When the team at Watcher Entertainment announced that they would be leaving YouTube in order to post content exclusively on their own subscription-only page, they clearly thought that fans would be excited about the move.
They were very, very wrong.
The backlash against the digital media studio -- which was founded in 2020 by a trio of former Buzzfeed employees -- was swift and immediate.
Usually, an uproar from a company's customer base is the sort of thing that's met with a boilerplate apology and little else.
But in this case, the outcry on Reddit and on the group's previous YouTube posts wound up having a significant impact.
Earlier this week, Watcher's three founders -- Steven Lim, Ryan Bergara, and Shane Madej -- made a video in which they reacted to the strong backlash against their unexpected business decision.
“We messed up,” CEO Lim said in the clip.
“We’ve been...
They were very, very wrong.
The backlash against the digital media studio -- which was founded in 2020 by a trio of former Buzzfeed employees -- was swift and immediate.
Usually, an uproar from a company's customer base is the sort of thing that's met with a boilerplate apology and little else.
But in this case, the outcry on Reddit and on the group's previous YouTube posts wound up having a significant impact.
Earlier this week, Watcher's three founders -- Steven Lim, Ryan Bergara, and Shane Madej -- made a video in which they reacted to the strong backlash against their unexpected business decision.
“We messed up,” CEO Lim said in the clip.
“We’ve been...
- 4/23/2024
- by Tyler Johnson
- TVfanatic
After viewer backlash, Watcher’s content is staying on YouTube. But the studio says it’s struggling.
Last week, Watcher–the content studio founded in 2019 by former Buzzfeed-ers Ryan Bergara, Steven Lim, and Shane Madej–surprised viewers by announcing it would no longer be uploading its videos to YouTube.
Instead, it said, it would take further episodes of shows like Ghost Files, Mystery Files, and Puppet History to its own new, standalone, and paywalled platform, where fans would have to pay $6/month or $60/year to watch.
The backlash to this announcement was swift and vicious. Watcher’s YouTube channel lost more than 50,000 subscribers in 24 hours, and nearly 100,000 over the weekend. Commenters on the announcement video and across social media were particularly rankled by Lim’s assertion that the subscription service’s $6/month price had been picked because it was “low enough where anybody and everybody is able to afford it.”
Now, Watcher has rolled back this decision. In an update video, Bergara, Lim, and Madej apologized...
Instead, it said, it would take further episodes of shows like Ghost Files, Mystery Files, and Puppet History to its own new, standalone, and paywalled platform, where fans would have to pay $6/month or $60/year to watch.
The backlash to this announcement was swift and vicious. Watcher’s YouTube channel lost more than 50,000 subscribers in 24 hours, and nearly 100,000 over the weekend. Commenters on the announcement video and across social media were particularly rankled by Lim’s assertion that the subscription service’s $6/month price had been picked because it was “low enough where anybody and everybody is able to afford it.”
Now, Watcher has rolled back this decision. In an update video, Bergara, Lim, and Madej apologized...
- 4/22/2024
- by James Hale
- Tubefilter.com
MoistCr1tikal, Wendigoon, and Jackson Clarke have joined forces for a cryptid, conpiracy, and cult-themed podcast that swiftly rose to the #2 spot on U.S. podcast charts, beaten out only by longtime most-listened-to show The Joe Rogan Experience.
Each episode of Red Thread will “investigate the peculiar space just beyond reality,” according to the show’s official description.
Red Thread‘s debut ep followed an urban legend: the Goatman, already popularized on YouTube and in memes by skeptic-in-chief Shane Madej during an episode of and Ryan Bergara‘s hit series BuzzFeed Unsolved. Its second chronicles the bizarre final months of Charles Morgan, who lived a seemingly normal life until he vanished March 22, 1977, and reappeared three days later suffering from intense paranoia.
Both episodes are uploaded in video form on YouTube, with the first bringing in nearly 900,000 views, and the second bringing in just under 400,000.
According to the CEO of Mana Talent Group,...
Each episode of Red Thread will “investigate the peculiar space just beyond reality,” according to the show’s official description.
Red Thread‘s debut ep followed an urban legend: the Goatman, already popularized on YouTube and in memes by skeptic-in-chief Shane Madej during an episode of and Ryan Bergara‘s hit series BuzzFeed Unsolved. Its second chronicles the bizarre final months of Charles Morgan, who lived a seemingly normal life until he vanished March 22, 1977, and reappeared three days later suffering from intense paranoia.
