Once again, you cant beat them, buy them, but this is one that makes sense but I could not have expected. Disney acquires YouTube MCN (Multi-channel Network) Maker Studios for $500 million up front with another $450 million for performance based bonuses. Featured programming under Maker Studios include Polaris (a video game centric network which partners with Angry Joe Show Joe Vargas, Markiplier Mark Fischbach, ProJared Jared Knabenbauer, PressHearttoContinue [Dodger], Jessie Cox, John Bain (TotalBiscuit), Game Grumps and PewPieDie Felix Kjellberg [who has the most subscribers of any YouTube channel period]), The Platform (a fashion centered network), and Cartoonium (an animation based YouTube channel featuring reboots of cartoons from the 80s and 90s like Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears and new original animated programming from their own stars and World Wrestling Entertainment), among other programs and individual shows. Combined, Maker Studios gets over 4.5 billion views on YouTube and has over 340 million subscribers. This is huge, not only for Maker, but for the viability of major companies to use and respect online distrobution and MCNs. This isnt the first MCN buyout (that would be, from my knowledge Discovery Networks buying Revision3 and Warner Brothers has been pumping money into Machinima), but this is one that is a first for a MCN created solely for YouTube. This is also a huge coo for YouTube and Google, showing theyre now a major player in the entertainment industry as a means of distribution. I get excited with this stuff because this has been something Ive been touting for many many years (since Revision3s start with thebroken and Diggnation) and its exciting to see it actually start to be taken seriously. Lets see if there will be a run on MCNs now.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:23:16 +0000
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