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YouTube "just isn't cutting it" š±
Rooster Teeth moves on.

TOGETHER WITH
It's Tuesday and a former TikTok employee is giving content creators a dedicated platform to āspill the teaā without revealing their true identities.
MOVING ON
YouTube revenue ājust isnāt cutting itā for Rooster Teeth anymore
Rooster Teeth is pulling some of its most popular shows from YouTubeāincluding the longest-running web series in internet history, Red vs. Blue. On October 5, showrunner Kerry Shawcross confirmed that fan favorites like Camp Camp and Red vs. Blue will now be available exclusively through Rooster Teethās website. The logic behind that change is simple:
Animation is hard and expensive.
Although Rooster Teethās primary channel claims 9 million subscribers, Shawcross says the corresponding revenue ājust isnāt cutting it.ā In a recent X post, the showrunner explained that ads on Rooster Teethās website generate āfive to ten timesā more value compared to ads on YouTube. Increased site traffic could also drive viewers to FIRST, Rooster Teethās paid subscription service.
āThese changes are all about ensuring we can continue to create the content you know and love as well as new and upcoming projects. ā
The success of Rooster Teethās new website-oriented strategy depends in large part on the loyalty of its current viewershipāsomething that the company has struggled to maintain in recent months. In 2022, Rooster Teeth received criticism from former employees, who called out poor working conditions and abusive treatment from staff. Although Rooster Teeth released a statement apologizing for āhateful and hurtful behavior,ā it has not yet recaptured its peak viewership.
š SPONSORED š
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF š°
Mexico Cityās YouTube Music museum closed its doors earlier this week after a buzzy 10-day pop-up. (Tubefilter)
āShell is facing criticism after reportedly partnering with several influencers to advertise its gasoline-themed Fortnite map to young users. (Gizmodo)
āAccording to leaked screenshots, Threads appears to be developing a ātrending topicsā feature. (TechCrunch)
āX is reportedly preparing to roll out three paid tiers, which will affect the number of ads seen by subscribers. (Engadget)
DATA ā¢ MILLIONAIRES š
Embracing the ācringeā has earned this couple 6 million followers in a single years
Kay and Tay Dudley have always been fascinated by social media. The two creators both developed interests in photo and video editing long before they ever met and got married. The only catch: neither of them ever actually posted anything.
That all changed on the last day of 2021.
The Dudleys were returning home from visiting family, and decided to make a video of their road trip. It was more fun than theyād expectedāso Kay and Tay decided to post a video on TikTok every day for the next year. At the time, Kay says āit was really just to make memories together.ā Their first few videos were āa little cringeā (according to Tay) and mainly reached family members. The couple didnāt mind; in fact, Kay says they āleaned into itā and just enjoyed the process.
Then Tay decided to wear a pair of oven mitts as shoes.
The silly prank cracked Kay upāand successfully charmed around 1.8 million TikTok viewers. After that, the coupleās growth was meteoric. Since posting their first lifestyle video a year and a half ago, the Dudleys have accumulated nearly 6 million TikTok followers and another 1.3 million Instagram followers.
Their next target: YouTube.
With Kay working on content full-time and Tay hoping to go remote in the near future, the couple hopes to ādive into longer form contentā and take āthat step into the YouTube style content creation.ā To learn more about the Dudleysā social media journey, check out our full interview with them here.
TARGET PRACTICE
Candle Media spent billions on acquisitions. Now, the company could miss earnings targets by 50%.
Since 2021, Candle Media has allocated billions to the acquisition of big-name media properties like Reese Witherspoonās Hello Sunshine and Moonbug (aka the owner of CoComelon). Now, Bloomberg says Candle could fall 50% short of yearly financial projections.
Those findings suggest that Candleās yearly profit will shake out to between $140 million and $170 millionāa big drop from both a previous $330 million estimate and a lower projection supplied by banking firm Blackstone (which is Candleās biggest backer).
Subsidiaries and strikes have a lot to do with that dramatic drop.
According to Candle co-founder and former TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer, āunprecedentedā obstacles like the recent WGA strikes and flagging YouTube ad revenue have led to āa disappointing year.ā Hello Sunshine and Moonbug are responsible for a significant chunk of those financial woes; the former company is projected to deliver just 10% of its expected yearly earnings, while Moonbug is only expected to reach 30% of its projected earnings.
Nevertheless, both Mayer and Blackstone remain optimistic about Candleās future:
āCandle is a highly profitable, high-quality business with world-class talent and creative output that has had significant organic growth since our investments. As with virtually everyone else in this industry there has been an impact from once-in-a-generation strikes and the broader economic environment.ā
WATCH THIS šŗ
Hi, IShowSpeed: itās October 2023
Three years ago, IShowSpeed was a kid with 5,900 YouTube subscribers and a dream. Nowadays, the gamer is a Streamy Award winner with closer to 20.5 million subscribersābut all that success didnāt stop Speedās former self from making an appearance over the weekend.
On Saturday, younger version of the streamer charmed fans with a video entitled āHi Me in 3 Years.ā In the (presumably scheduled) clip, Speed wondered aloud about the size of his future fanbase and gave a shoutout to whoever heād be talking to in the far-off year of 2023.
Check out the full video here.

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