Both episodes are uploaded in video form on YouTube, with the first bringing in nearly 900,000 views, and the second bringing in just under 400,000.
According to the CEO of Mana Talent Group,...
- 12/18/2023
- by James Hale
- Tubefilter.com
When it comes to content creation for the web and television, only a handful of names outrank Ryan Bergara. He’s one of Hollywood’s video editors and producers who have made a name for themselves. Bergara is most popularly known for his work on BuzzFeed Unsolved. Over the years, while finding his niche and passion, Bergara worked with several notable production companies. Since his first credited project in 2009, Bergara has stayed busy on-screen and off-screen. For more about the talented producer, here are 10 things you didn’t know about Ryan Bergara. 1. He’s A Sagittarius Ryan Bergara was born Ryan...
- 8/16/2023
- by Onyinye Izundu
- TVovermind.com
Welcome back to Dead Time! Just in time for spooky season, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, also known as the Ghoul Boys. Ryan and Shane started out on Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural and Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime, where they explored reportedly haunted locations and also shared the history behind some of the most gruesome and terrifying true crime stories.
After leaving Buzzfeed, Ryan and Shane, along with their good friend Steven Lim, created Watcher, a production company and YouTube channel where they tell creepy stories on Are You Scared, along with a variety of other shows that are fun, entertaining, and even educational. Even with all the great content on Watcher, the Ghoul Boys really wanted to get back into ghost hunting. Much to the delight of their devoted fanbase, they premiered their new show Ghost Files on September 23rd. In their first episode,...
After leaving Buzzfeed, Ryan and Shane, along with their good friend Steven Lim, created Watcher, a production company and YouTube channel where they tell creepy stories on Are You Scared, along with a variety of other shows that are fun, entertaining, and even educational. Even with all the great content on Watcher, the Ghoul Boys really wanted to get back into ghost hunting. Much to the delight of their devoted fanbase, they premiered their new show Ghost Files on September 23rd. In their first episode,...
- 10/14/2022
- by Michelle Swope
- bloody-disgusting.com
The series: Watcher's "Weird (and/or) Wonderful World"
Where to watch it: YouTube
The pitch: In this so far brief-but-beloved comedic travelogue series, host Shane Madej takes ornery sidekick Ryan Bergara around Southern California, exploring the nooks and crannies of the city of angels with all the delighted intrigue and quirky charm of the best public TV educators of the '90s. The duo, who are best known for their work on "Buzzfeed Unsolved" but who left the media giant to start their own company with "Worth It" star Steven Lim in 2019, play up their natural chemistry, curiosity, and knack for chaos in a show that sees them tour a town full of windmills and ostriches, try their hand at competitive high speed Go-Karting, and sabotage a custom soda-making challenge.
The series, which was shot before Covid-19 and hasn't aired new episodes since, is ostensibly meant to eventually expand further...
Where to watch it: YouTube
The pitch: In this so far brief-but-beloved comedic travelogue series, host Shane Madej takes ornery sidekick Ryan Bergara around Southern California, exploring the nooks and crannies of the city of angels with all the delighted intrigue and quirky charm of the best public TV educators of the '90s. The duo, who are best known for their work on "Buzzfeed Unsolved" but who left the media giant to start their own company with "Worth It" star Steven Lim in 2019, play up their natural chemistry, curiosity, and knack for chaos in a show that sees them tour a town full of windmills and ostriches, try their hand at competitive high speed Go-Karting, and sabotage a custom soda-making challenge.
The series, which was shot before Covid-19 and hasn't aired new episodes since, is ostensibly meant to eventually expand further...
- 10/7/2022
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Nothing screams Halloween like a good ghost-hunting show. So with All Hallows' Eve only a week away, we decided it was time to take a closer look at the paranormal reality shows that make those little hairs on the back of our neck stand up. We know not everyone believes in ghosts and ghouls, which is why we're examining both the series that take themselves seriously and the shows unafraid to have a little fun. For instance, Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural launched its seventh and final season on Oct. 15. And even after countless investigations, hosts Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej still come off as amateur ghost hunters—in the best way. The longtime partners are unafraid to roast themselves...
