Is YouTube Turning Into Reality TV?

0:00The Colin and Samir Show is supported by Microsoft Copilot. This is something I thought I would never say, but can I share with you my favorite prompt? I mean, like when you say something like that, I have to say yes. Were you going to say no? No, but okay. Just let me hear it. So when I'm researching for a guest or I need to know a lot about a subject matter, I say, make me a podcast about. And when you do that, you're going to get a short blurb about that subject. And then in like two minutes, you're going to get a podcast. So check this out. Welcome to Co-Pilot Podcasts. Picture this, a guy working the front desk at a hotel, making lacrosse videos in his spare time, completely unaware that he's about to become one of the most influential voices in the creator economy.

0:38Today, we're diving into the remarkable story of Colin Rosenblum. Wow. Did you pay it to say that? That's crazy. That's very kind. It's crazy, but it's my favorite way to learn about a subject matter. I'm learning about so much more now that I can turn this research into like a seven minute podcast that I can listen to just when I'm walking. Did you tell it that I worked at the front desk of a hotel? Dude, the prompt is just make me a podcast about Colin from Colin and Samir. That's it. I may be biased, but I'm on the edge of my seat. I'm hooked. So if you guys haven't checked out Copilot, check it out.

1:10Try it for your research. Try it for getting variations of your titles, your ideas. It's one of my favorite tools on the internet right now for our creativity. And now, back to the show. Hey, what's up, everyone? Welcome to this episode of The Colin and Samir Show. And on this episode, it's just me. There's no Colin. I am podcasting alone. Now, I'm not going to be fully alone. I actually asked you guys for questions to submit. A lot of you guys sent in video questions. So I will be answering those video questions in this episode. And I have to say, we got some incredible questions. I'm only going to be answering a few, but we're probably going to save some of those for a later episode.

1:49And I would just say on a rolling basis, if you want to send in questions, send in questions because these were really fun to check out. Now, before we get into the episode, I want to say we are 36 days away right now from Press Publish NYC. And if you're a listener to this show, then you remember when Colin and I officially announced Press Publish NYC. It's our first of a kind one day summit for the creator economy in Brooklyn, New York on September 4th. We also have a welcome party on September 3rd. I want to give you a couple of updates about that. So we have gone through all the applications or almost all the applications.

2:27We've approved over 250 or 260 creators. That represents 230 million followers across social, over 130 million subscribers on YouTube. So we're really excited about the group of people that's attending. We are also about to do a speaker announcement in the Publish Press. So if you subscribe to the Publish Press, then you will find out who is speaking. But there's a great list of creators who are going to join me and Colin on stage and host sessions about what we're doing on YouTube, what trends we're seeing on YouTube, how to build a show and a career on the platform, as well as representatives from other platforms to talk about the broader creator economy.

3:11Anyway, it's going to be a great event. If you haven't applied yet, there are still probably about 100 spaces left. We are still going through the applications, but if you want to check it out, go to press publish NYC. That event is in 36 days. We'd love to see you guys there. Okay. Other things happening in our world. I just want to give a just mention of this really cool recognition we got. We were listed in the time 100 creators list. And that was really cool. I went out to New York last week to last week, last month. I went out to New York last month to go attend that party. And it felt like a really special moment.

3:52And it felt like a moment where creators and digital voices are getting recognition in a very different way. So just want to thank everyone who's been listening and who listens to the show. Obviously, that plays a huge role in it. That was a really, really cool moment. And while I was out there, visited the venue for Publish NYC. And just, you know, for a year that's been pretty rocky for both Colin and I. I think it's been a lot of up and down and there's been some really cool moments. That felt like a really, really cool moment. So I just want to thank everyone who's a fan of the show. All right, now to your questions.

4:24Hey, Samir. My name is Rob Lotrello and I'm a video creator. I'm coming to Press Publish NYC. I'm looking forward to it. I'm wondering what you're thinking about what's going on with Jubilee right now. I think it's obviously very polarizing and I've been seeing a lot more content kind of surrounded and surrounded. it's the name of the series, surrounded in differing groups, judging people like the Pop the Balloon series. What are your thoughts on that? Do you think that YouTube has turned into something a lot more reality based that pits people against each other in that way? Is that a bad thing?

