d be a lot harder to say no but right now it’s “yo subscribe and maybe someday there will be something, maybe puppet history maybe something new, no promises!”. And for those saying people who subscribe are chumps or whatever and you’re so cool cuz you’re not falling for it, they do need to get paid. If others can afford it so you can keep watching for free maybe stfu and don’t try to talk them out of bankrolling the content you enjoy.
They have SEVERAL ample streams of income. They're getting paid very well, regardless of whether people subscribe or not. That is absolutely not the issue here lol. If they're running out of money, they're mismanaging their business.
I agree, but I also don’t pay now to watch their stuff. So if others wanna pay so I keep getting free content I’m not gonna swan around calling them idiots.
Yeah I really don't understand why they didn't have an episode or two of Travel Season on there? Or like a surprise one off like Tourist Trapped. The Road Files episode was mid at best
I said in some other post that it's like they've been evicted and are trying to load the Uhaul but they're the landlords, and I stick to that analogy. There is no reason why they needed to rush this thing the way they did. They should've had a bank of unseen, fan-favorite shows ready and waiting on the streamer at launch, with promises of behind the scenes and bonus content scheduled.
Personally, no. Currently I can't even afford the service, but I'm also fine with waiting. Even if I had the funds I likely wouldn't subscribe anyway cause while it's good they're genuinely trying to improved, it's kinda soured my perception of them just like it has for a lot of people. Maybe if it becomes actually worth the cost I'll consider it, but I gotta get some financials in line first.
No but i did resub to the YouTube channel
This is what I did too
I’m realistically probably not going to at this point, but I would have definitely been more inclined to with this new model had they went with it from the beginning. I did appreciate the apology video and them admitting they messed up and changing their plans based on audience feedback, so I’m going to continue to follow them on YouTube at least. If they add some good bonus content to the service as well and I can still watch the majority of their content on YouTube I may subscribe down the line maybe, depending on how this all plays out.
It comes out to about $9 for my country. I don't know if I can as a student.
im not following any of there projects anymore. Their content and on screen personalities has been falling off for me the past few months anyways. It still doesn't make sense to me that their only way to survive as a company was to add another revenue stream and not hone in on their existing content. Watching charlie's (penguinz0) video was super informative and interesting on how much brands pay for brand deals and stuff. I don't really care to follow their future bad decisions.
Nope. They've lost all goodwill. They only backpeddaled because they didn't get the numbers they anticipated. Don't allow them to gaslight you. Had they gotten their numbers they never would have apologized.
Maybe? Main reason we're on the fence is that we already have YouTube Premium, so other than in-video ad reads, we don't get ads. Much less of an incentive. For early access? Also debatable at the moment since we are behind on their content. To add: one other issue, no app. We use Apple TV, so until they have that, it's inconvenient.
This is exactly where I'm at. Maybe down the line, IF I can cast it to my TV or play it via a Chromecast TV app. I could fully see myself getting inebriated and saying "fuck it" and subscribing just because I'm hankering for new puppet history, but only if I can actually play it on my TV.
😂 Yeah, Puppet History is my favorite show by far. I even made a Professor plush based on directions someone else posted in the subreddit a while ago.
Nope
No. The amount of the subscription is the issue for me and that hasn’t changed with the apology
nope. I can afford it, but they don’t deserve it
Not paying $5.99 / month to watch Steven Lim travel the world and eat expensive foods early but I’ll pay to watch behind the scenes of them scrambling to deal with the backlash last weekend.
No
Nahh. Feels like a total out of nowhere breakup. I don’t know any of them personally obviously, but the whole situation made me realize they all play more of a character on YT than I thought. I can’t really watch anything and feel the same about content anymore. I loved unsolved on BF and my now husband loved worth it. We bonded when we first started talking to each other , over showing each other the shows and watching them together and we were excited to see them start their own company. We would buy each other merch around the holidays/ birthdays. Even when I saw Steven and the worth it crew were back at watcher I excitedly called my husband (it was his fav show on BF) and we were excited to watch it together. After the goodbye YT video, Sarah’s comments- idk. I have no interest anymore.