- 10/25/2021
- E! Online
BuzzFeed will premiere its eighth and final season of “BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime” on June 18 and its seventh and final season of “BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural” this fall, TheWrap has learned exclusively.
Creators, producers and co-hosts Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej will star in six new true-crime episodes that will dive into crimes surround Princess Diana, George Reeves — who portrayed the Man of Steel in the TV series “The Adventures of Superman” in the 1950s — and more.
Over the course of five years, Bergara and Madej explored popular crimes and mysteries, amassing 16.6 billion minutes watched with over 1.3 billion cumulative views, according to BuzzFeed.
“It’s been an amazing five years hosting and executive producing, ‘BuzzFeed Unsolved.’ We were truly fortunate to have the opportunity from BuzzFeed to make this show, and I can’t even begin to describe the appreciation I have for all the support we’ve received from this...
Creators, producers and co-hosts Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej will star in six new true-crime episodes that will dive into crimes surround Princess Diana, George Reeves — who portrayed the Man of Steel in the TV series “The Adventures of Superman” in the 1950s — and more.
Over the course of five years, Bergara and Madej explored popular crimes and mysteries, amassing 16.6 billion minutes watched with over 1.3 billion cumulative views, according to BuzzFeed.
“It’s been an amazing five years hosting and executive producing, ‘BuzzFeed Unsolved.’ We were truly fortunate to have the opportunity from BuzzFeed to make this show, and I can’t even begin to describe the appreciation I have for all the support we’ve received from this...
- 6/7/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
2020, to say the least, has been a complete shitshow. The year has been weird, long, depressing, anger-inducing, and frustrating. But that dumpster fire has made the shiny parts shine bright in a way that made all the crap disappear for a few moments or hours at a time. And for that, I am grateful.
In a year that showed us that time actually has no meaning whatsoever, I know I’m not remembering half of the stuff that I watched and loved, but here are just some of the things that gave me joy, comfort, awe, or just some time away from what has become “the norm.”
Gretel & Hansel
The films of Osgood Perkins are so totally my jam. Gretel & Hansel is no exception. His fantastically creepy and twisted take on the story of two children getting lost in the woods is also a decidedly feminist piece that puts a...
In a year that showed us that time actually has no meaning whatsoever, I know I’m not remembering half of the stuff that I watched and loved, but here are just some of the things that gave me joy, comfort, awe, or just some time away from what has become “the norm.”
Gretel & Hansel
The films of Osgood Perkins are so totally my jam. Gretel & Hansel is no exception. His fantastically creepy and twisted take on the story of two children getting lost in the woods is also a decidedly feminist piece that puts a...
- 1/5/2021
- by Emily von Seele
- DailyDead
Talent agency CAA has onboarded Watcher Entertainment -- the digital video upstart co-founded by longtime BuzzFeed creators Steven Lim, Ryan Bergara, and Shane Madej. CAA tells Tubefilter that it will be representing Watcher in all areas.
Watcher debuted in Jan. 2020 on YouTube with a slate of nine original series focused on food, travel, and horror. The channel, overseen by head of development Katie LeBlanc, has amassed 504,000 subscribers and has worked with brands like State Farm, Neuro, and Boba Guys (the latter two of whom are also investors in the venture).
Some of the channel’s notable series include Homemade (in which Lim learns how to cook popular dishes at different restaurants), weekly talk show Watcher Weekly, Puppet History (a quiz show about history hosted by a puppet), travel shows Tourist Trapped and Weird Wonderful World, listicle chat series Top 5 Beatdown, and Grocery Run (in which Lim pays for a stranger...
Watcher debuted in Jan. 2020 on YouTube with a slate of nine original series focused on food, travel, and horror. The channel, overseen by head of development Katie LeBlanc, has amassed 504,000 subscribers and has worked with brands like State Farm, Neuro, and Boba Guys (the latter two of whom are also investors in the venture).
Some of the channel’s notable series include Homemade (in which Lim learns how to cook popular dishes at different restaurants), weekly talk show Watcher Weekly, Puppet History (a quiz show about history hosted by a puppet), travel shows Tourist Trapped and Weird Wonderful World, listicle chat series Top 5 Beatdown, and Grocery Run (in which Lim pays for a stranger...
- 4/8/2020
- by Geoff Weiss
- Tubefilter.com
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