SourceFed Success: YouTube Premium Channel Draws 500,000 Subscribers

By Karla Robinson
August 6, 2012

Through its $400 million investment in the YouTube Original Channel Initiative, Google has launched premium content featuring stars such as Amy Poehler, Chris Hardwick, Tony Hawk and Madonna. And its attempt to become a digital content creator has paid off with advertisers paying up to $10 million for spots in the shows.
SourceFed is one premium channel that made it big, hitting 500,000 subscribers and 158 million views. But you won’t find any prominent celebrities on their YouTube posts.
“Despite the star power, so far, the top-performing shows have been created by people who initially built their audience on YouTube. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: These young Web celebs understand the online video space, and some of them have grown up there,” ReadWriteWeb explains. “It is only fitting, then, that the first premium content channel to hit a major milestone of success would be one created by a YouTube mega-personality.”
SourceFed was created by experienced YouTuber Philip Defranco. The channel’s producer attributes its success to two main factors: “easily consumable” short videos accessible on mobile devices and fan interaction that has developed a strong online community.
“Our viewers treat us like we’re their best friends,” producer James Haffner says. “We get to have fun every day, but at the same time, we inform people.”

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