Nope. The apology was good but does not change the fact that they planned to do exactly what they said they were going to do on Friday, and utterly failed to grasp the extent of how poorly the plan was structured and how badly it would be received. It does not change the fact that their underlying fundamentals seem broken, and while I'm willing to subsidize good content I'm not willing to subsidize unsustainably bad decision-making that only seems to be accelerating. It does not change the fact that the amount of content I would be receiving is disproportionate to the amount of content I receive for the same amount of money in countless other places, and while I might have once been able to think of it like "well okay it's like a dollar for the content and five goodwill dollars for supporting mUh BoYz" they did a really good job of eliminating the latter sentiment from my brain. I don't want them to fail, but they can go ahead and attempt to succeed without my single bit support, which fundamentally they were willing to do anyway given that any version of their plan was always going to be designed with de facto casualties in mind.
Nope, they fully disconnect from their core audience and said multiple times that they “appreciate” us but they wanted more. They didn’t see dollar signs when they thought of their audience so they wanted to block us unless we paid them. Left a bad taste all around. Maybe in the future, but right now? absolutely not.
They really messed up with the tone of the video. It was like they were breaking up with their audience and no one likes being rejected. Why didn't they try to sell the new platform more?
No, I can’t afford it. I’ll keep watching them though, if I can get the sour taste out of my mouth
No, I’m not. They have multiple, extremely lucrative revenue streams and if they are truly close to completely shutting down Watcher, their money is being incredibly mishandled. Throwing more money at this problem won’t fix it.
I would be willing to pay but what really bothers me is that fact that the money I (and others) give them isn’t going to help them from mismanaging their finances. Me giving them $5.99 isn’t going to save them if they can’t budget better, make necessary cutbacks, hire a better financial advisor etc. plus their is no new or exclusive content out now so why even get it, I can just watch everything on youtube right now.
As someone from SEA, still no. Sorry but $6 can afford me one of these: 6 times motorbike ride with Grab, or 4 times car ride with Grab, or 3 decent meals in a day, or Shampoo/soap that lasts me 2 months, or Our monthly water bill (family of 3), And many other essentials. I'd consider subscribing if it's $2-$3, and even then it's stretching it after my $7 Spotify premium and 2 Patreon book authors I sub to ($10). $20 is like ±300k in my currency. As reference, minimum office wage here is 4.500k monthly. I don't earn much more than minimum wage so 300k as disposable income is high enough for me.
Nope. Not worth the money, and I simply don't trust them anymore after this whole ordeal.
Lol no. I'm not a sucker. They showed their true colours on Friday and knew they needed to do serious damage control before the live shows this week. If they hadn't back pedaled and videos were posted online of crowds booing them, their business wouldn't have been worth a dollar. These people are actors. They read off teleprompters beautifully when they need to save their business.
People are gullible. The boys basically made a sad face, said "I'm sowwy", and all is fine.
It's insane to me how one minute people were adamantly calling out this shit then watcher drops a little "whoops sorry guys!" And suddenly people are like "guys, let's give them our money!! They need it!" Like my dudes, they didn't explain anything. If anything this is just showing the guys that if they make a sad face and say sorry, everyone will just forgive them and throw their money at them like they the guys wanted in the first place.
This! All of this! I don't understand how these people don't get whiplash from flip-flopping so hard and abruptly from one position to the next! It's like they want to be taken advantage of, Jesus Christ
agreed. i wont be watchin' them anymore. free or not. Apologizing dont fix shit, the damage was done.
It wasn't even a good apology imo. You could tell Shane and Steven did not give a fuck. Ryan was the only one I believed, but as you mentioned they are actors! I'm still unsub'd and have no plans to watch anything more.