4:54Do you think that's where things are more so headed now? Let me know what you think. Thank you. All right, Rob. Well, first of all, excited to see you next month. But second of all, I think this is a really interesting topic. Now, for people who are unfamiliar, year. Jubilee is a YouTube channel. I mean, we know the team there. They are really great people and also just really incredibly attuned to the platform, to YouTube and what works on the platform. They really had a moment at the end of last year during the election where they launched the series called Surrounded, which is one person who carries a certain belief, surrounded by a bunch of people who carry the opposing belief.

5:37And that creates these kind of explosive debates. Now, I thought one of the most interesting versions of this was with Pete Buttigieg. That was a really interesting one and a really interesting forum for what a debate could look like. And I think there was a lot of conversation at the end of last year of, is this what the modern political debate looks like? Now, since then, they've done a lot of different surrounded episodes. I'm looking at a couple of them on their channel right now. They had Candace Owens versus 20 feminists. So the title of that is one conservative versus 20 feminists. They have Jordan Peterson versus 20 atheists.

6:16They have one LGBTQ activist versus 25 conservatives. They have Skip Bayless versus 25 NBA NFL fans. Dr. Mike versus 20 anti-vaxxers. So you guys get the point. And most recently, about nine days ago, they released one progressive versus 20 far-right conservatives. The progressive featured is journalist Mehdi Hassan. And Mehdi runs a news group called Zeteo. Now, I am a big fan of Jason and Team of Jubilee. I decided to watch this because it was making its way around the internet. And it kept getting recommended to me. It had like eight or nine million views by the time I saw it. So I started watching it and I will be a hundred percent honest.

7:05It was the first YouTube video I've watched maybe ever that, uh, kept me up like almost all night. I couldn't sleep after watching it. And a lot of it is because the topics discussed, um, you know, one of them is around immigration and it was very kind of alarming for me to hear the opposing views, to hear very extreme views come up. So actually, right off the bat, the first thing that happens is a participant sits down and says, what's your ethnic background, if you don't mind me asking? So immediately, it's very racially charged. You know, Mehdi is an American citizen, but one of the participants tells him to get out of their country.

7:56and you know largely this was something that was very divisive you know I think the intention of this series is to spark conversation I think they've done that in the past again I think if you want to see a great example of it I think it's the Pete Buttigieg example but this one to me felt sensational and kind of dangerous in in in what it portrayed I think largely because the viewpoints were very extreme. Now, there have been some repercussions for some of the participants. Actually, one of them who is a self-proclaimed fascist got let go of his job. And Mehdi came out, and we covered this in the published press, but he said, it's a real risk by doing these shows that you are legitimizing and emboldening the far right.

8:47And the reality is, look, I think conversation is important. I think conversation with opposing viewpoints is important. And I think this show has good intentions. I think the challenge with what happens when you bring a show like this to YouTube is that YouTube pulls out the most extreme versions of everything. Because to make something work in the context of YouTube, in the context of a media company, You have to push it to the extreme. So Rob, what you're talking about, the reason why we're seeing this all across YouTube is something that I talked about in our episode of Nick DiGiovanni. In order to get my click on YouTube right now, I really believe you have to show me something I've never seen before.

9:29So the example I gave was Mr. Beast, you know, cheetah versus F1 car. I've literally never seen a cheetah race in F1 car. So that gets me curious enough to click because I've never seen it. But I think we are getting to a point where we're running out of those ideas of things we've never seen before. And I think that's what nets us out into a level of sensationalism that is like, you know, I've never seen Mehdi Hassan be confronted with 20 people with extreme views. I've never seen a progressive person have to deal with that. And when you take human conversation and human debate about real things, about race and ethnicity and socioeconomic status and turn that into sensationalism or spectacle, that's when I think it gets dangerous.

