This past week MMA commentator, turned Fear Factor host, turned hugely popular podcaster Joe Rogan announced that he’s moving his interview show from YouTube to Spotify in an exclusive, record-breaking deal. (This is one of many big investments Spotify has made in podcasting in the past year.) In a similar move, John Krasinski sold his quarantine-produced YouTube show Some Good News to CBS All Access. Since its launch 15 years ago, YouTube has been a starting point for new and existing talent to develop a following. Scooter Braun discovered 12-year-old Justin Bieber on YouTube. Last year, Lilly Singh made the transition from YouTube creator to late-night talk show host on NBC. Dave Burd of the new FXX show Dave started as Lil Dicky, a rapper on YouTube.
Like the TV antennas of yore, YouTube is an open-access entertainment source. Despite the investments YouTube has made into paid subscription programming in the past few years, by and large, YouTube is still associated with and composed of relatively low production value content that’s personality-driven and free. And in recent years, larger media companies have started to take notice. But the two moves this past week from Rogan and Krasinski seem particularly noteworthy not just because of how much they’re worth. (Spotify paid over $100 million for exclusive rights on The Joe Rogan Experience and Viacom won Some Good News in a bidding war, for an undisclosed sum.) Money aside, people are paying attention to these acquisitions because more than ever before, consumers are relying on streaming content. As YouTube’s best and brightest start to become more appealing to media companies competing with each other for fresh content, what will be left?
As Screenrant recently put it, YouTube stars are “proven commodities,” who have already figured out their audience (which is likely large given the platform’s reach), their production cycle, and their content structure. Like proven intellectual property — things like comic book franchises and viral magazine articles — proven talent is appealing to networks who are trying to beat out dozens of other platforms. Since even traditional networks have OTT, broadcast time slots are no longer a limitation. (NBC will be launching its own streaming service, Peacock later this year.) So, for networks and newcomers like Spotify, it’s not about packing a schedule — it’s about packing an on-demand lineup of buzz-worthy content that will net subscribers. This concept makes sense from a consumer perspective, too. With all the options out there, it can be overwhelming to choose what streaming services to subscribe to or podcast app to use. But if one of your favorite shows is on a given service, the decision is made for you.
Exclusive deals are tricky but can be worth the gamble for stars with a devoted following like Rogan, whose show has been number two in the iTunes store for the past 3 years. It remains to be seen how this deal shakes out, but for now, it’s safe to say that distribution across accessible platforms can help you build an audience, then decide where to go next. At Studio71, we work with creators from across the digital world, from YouTube to TikTok to Twitch, to do just that.