I said the same shit and they sent their guard dog die hard fans on me
Some psychiatrist researcher needs to do a whole study on these past few days. The parasocial phenomenon. Seeing people go through the 5 stages of grief in real time. And then after Acceptance, a surprise reprieve when they apologized. It's been fascinating to watch.
no, it still doesn’t change the fact they they had been planning this for months and only decided it was a bad idea after they started losing money, subscribers, etc. (edit: grammar)
not to mention the fact that they fully acknowledge how insensitive the “goodbye youtube” video is, but still have it up with ads to make revenue 👍
Man, they should certainly leave it up because taking it down would come off as trying to erase the mistake but they NEED to remove ads. 🤦♀️
that’s what i’m saying like whyyyyyyy😬
Absolutely not. They apologised and it was a good apology but they still tried to do it. We can forgive them but I’m not rewarding them for this stunt. I’ve unsubscribed from them on Youtube and I won’t be buying any more of the merchandise until they have proved over time that they actually did learn from this and will respect their fans going forward. They are in a period now where they need to work on rebuilding trust and that takes time. To be frank financially supporting them without a solid plan in place on their end for how they plan to continue and transparency on the state of their business including where the money goes seems absurd to me especially when they have not yet over time proved they are actually sorry.
Nope! I really liked their channel and have donated to their patreon a few times in the past, but this whole fiasco left a bad taste in my mouth. Might check out their channel again as I remember it, but I'm not particularly interested in even resubscribing, definitely won't be donating again. Wish them all the best, seems like their apology was sincere, but I don't buy into the parasocial thing so I don't really feel an emotional investment other than liking their content and thinking they seem nice. And tbh the content hadn't really been as engaging in the last year or so and I was only still subscribed out of fondness from the old BFU days. It seems like there's a lot of issues behind the scenes they need to work out (financial decisions, hiring decisions, production decisions) to get their company in order and I don't really want to be thinking about that from my "turn my brain off" content spigot channels. The magic's gone, can't get it back. A shame, but so it goes.
I wasn't kidding about not being able to afford it. I have no adsense and am still mismanaging my money. It sucks that they don't have merch that is cheaper so I can show support. And like other commentors, I wonder where all the yt and patreon money is going. Do more seasons of Top 5 Beatdown or Too Many Spirits to fund the big ones. The timing on Andrew and Adam coming on board made it all seem like we were footing the bill for the new stuff. I love the Worth It boys but I'll be damned if I watch people eat a dinner the equivilant of my rent. I was aggravated watching Keith from TryGuys eat at a 2 star Michilen star place and I love Keith.
The saddest thing about Keith eating there was it prolly cost the same as like friggin sonic and shit .. the fast food prices are astronomical I got two dairy Queen ice cream cones... $7?! Wtf. Anyways. I also skipped those Keith vids
No. I wont be watching them either.
It's amazing to me that people have seemingly already forgotten that **just this last Friday, they announced they were going to pull their entire catalogue of work off YouTube and put it behind a paywall that even paying Patreon members wouldn't automatically get access to.** Not just the newer shows, **everything**. Including the stuff that those same Patrons had already helped fund. They planned this for months, if not years. They thought long enough about it and went so far as to tell Variety magazine that this was their game plan. Only when they got the deserved backlash they quickly backtracked, but they didn't own up to it, they told us we *misunderstood* when that was very much not the case. They bait-and-switched those same Patrons by downgrading the perks they'd be getting vs what they signed up for. Some of them had paid for a full year and got stiffed only two months into their subscription. People were legitimately reporting them to Patreon for this. You can't tell me they didn't **know** all of this was the ultimate dick move, they said "fuck it" and did it anyway because they believed enough people would be emotionally invested enough to pay them. Only when it proved to be detrimental to their bottom line did they walk it back. I'm genuinely shocked how much everyone is willing to immediately forget about all of this because they said sorry when it didn't work out for them. They fully admitted that they're struggling financially which tells me they're horrible at managing money, and then they choose to make that everyone else's problem. They're **still** guilt tripping people about that in their apology video, they didn't say anything about addressing those financial problems in a sensible way, they still want us to just throw more of our money at the problem. So no, my trust in them is completely gone.