10:19And that's what kept me up watching this is my fear around the implications of turning this stuff into entertainment, the implications of what we talk about, that you have to make something interesting enough for people to click on. When you mix all this together, I think we live in a world where this can get you know, dangerous. And again, I don't want this to come across as I'm, you know, saying this because A, I'm an immigrant or the kid of two immigrants and felt really just sad watching that. You know, again, I do think that people sharing viewpoints is important. So all this to say, I think the Jubilee team has great intentions.

11:04I know they have good intentions. I know those guys, but I think they carry a responsibility when it comes to the casting process and you know I think I understand from an entertainment perspective I'm gonna cast the people with the most extreme views it's the same thing as reality tv and I think Rob that's what you're mentioning that like this has that feel of reality tv so casting like the most explosive extreme people um is going to you know, incite a lot of emotions. That's what it did for me. That's what made me feel anxious and angry and nervous and mad. Uh, and those emotions are what you're, you're trying to evoke emotions as a storyteller.

11:44Um, but I think this one to me was, was a miss. I think, um, there is a responsibility in terms of if we're actually looking to host a debate, uh, what does that look like? What does that mean? What, what are we trying to do? Are we also trying to show what civil discourse looks like. That would be my intention. Like, can we show people with opposing views who can discuss things without saying, you know, racist things, without saying extreme things, without saying hurtful things? That would be my hope. And I think that was a miss here. I think there was a lot of, you know, kind of sensationalism and I don't know what the term is here, but just kind of shock value for shock value's sake.

12:39So that's my perspective. I think you have to watch out even to the creators out there, just think about the implications of what you're making. Viewership is not necessarily positive, right? Just high viewership for high viewership's sake is not necessarily positive. um so yeah that's my take if anyone else has a take on this uh situation from from jubilee let me know um debate is oftentimes shown in entertainment formats or in news formats it's what piers morgan's show is so uh it's not it's not so uncommon but that's my take on it all right now next question this one comes from instagram this is i actually have no idea how to say this username, Kaj Spikens.

13:22In which scenario do you think YouTube can keep formats like Beast Games on YouTube instead of streamers? I think this is a really interesting conversation. I actually was doing some writing about this recently. And what I was thinking about was there's this deadline article that just came out that Netflix is looking at YouTube as an incubator for talent. You know, they have the Sidemen show. Miss Rachel is dominating on Netflix right now. You have Pop the balloon, which went over to Netflix. And like, it feels obvious right now that streamers are looking to YouTube for their next big shows and for talent to come over to produce entertainment.

14:02Now, I think there's been a lot of questions to creators of why would you do that? Right. It potentially would be a lower audience, more gatekeepers, more kind of like structure and creative control from other people. The world moves very slow. It's not necessarily beneficial. But here's the reasons why I think creators would do streaming deals. There's obviously economic reasons. Number one would be, hey, is this going to be an irrational deal? Is it going to be an irrational amount of money that allows me to either A, get compensated really well, or B, take a bet on an idea that I could never do.

14:41Beast Games, 100 million plus dollars to produce something. That's really something that Jimmy just could not do in another setting. So economics are going to be a driving factor of that. The second thing I think is a little more human and ego driven, which is once you have scale, once you are reaching a ton of people, the next thing that's really interesting is status. And I think there's a tangible difference between saying, I have a YouTube show and I have a Netflix show, or I have a show on Amazon Prime Video or on Apple TV, or there's a status that comes with producing in the world of Hollywood.

15:19And I do think creators care about that. I think that's actually really important. The third thing that I'll say is being the creator versus being the distributor. So when you are running a YouTube channel, you are the distributor you have to think through the lens of how are people going to watch this how are people going to access this and i think when you work with a platform i'd imagine like what would be very attractive for me about working with the netflix is hey netflix you handle the distribution you think about how this show is going to get out to your subscriber base let me think about just making the show that's actually really attractive now i think the next chapter of like, you know, this question of in which scenario do you think YouTube can keep formats like Beast Games?

