Source: The YouTube Arguments
Why has Mr. Beast’s Beast Games underperformed on Amazon despite $100 million budget, why did The Sidemen drop from 73 million YouTube views to 2.4 million on Netflix, why did Pop the Balloon see similar declines?
The mistake: assuming top-tier creator success represents the average outcome when creators migrate platforms. It’s the ceiling, not the floor. Most creators moving to streaming miss the charts entirely. The best performers are acquisitions like The Amazing Digital Circus—where Netflix paid bargain prices after creators shouldered all risk.
What happened to 'broadcast quality'?
Traditional notions of “quality”, dictated by producers and broadcasters, have inverted. Audiences define quality based on interest, not technical specifications. A Roblox game with “16-bit console from 25 years ago” aesthetics can attract 25 million concurrent users (World Cup final numbers). Jen Topping identifies emerging demand for sophisticated storytelling as AI slop floods platforms. Professional production may find opportunity precisely because trustworthy, authentic content becomes scarce. The challenge: platform economics reward sameness.