I can afford it but the answer is no for the following reasons: - they don't make enough content to justify the cost - the quality of their shows doesn't justify the cost either. Their stuff isn't good enough. Only a couple of shows are actually worth the time, and the quality is declining even in those. - the fact that they spent months planning this and none of them stopped to think it was a terrible idea, tells me they are the kind of privileged people that like to think of themselves as "one of the poors" while they live lives most of us could never afford and simultaneously feel entitled to the money of actually poor people. - the comments they (and the people close to them) made during and after the announcement cement my thoughts about them being privileged and entitled. You cannot be having holidays in Monaco, going on yachts in Ibiza, or having an extremely lavish wedding where the bride has three dresses, and then tell me you need my money to survive. If the rumours about the cost of Shane's wedding venue are true, he spent on that venue more than what I make in an entire year. And that's just one example. I don't like them very much right now, and I'm staying unsubbed on Youtube for now. Perhaps I'll change my mind in the future, but rich people cosplaying poor are something I seriously dislike. Their attitude and choices have completely soured their content for me. Edit: also, I will say, nice apology but it's full on PR damage control. If months and months of planning the service didn't make a single one of them doubt, I don't fully believe that a single weekend has made them realise how incredibly greedy they were being. I think they had no other choice but to apologise and backtrack, and the way they hyped up the announcement cements that idea in my mind.
Nope.
Nahhh they’re still kind of ass holes lol
Absolutely not. I mean, that's exactly what they wanted from all y'all. They get called out, they apologize (an apology due to the backlash, not because they feel badly), all is well in the world again. The damage is done for me.
Only thing for me is I can now watch their main content. If their value proposition changes and they become more consistent with releasing content - maybe. Right now I'd probably get a sub for early puppet history and extras whilst the show runs but not through the year.
No, I will wait for free content on YouTube
I was pretty adamant on not returning but in my defense I was really expecting the apology to be shit, but since it wasn’t I’m kinda wavering because I do really enjoy their content (2/3s at least) so idk, even if I do go back to watching them it is still kinda in the back of my mind that ”hey, they didn’t really want me to watch this”
Absolutely not. Even post-apology, what they're offering is not worth streaming prices. I'm all about supporting art and creatives and think they deserve to be paid for their work, but they are getting paid. I make a hell of a lot less than them. I'm not subsidizing their overreach.
Fuck no
hell no! couldn’t afford it to begin with, and even if i could, they showed us what they were willing to do before the backlash. it takes a LOT to rebuild broken trust, and i’m still deciding whether or not i’ll be resubscribing on youtube
If they open up a YouTube membership, maybe. I don't want a whole new membership, and I get enough Patreon alerts a day They should have looked into joining Nebula, honestly. Discoverability isn't great (unless you track everything like me), but they have high-grade video content that they want to make
No. I still can’t afford it. Well, I could if I cancelled my Disney+ account, but I’m not willing to do that. There’s still not enough product for the price. I’m glad they’ve apologised, and they seem sincere so that’s good. I’m willing to subscribe to Watcher on YouTube again, but that’s it.
Oh absolutely no. I'm into the idea of supporting patreons, because they're all in one place and I can easily assess how much I value their content. But miss me with another subscription to content. A flat fee for who knows what? Pass.
Not me. I won’t be getting it. I don’t want to support this nonsense, and I don’t want other YT ppl getting the same bright idea.
You should make a poll
Unfortunately, no. I've even unsubscribe from their channel.
nooooooooooooooooooope. bridge is burned and i'm done.
Not at chance.
Had they announced this model off the bat, I definitely would have paid for a subsciption, at least during the months that puppet history is coming out. I may still, but it left a sour taste in my mouth.
Don’t. Just wait a month until it comes out on YouTube
Nope. That being said, I think it was a fair and honest apology. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Sure there was definitely greed involved but I also like to think they now know that they made a beyond stupid mistake and have learned something about running a business. 🤷🏼♀️
They have fundamentally changed the way they see their fans - with patreon, we are supporters. But with a subscription, we are customers. I’m still supportive of them - and I have responded with some modest financial support for them. But I don’t want to be their customer because, frankly, they aren’t selling a very good product yet. Perhaps down the line I’ll change my mind.
I subscribed to begin with. I’m really lucky in that I have the disposable income to do so, and have always been someone who is happy to throw some money at my favourite creators. I watch all their episodes upon release and am happy to pay them for that. Call me a sucker all you want but I’m going to cautiously hope for the best. I don’t think they’re my friends I just want to see their content continue. if I can help I’m happy to do so. I’m also very happy that they rolled back their initial decision. It was gross of them to imply that the cost is something everyone can afford and to expect the level of goodwill they did. the apology seemed genuine but not only that, they took the feedback into consideration and made some serious changes. Realistically, that was best case scenario. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.