16:02I think YouTube still keeps formats like Beast Games because when Jimmy made Beast Games, he didn't stop uploading to YouTube. So I think mostly what we will start to see is stuff like The Amazing Digital Circus, which is an animated series that, you know, in its first three episodes on YouTube did 500 million views. Today, they have a deal where they simultaneously release on Netflix and YouTube. We might see those types of deals. I think we'll see deals where creators make stuff for streamers, but continue to upload on YouTube. So I think they're going to go hand in hand and be complimentary, but I think that on both sides, they have to understand each other's incentives.

16:41Products might play a role into the prime video world when you see like a Mark Rober with Crunch Labs or a Ryan Trahan with Joyride. Having something that supports your product probably plays a role. So, you know, long story short, creators will remain on YouTube no matter what if they go to streamers. In order for them to go to streamers, they'll have to be like irrationally good economics, feeling like they have some sort of status connected to it, and that attractiveness of like, what kind of marketing do you do so that I can just focus on making the show? All right. Next question is actually two questions from two different creators, but around the same subject matter.

17:20So I put them together. This question comes from, oh God. This question comes from,

17:31this question comes from Emily Saxton. Hey Samir, do you see creators on YouTube once again doing daily series after the success Ryan Trahan just had with his 50 and 50 series? All right, so both questions are about Ryan Trahan's 50 and 50 series where he went to 50 states in 50 days, He's made a video every single day for 50 days. You know, this series has been phenomenally successful. Obviously, we had Ryan on the show to talk about it in the middle of it. But after 50 days, I mean, this series has well over 130 million views. He raised$11.5 million from St. Jude. And he got donations from major, major brands.

18:08Brands like Kia, T-Mobile, Airbnb. You know, brands that I haven't really seen interact with the space. That's what the next question is about. So let me play this next question, then I'll answer both. Hey, Samir, Cole and Emily from the Adventure Cruise, and we've got a question for you. Yeah, so we're really wondering what your thoughts are on Ryan Trahan's 50 in 50 series and how you think that will really impact the creator marketplace and brands specifically buying into YouTube creators now that they see the impact that can be made. It was really interesting to see all those brands just join in and donate to the cause.

18:39And also, it really felt like a lot of these brands we've never even seen on YouTube itself. uh seven brew being one of them right i can't think of seeing any videos that they've sponsored in the past so not only that but we are really excited for publish nyc we're going to be there and excited to see you yep see you soon wow see you guys in new york next month um okay so first question is do i think other creators will be doing daily content um i think ryan is one of those outliers as a creator. And I think one of the amazing things about YouTube is that anyone can do it, right? Anyone can come up with an idea and make a video and upload to YouTube.

19:19But some people just have it. They just have the ability to engage a camera, to have an idea, to take you on the road, to be that personable in front of a camera, to have that relationship with the lens, I think is unbelievably unique. And, you know, we talked to Jimmy about a long time ago. We asked Mr. Beast about Ryan Tran. He was like, I can't do what Ryan does. And that's how I feel, right? Like I look at Ryan, I'm like, I can't do what Ryan does. So to answer Emily's question, like maybe, but there are only a few people who have that type of charisma in front of a camera, who have that taste in what makes a great video and also who have the discipline to do what he just did.

20:01Obviously, we saw it a long time ago with Casey Neistat, but I think it'll be very rare to see people do what Ryan just did. Now, to the question from the adventure crew around brands, one trend I've noticed in our world is that revenue lags about two to three years behind culture. So brands look at our world and they go, maybe two years ago, they were like, somebody young in the company was like, we should probably get into creator marketing. But the budgets have already been locked for the next year and maybe it just takes some time. Okay. So that is, so finally, you know, 2025 comes around and it's like, yeah, okay, now we have our approved budget for creator marketing.

20:43Or maybe I'm even like, maybe there's brands that still need that, you know, that, that to, to get pushed over that, that mountain. It feels obvious to us who've been in the world of, of the creator economy for, you know, Colin and I for 15 years, we've been having the same conversation for 15 years about Like, no, creators are a great place to spend your marketing dollars. We do have, you know, cultural relevance. We are, you know, reasonable producers of content. It's been a long time to convince brands to enter our space like that. the type of brands that Ryan got in, you know, I think it's actually really impactful.

