- Youtube Partnership -
Success Stories
This article was published on BusinessInsider.com, Aug. 19, 2010, 11:16 AM, written by written by William Wei. Throughout the extract I have provided highlights for the most pertinent sections. The key term here is ‘independent’. “Here is an estimation made with data taken from July 2009 to July 2010 for the views and earnings of those “independent” YouTube Stars (independent meaning “not part of a media company or brand”)
But first, let’s take a look at how they got their estimates:
So without further ado, here are the top five YouTube earners for 2009/2010, with a short analysis of their content. View counts are total channel views (all videos inclusive) from August 2009-2010. Revenue is stated in $US.
1. Shane Dawson – $315,000 Views: 431,787,450
Shane Dawson is so popular that he is three different YouTube channels. His most popular channel consists of his comedy skits and music video parodies. Dawson created a second channel as a vlog and for a separate series called “Ask Shane,” and his third channel only has videos taken from his iPhone.
2. The Annoying Orange – $288,000 Views: 349,753,047
The Annoying Orange is a comedy web series that takes place in a kitchen and is about talking fruit. Dane Boedigheimer is the mastermind behind the series and is also the voice of Orange. Also has released an iPhone game.
3. Philip DeFranco – $181,000 Views: 248,735,032
Philip DeFranco uploads a new video onto YouTube every Monday to Thursday for his show – The Philip DeFranco Show. His video blogging topics range from politics to pop culture. One of his vlogs was voted the 10th most popular iTunes podcast of 2010
4. Ryan Higa – $151,000 Views: 206,979,909
Ryan Higa makes comedy skits and is a video blogger who turned into a viral star with his “How to be Gangster” and “How to be Ninja” videos. Even though he doesn’t upload as many videos as his fellow YouTube celebrities, Higa is still the top dog at YouTube with over 2.6 million subscribers.
5. Fred – $146,000 Views: 200,656,150
Lucas Cruikshank plays “a lonely six year old named Fred” who uses his mom’s video camera and posts videos on a YouTube channel. As the second most subscribed to YouTube channel, Lucas Cruikshank’s immensely popular Fred character even has a movie coming out backed by Nickelodeon.” (Wei W, 2010)
As demonstrated by the success stories published in this study, the most successful independent channels have published videos with the most general global appeal: comedy sketches and personal diatribe commentaries. All channels have a readily identifiable personality (including the Annoying Orange) and all are fictional entertainment. Making the most of their YouTube fame, most have branched out into other commercial avenues, most notably “FRED”’s Nickelodeon children’s show and “THE ANNOYING ORANGE’s” iPhone game.
But first, let’s take a look at how they got their estimates:
- Revenue only comes from banner ads served near content (we ignored pre-roll or overlay since we can’t easily isolate by publisher).
- Since YouTube banner ads have a two-second load delay, we estimate 2.59% of viewers click away before an ad loads based on separate research.
- Ads were served near all videos that loaded (since there are partners, this is generally true).
- CPM for the banner ads was $1.50 (Google auctions a lot of this inventory off; we rounded this 2009 estimate down to be conservative)
- YouTube is splitting ad revenue with partners 50-50. (Wei W, 2010)
So without further ado, here are the top five YouTube earners for 2009/2010, with a short analysis of their content. View counts are total channel views (all videos inclusive) from August 2009-2010. Revenue is stated in $US.
1. Shane Dawson – $315,000 Views: 431,787,450
Shane Dawson is so popular that he is three different YouTube channels. His most popular channel consists of his comedy skits and music video parodies. Dawson created a second channel as a vlog and for a separate series called “Ask Shane,” and his third channel only has videos taken from his iPhone.
2. The Annoying Orange – $288,000 Views: 349,753,047
The Annoying Orange is a comedy web series that takes place in a kitchen and is about talking fruit. Dane Boedigheimer is the mastermind behind the series and is also the voice of Orange. Also has released an iPhone game.
3. Philip DeFranco – $181,000 Views: 248,735,032
Philip DeFranco uploads a new video onto YouTube every Monday to Thursday for his show – The Philip DeFranco Show. His video blogging topics range from politics to pop culture. One of his vlogs was voted the 10th most popular iTunes podcast of 2010
4. Ryan Higa – $151,000 Views: 206,979,909
Ryan Higa makes comedy skits and is a video blogger who turned into a viral star with his “How to be Gangster” and “How to be Ninja” videos. Even though he doesn’t upload as many videos as his fellow YouTube celebrities, Higa is still the top dog at YouTube with over 2.6 million subscribers.
5. Fred – $146,000 Views: 200,656,150
Lucas Cruikshank plays “a lonely six year old named Fred” who uses his mom’s video camera and posts videos on a YouTube channel. As the second most subscribed to YouTube channel, Lucas Cruikshank’s immensely popular Fred character even has a movie coming out backed by Nickelodeon.” (Wei W, 2010)
As demonstrated by the success stories published in this study, the most successful independent channels have published videos with the most general global appeal: comedy sketches and personal diatribe commentaries. All channels have a readily identifiable personality (including the Annoying Orange) and all are fictional entertainment. Making the most of their YouTube fame, most have branched out into other commercial avenues, most notably “FRED”’s Nickelodeon children’s show and “THE ANNOYING ORANGE’s” iPhone game.