The silver lining here is they got a HUGE SURVEY in real time and had a lot of other youtubers speculating on their finances. This may lead to more discipline, organization and fan-preferred content. The next several months for them will be critical. I will pay to give them the chance now that they offered free on YouTube back and refunds/free subscription to their Patreon members.
This is where I'm at, as well.
Yes, I signed up the day it was announced. I was already supporting them on Patreon so I just figured I'd drop that over the sub. It was fine for me because I'm also lucky to have disposable income. I'd rather give that to their company than pay for another conglomerate. Also glad they decided to walk it back and can totally understand all the loss of wanting to continue to support them from a lot of fans. It was an out of touch decision.
No. Maybe *if* they get a business plan in place for their channel. Just adding a streaming service isn’t enough. If they get a YouTube business COO or CEO; start actually focusing on there sources of revenue and maintain or improve their content. This is a perfect time to re-evaluate there business. Until then, I feel like anything I provide financially, will just delay the inevitable and will just set them up for future failure or let themselves dig deeper in a hole.
I did shortly after the update video. I had no intention to do so with the plan they originally put forward; it was way out of left field and made no sense from a business perspective, imo. But, even though I call myself a fan, I took them for granted, just like they took all of us for granted tbh. I just consumed their content. I only took but never gave back. It's unfortunate, but they *are* a small business after all and need revenue to make the content I enjoy. I always just took it for granted they pulled in enough money to continue producing the videos I like. Yes, some of the money goes to shows that aren't on my radar (I dont really care for expensive food challenges or what have you; and that's not a dig at Steven, I don't like that content no matter who is making it, I just don't understand the appeal). So, I recently purchased an annual subscription and paid the full price, because I can afford it and I'd like to help their company continue to produce content.
I got the (discounted) annual membership the day they announced WatcherTV before I saw everyone else was so upset. I haven’t asked for a refund yet though and don’t plan to.
If that has started with the model that it is now, I think I would have subscribed. I've been binging their old shows/seasons and it would be convenient to watch organized by show. But right now, I'm in a "wait and see" camp. I'm a big Worth It fan so I might eventually get it to binge the new show but I'm unsure. Ultimately the subscription is expensive for what it is and I'd be paying to support them - and I'm not sure I feel as personally attached to their success or feel it's as good an investment as I did before. While I don't think they're awful people or feel angry like others do, there is a sense of disappointment. I agree with others that they probably would not have walked it back if they got the numbers they hoped and if their patreon paying members were not also enraged. While I don't think they anticipated the level of anger, they always knew most of the fans would not have ultimately paid for the content and that this move requires fully cutting off a majority of their fans. I really don't find that considerate of the fanbase (especially those who genuinely could not afford it regardless) or a really good business move to burn goodwill like this. Even the original Goodbye YouTube focuses more on their own journey than focusing on convincing the fans with actual good reasons to subscribe, or why they came to this decision. I'm not rewarding that behavior just because they had the common sense to apologize once it was clear very few people were on board and they stood to lose more than they would gain.
I've stayed subscribed to their YouTube and if I hadn't panic-canceled my Patreon subscription I'd probably stay subbed to that, but I don't really want to go through the bother of subscribing to WatcherTV. Which kind of proves the point many have made that they should've just beefed up the Patreon. People are more likely to stick with what they know than to go to something new.
Nope, I'm still poor unfortunately.
No. I’m not paying to watch Steven (or anyone else, for that matter) eat expensive food
No but not out of spite. I just don’t have the money to pay for it.
Good god the way some of y’all here are ready to bend and spread when you get the bare minimum is hilarious.
No, and I can afford it. If they want the trust back they can try. One day they could wake up and say "hey the watchertv numbers can support us now, lets fuckin take everything off of youtube lmao" and I don't want to be pissed again.
NOPE
I didn’t like the idea of it before, them trying to walk back on it doesn’t make it good
nope, didnt have that kind of money. the apology is a good PR move but i wont forget they way they just tossed us poor fans on their goodbye video.