21:19It's going to have a big halo effect on our world because, you know, at a major company like Kia or T-Mobile, budgets come from different places. And having like, like donating to a fundraiser is pretty different from spending on marketing, but that is a huge, you know, door opener to our world. And I think Ryan brought a lot of attention from Fortune 500 brands to understand what's happening in the world of YouTube. To go, hey, this is actually really positive content. There's millions of people watching. Ryan's a great on-camera talent. He's a great producer. This is quality content. And that's been the hurdle that we've had for a long time as creators.

22:05I think that hurdle is starting to get past that. um we you know played a role in in march we hosted uh the spotter showcase which was like a bunch of creators getting together and announcing to advertisers uh what our next slate of shows were and ryan announced 50 states in 50 days there and the t-mobile team was there and so i think continuing to do storytelling to brands around what our upcoming projects are treating ourselves similarly to tv networks and saying hey in the fall this is my programming that's how you get major brands involved in the space. It's really hard for me to go, hey, T-Mobile, I have a YouTube video in two weeks.

22:44I don't know exactly what it's going to be about. It doesn't fit into a format, but would love for you guys to sponsor. That's a much harder yes than, hey, next year I have this show coming out. And I think if we use those terms as creators, if we use that vernacular, it's much easier to get bigger brands into our world. So my answer to both sides is kind of like Ryan is a one of one and he's done an amazing job. But the things we can learn from Ryan are make your videos into a thing, package them into something with a name, like 50 states in 50 days, have an idea that people can jump on board with.

23:24Don't just make videos on a, on an ongoing basis. Like think about eventizing and packaging your ideas. All right. Our next question. Hey, Colin and Samir. I'm Deidre from Our Upcycled Life, and I've been creating DIY and upcycling content for about five years. And something I've noticed lately is how inconsistent brand deals can be. But selling my own digital products like printables and DIY booklets have actually turned into a much more reliable income stream for my channel. So I wanted to ask, do you think creators should stop focusing so much on brand deals and start building product-based businesses instead?

23:59Would love to hear your take. Well, Deirdre, for anyone who's not watching this here, this is such an amazing set to see. But anyway, I think to answer the question, should creators stop focusing on brand deals? I think it's probably safe to say that 90 % of creators make their money from brand deals and advertising. Um, now I think as time is moving on, the question becomes, are you a fit for advertising? Does your content have a natural fit for advertising? Um, or do you do something where a product is naturally integrated? So let me explain that. Well, I just had a great conversation with a woodworking creator named Jonathan Katzmoses, and he builds stuff.

24:49And he started a store where he sells tools to build stuff, woodworking tools. And he has a huge business that does that now. Another great example of this is Kevin Esparitu from Epic Gardening. You know, he has a video called like 11 Crops to Grow in September. Super niche content for people who want to learn how to garden at home. but he sells seeds that you can watch that video then you can buy his seeds and go garden at home so i think if you have a product that can naturally integrate into your content where your content is about that product you have a like a real opportunity in the world of products digital products or physical products um you know a lot of people make a lot of money with notion templates so people who do notion videos how to organize your life how to organize your time and they can sell templates.

25:39Or, you know, when I think about earlier YouTube, there was a lot of filmmakers and photographers who were selling presets and LUTs because you looked at how they made stuff and they integrated the product into their videos. So I think if you have that situation, then you are very well set to have a product business. And then on the other side, a lot of people struggle with brand deals largely because they maybe have too wide of an audience or they don't understand who's in their audience or the audience that they have, there's no industry around that, right? So I think we have a program called Creator Startup Pro.

26:19We're going to launch our new version of that in September. That is all around the business of brand deals. I think it's a very important thing to invest your time in and to build your own materials to understand how your pitch should come together. But the four things that are incredibly important for you as a creator to understand when you are pitching brand deals. Number one, you have to have an extremely specific audience. Who is in your audience? So if you're doing DIY content, are these like beginner DIY people? Are these people who DIY all the time? Do they have a big budget? Who are these people who watch?