Deadline Google

Vice and Fuse made big gains — and Tasted cooked up strong results — in the week that ended September 12, according to our latest tally of Google-funded YouTube channels. Vice gained 3.2M views, for a total of 5.4M, helped by a video about Tardigrades — microscopic animals that were the first to survive the vacuum conditions of space. And Fuse had 1.9M more views than the previous week, for a total of 3.9M, based in part on Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope riffing on Carly Rae Jepsen’s video for her tune “Call Me Maybe”. We had trouble securing numbers for Tasted last week, and we were off the previous two weeks. But the channel came in this week at  No. 44 with 323,997 views, far higher than we’ve seen since May when we started monitoring YouTube channels. For the entire chart, total views this week were -5.4% to 78.2M; the top 10 channels accounted for nearly 53%. Fuse joined the top 10 (+10 spots to No. 3) as did Mondo Media (+6 spots to No. 10), as Redbull slipped 2 spots to No. 11 and Awesomeness TV fell 6 spots to No. 12. Read More »

We’re back, with apologies for missing the last two weeks of data. A lot of people are involved in assembling our weekly rankings of the Google-funded YouTube channels, and too many of us were away at the end of August. We’re working to streamline things so it doesn’t happen again. But the lost weeks mean I can only analyze the change in channel rank, not in views, for the week that ended last Wednesday.

Overall, Thnkr is the week’s big winner measured by rank. It jumped 34 spots to No. 40 — based in part on the site’s intriguing videos tied to the political conventions and speeches. Other gainers include: The Chopra Well (+24 to No. 52), CafeMom Studios (+21 to No. 54), Kin Community (+19 to No. 50), and Awesomeness TV (+18 to No. 6). Decliners include Fawn Inc (-32 to No. 53), Comedy Shaq (-22 to No. 81), H+ Digital Series (-17 to No. 45), NOC (-16 to No. 38), and U Look Haute (-15 to No. 73). There were 82.6M views, the highest number we’ve seen since May when we began tracking the YouTube channels. The top 10 channels accounted for 55% of all views. Awesomeness TV joined that group, and DanceOn made room by falling three places to No. 12. Read More »

Some interesting changes in Deadline’s second weekly rankings of YouTube‘s original channels, covering the week ending May 30. Music video channel The Warner Sound joined the top 10, rising 25 spots to No. 8 in weekly views — and The Pet Collective is knocking at the door, jumping 29 to No. 11. ENTV, from our parent company Penske Media, was up five to No. 3. Meanwhile, Motor Trend fell three spots to No. 6 and Wigs dropped out of the top 10, down seven to No. 13. Among other channels, we saw impressive jumps from The Thrash Lab (No. 50, +26), I Am Other (No. 37, +23), and Pop Spot (No. 54, +23). The biggest decliners include Hello Style Channel (No 45, -29), American Hipster (No. 79, -29), Be Fit (No. 57, -25), U Look Haute (No. 41, -24), and Kick (No. 44, -21).

Related: New Feature: Deadline’s Weekly YouTube Channel Rankings

Those following this closely should know that all of this week’s data comes from VidStatsX. We’ve also refined the way we define the channels represented on the list, and corrected some of the information we had about the start dates. This stuff is far more complicated than you can imagine. Channels highlighted in beige were launched after Google introduced its original channels program in November. Read More »

It didn’t take long for YouTube‘s original content channels to come of age. Google started funding them in late 2011 — and just this month execs presented YouTube’s channels to advertisers as an alternative to conventional television in the 2012-13 upfront market. Now that they’re starting to become a force in media and entertainment, we decided it’s time to help you keep track of them. And we begin today. Each week, Deadline will rank channels by their weekly views. The data will come from VidStatsX; for this week we used its numbers for the top 50 with information for the rest compiled by our parent company, PMC. Channels highlighted in beige were launched after Google introduced its original channels program in November. Others were already up and running. Full disclosure: PMC owns ENTV, which is represented on the list of new services. Here’s the list for the week ending May 23:

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UPDATE, 6:15 PM: YouTube will earmark about $200M worth of ad time to promote its channels, Global Head of Content Robert Kyncl told advertisers today at the company’s first ever upfront presentation in New York. The messages will appear on YouTube and on the Google Display Network. “We will fish where the fish are,” he said urging advertisers to “find something you love” among the company’s many channels. Execs added that viewing patterns have changed: YouTube attracts its biggest audiences in prime time now; a few years ago it was mid-day as office workers took a break. That shift should continue as more people buy Web-connected televisions. Google says that big-name advertisers are warming to the medium. For example, American Express has signed on to be a title partner for the new WIGS channel. Google played television’s game in its upfront presentation, mixing its messages with performances by big name entertainers including Jay-Z, comedian Chris Hardwick, and violinist Miri Ben-Ari. Read More »