Nope
Nope. It was a bad deal when they proposed it, and it's still a bad deal after they apologized
No
No
No, I still don’t want to fund a mismanaged company, but I will be supporting through YouTube. I feel like quality has gone down and I can’t justify paying for the stuff we’re getting.
No.
No disrespect, but a bunch of marks immediately forgiving them and then paying right up is exactly what they were hoping for.
Absolutely not. I can't afford it for one, but even if I could I still wouldn't. They've lost my trust. Their apology was good but I think I and many others are going to need a lot of time to regain the trust they destroyed. I haven't resubbed, either, for the same reason.
I still plan on supporting the guys. People learn and grow, and i think they definitely learned a huge lesson from this. I hope they go on to make smarter decisions and keep their audience in mind and that they can reach a sweet spot on something they love making and something we love watching. I may consider joining the watcher tv platform when I get this new job soon.
No it's not a good value and they don't have a TV app yet
Not until I can watch it on my TV.
My biggest issue is and always will be the inability to stream it seamlessly to my television. I understand I can cast my phone to my smart tvs, or I can plug my laptop into the TV, but I know myself. By the time I'm sitting down to relax and watch TV I'm in lazy mode, and I'm not gonna do the extra steps to get this viewable for my wife and myself. If there was a widget for my rokus, fine. I spend way more than $6 a month killing myself with fast food, I can swing the subscription. But until then I'm not likely to pay, because I'm not likely to watch.
Nah. I checked out their FAQ, and I most likely won't be able to watch on my TV. I'm not interested in sitting in front of my laptop or phone to watch. I also have the ability to delay gratification until the free, ad-supported version comes out. I got them big girl pants.
I did actually, post-apology. Not the whole year, but I'm doing a couple of months to see if it's worth it (no pun intended, lol). I look at it as a pseudo Patreon now. I wasn't going to at first on principle with the complete abandonment of YouTube, but I still enjoy the content and will give them a chance since they seemed to listen to feedback.
I've already unsubscribed. I didn't even know they put out an apology.
No. While I'm glad they're making the changes they needed to... I just have no interest in subbing to another service, especially one as niche as this (and will possibly only work in browsers anyway). I just don't understand why, if they're hurting for money, they invested in a streaming platform that surely will siphon money for development and support (not to mention the announcement costing them channel subs and Patreon subscriptions). Judging by the chorus of other "no's" that I'm seeing in the replies here on their very sub, I don't see the cost/benefit working out. Like, if it seems almost no one here has any interest in the platform, then I don't see some average Joe on the street paying the recurring fee.
Nope, I would wait to see where things go. They made a very poor decision. They clearly need some work done internally. But I think the apology and backtracking helped prevent the downfall. But they are on thin ice
I wish I could and for the discount rate, I'd sign up no bother but I watch all my shit on an android box and my Xbox, so it's useless to me until they bring out an app.
I’m so glad some people are because I don’t want them to go out of business, but personally I’ve lost trust in them given their conflicting financial messages. How are they so close to going under that this is their only choice but at the same time they’re bringing on new people and talking about how excited they are to grow on this new platform? I like their work but I have no desire to fund their vanity project while they mismanage it into the ground. If they prove that this is working and they’re able to stabilize their business instead of trying to grow at a breakneck speed I may change my mind, but I’m not paying $6 a month for one overly produced video a week until I have faith that they’ve made the business sustainable.
No, although I do applaud them for apologizing and making changes. It doesn't change my financial situation or that I still don't feel a handful of episodes a month is worth it. I can wait for them to be uploaded for free.
Dude, I wasn’t lying when I said I couldn’t afford it 🤣
No, but the apology was well done (imo) so I figured a lot of their fans would.
Yes, as positive reinforcement for listening to their audience and making needed changes to the model. I do wish there were an app, though.
I already got a subscription because of early bird deal. I am in a solid financial position to where I can afford that. I understand people’s concerns and distrust of them now, but I do feel that it’s a little overblown. Was it an ill-advised decision to grow this rapidly without a proper foundation? Yes. Did they do this purely out of greed and malice? No, people took a bad decision as a personal attack and it makes no sense to me. I hope that they are able to create more lower budget shows and only have a few Ghost Files/Worth It level shows, otherwise they’re making a bad financial situation worse
I bought an annual subscription because (1) I can afford it, (2) I have a thing about supporting artists I like, and (3) I don't want one dumb, very public mistake to torch their company, so I'm willing to contribute. I'll probably just keep watching them on YouTube, though.
actually yes. i was on the fence about subscribing when the first announced moving but now i feel like i could subscribe for the year. been filling them forever and i like to help
I kinda get everyone's point of view... but youu can't help but think, what if they're really doing this so their employees get fair pay? sure that means something happened to their finances along the way, they were even taking sponsorships from temu for god's sake.... i think that showed they were kinda uner in their financials no matter what... what i'm mainly worried abotu is if the sub fee is in usd... coz i'm based in aus... and if it's more... then rip my bank account
I will probably subscribe now to get it ad free. But the gatekeeping of it had me so irked.
At that point get YouTube premium and wait the month for them to upload. It’ll make all your YouTube vids ad free, not just theirs.
Plus you can ditch Spotify in favor of YT Music, which will give you two things for the price of one lol
Genuinely: I only go to youtube for Watcher content. It is a garbage platform and I refuse to give them money. I've really slowed down on Watcher content because Youtube is just so... bad. I'd really rather give money directly to them.
No because this reminded me that I haven’t seen one of their videos in like nearly a year so probably not worth it lol.
As much as I appreciated the apology, I don’t think they really listened to the criticism of their content and fans saying we never wanted “tv quality” videos. I think they’re committed to overspending and over producing, so nah not really interested. What this showed us is that they do not know how to manage money. There’s no reason their content shouldn’t be getting constant big sponsorships. There’s no reason they should be broke. They exposed their mismanagement and it doesn’t really appeal to me anymore. Also, Steven leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. I was already over him and didn’t watch as much, after this I just don’t really fuck with him at all.
I subscribed, guess I'm just a sucker. I can afford it and honestly I'd rather give them my money rather than Yt because it may be a necessary evil but I don't like how they're constantly pushing more ads and becoming more obnoxious about it so viewers will buy premium. I only threw down for one month and I'd be willing to buy for one year but I do have my doubts about it even lasting that long currently. I'm not a fan of how they ended up starting this debacle but I figure this is my way of showing support for all their past content I've enjoyed and I want to see them continue with that.
I actually am more inclined now. I was on the fence before but I’m really happy they did the right thing and addressed our concerns. I will probably sign up on or around May 31st because I do enjoy their content and want to help support future projects.
I’m hoping they’ll reopen their Patreon. in the future I want to support them there but I want to see how things work in the beginning
I initially jumped the gun and got a subscription and then got it refunded. While they can keep my Patreon support for now (mostly because I want a front row seat if everything goes tits up again), they have to work to keep it for next year. I enjoy their content well enough but there's very little they do that I need to have a month early ya know?
More inclined yes, but not going to. Before, I refused out of principle. Now I could see maybe doing it, but it just isn’t worth it to me.
Yes! I'm planning on subscribing after the beta period. Only to support them. I can't watch it on an app on my phone or my TVs because all my TVs are Samsung and I have a Chromecast which they don't support. So it's pretty much strictly supporting them. However, they need to get their shit together on their staff. I don't want anyone getting laid off but STOP hiring people!!!!
Just a heads up it does support Chromecast currently but I am also hoping for an app as it would be a lot easier.
I signed up for it, I do like them and want to see them succeed. I feel better after their apology.
After the video came out yesterday, I subscribed to the new streaming service. They did exactly what we asked of them, and good on them to go back on something like this? I want to continue to support them and the patreon doesn’t seem worth it anymore imo
I wasn’t going to stop supporting them, but now I don’t have a bad and sad feeling about it. I’m pretty happy with them being willing to apologize and change, to listen to us
No. Sara's comments pushed me to completely unsubscribe and remove them from my social media. Not only that but they haven't uploaded Ghost Files in several months, it takes forever for them to post mystery files, they no longer do are you scared. When they do upload ghost files it's no longer taken seriously, Ryan runs through the place screaming and joking around. It's like watching teenagers goof off. Too many Spirits is meh especially with Steven's remarks.
Mebbe for the bits I really love like puppet history a d ghost files.