1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,399 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:25,280 Speaker 1: tech are you? So? In last week's episode about rooster Teeth, 5 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: I talked about the founding of the company and how 6 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: from two thousand and three to twenty fourteen, it would 7 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: both release numerous projects that would shape Internet culture and 8 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: grow as an online focused media company. We covered some 9 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:45,560 Speaker 1: really early ambitious efforts, like how they launched a crowd 10 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: funding campaign for an independent feature film called Laser Team, 11 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,599 Speaker 1: and how rooster Teeth was the type of company that 12 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: fans would want to work for. They would become fans 13 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: of the company and then say that's who I want 14 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: to end up doing work with, and in fact, some 15 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: fans would be willing to move across borders to become 16 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: part of the team. We ended that episode last week 17 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: by talking about how a different company called full Screen 18 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: would acquire Rooster Teeth for an undisclosed amount of money 19 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: at the end of twenty fourteen. So let's pick up 20 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: there and let's talk about full Screen as well as 21 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: its parent company out our Media and while I was 22 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,039 Speaker 1: working on this episode, it's when I realized that, uh, 23 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: sure enough, I'm actually going to need a third one 24 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: to really cover the important stuff plus the stuff I 25 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: wanted to throw in for various reasons. And part of 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: that is because this is a tech podcast. It's not 27 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: just an episode that's kind of exploring rooster teeth and 28 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: what it did and why it was important. It's also 29 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: looking at a lot of this stuff, a lot of 30 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: factors that overlap with rooster teeth, to explain what those 31 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: are and how they work. So I'm kind of using 32 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: this not just as a way to talk about rooster teeth, 33 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: but to talk about important things in general. So let's 34 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: talk about full Screen now. The story of full Screen 35 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: starts with founder George Strombolis, who had worked for YouTube 36 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: as a strategic partnerships manager. YouTube as a platform really 37 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: only has value so long as there are people creating 38 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: compelling content for the platform. That's actually the challenge of 39 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: any platform that relies on user generated content. The stuff 40 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: being posted to the platform. You know, if it's not interesting, 41 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: or if it's not of sufficient quality, well then the 42 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: platform is likely not going to stick around that long. 43 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: So the job of a strategic partnerships manager is in 44 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: part to identify and secure and maintain and grow relationships 45 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: with various content partners. The content creators will find a 46 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: way to monetize their work, and they'll learn strategies to 47 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,919 Speaker 1: maximize their efforts so that they're not wasting their time 48 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: and money and energy on things that aren't going to work. 49 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: They can also find other people to collaborate with all 50 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: this kind of stuff. That's sort of the benefit they see. 51 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: And meanwhile, YouTube gets content that users want to watch. 52 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: At least that's the idea. And of course YouTube gets 53 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: a significant cut, like around thirty percent of the ad 54 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: revenue that content creators bring in. So YouTube has an 55 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: incentive to encourage successful channels, and channels have an incentive 56 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: to work with strategic partners in order to maximize the 57 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: return on the investment they have made in creating their content. 58 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: Now let's talk about multichannel networks. These are third party 59 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: organizations that fulfill a similar purpose to a strategic partner 60 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: over at YouTube. So a strategic partnership manager actually works 61 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: for YouTube, whereas multichannel networks are independent third party organizations 62 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: typically and they curate content, they recruit content creators to 63 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: have their channels join this network. Those channels may not 64 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: overtly explain that they're part of the network. They might 65 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: not have a logo or anything that shows this. Maybe 66 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: they have a little bit in the about section, but 67 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: otherwise it's not necessarily obvious. The networks end up making 68 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: revenue by taking a percentage of those ad sales that 69 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 1: member channels generate, similar to the way YouTube does. This 70 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: means a multi channel network only makes money if the 71 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: channels in that network are also making money. So it's 72 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: sort of like a talent agent. It gets a percentage 73 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: of a creator's pay when they land a gig. You know. Now. 74 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: In return, the channels get support from the network. At 75 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: least that's what's supposed to happen. The network provides publicity, 76 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: they might provide strategy and advice, They might provide collaboration 77 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:51,600 Speaker 1: opportunities with other members of the network, and perhaps most importantly, 78 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: they provide a sense of stability in an industry that's 79 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,159 Speaker 1: unpredictable to say the least. So Strombolis decided to found 80 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: full Screen in twenty eleven and as a company that 81 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: would help content creators reach the next level on YouTube. 82 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: Full Screen was sort of a multi channel network that 83 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: worked with tons of creators. The idea was that full 84 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,239 Speaker 1: Screen would benefit from working with a large number of channels, 85 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,840 Speaker 1: and the channels would benefit from better promotion on YouTube. 86 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: We're already back in twenty eleven it was getting harder 87 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: and harder to stand out in a really crowded field, 88 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: and as you can imagine, that challenge has only grown 89 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: more over the time, like it's today. Being able to 90 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 1: stand out in YouTube seems like it's an overwhelming challenge. 91 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: Folks can end up getting promoted, it seems almost at 92 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:42,040 Speaker 1: random by the recommendation engine, but it's really hard to 93 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: purposefully stand out all on your own. It can be done, 94 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 1: but it's hard to do so. Full Screen ends up 95 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:53,160 Speaker 1: racking up this huge list of content partners. In fact, 96 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,279 Speaker 1: according to AT and t's website, full Screen worked with 97 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: quote more than fifty thousand content creators who in h 98 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty million subscribers and generate four billion 99 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: with a B monthly views end quote. The billion with 100 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: a B was me Beyond that, Strompolis fell into a 101 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: camp of streaming video execs who saw the potential of 102 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: media behind a paywall. Be it a subscription service or 103 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: you know, pay to access this particular video or what 104 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 1: have you. Meanwhile, we actually have to talk about another entity. 105 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 1: This one is called Otter Media. And to talk about 106 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: Otter Media, actually we have to talk about anime distribution. Specifically, 107 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: we have to talk about crunchy roll. Because this all 108 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: gets really complicated and jumbled, but it is important. So 109 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: back in two thousand and six, there were some college 110 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,840 Speaker 1: buddies who had recently graduated, and they were thinking about 111 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,919 Speaker 1: how hard it was to get access to anime in 112 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,280 Speaker 1: the United States. You really had to put the work 113 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: in to find anime, and only a few times had 114 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: really broken through to find general distribution in America. And 115 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,479 Speaker 1: even then the anime you found might not be subtitled 116 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: or dubbed into English, which meant even if you could 117 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: access the anime, it wasn't really accessible unless you were 118 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: fluent in Japanese. So they put together a website that 119 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: celebrated anime, and by celebrate, I mean the celebration included 120 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: hosting pirated versions of anime with fan subbed subtitles. That 121 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: means these were versions of anime that fans themselves had 122 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: subtitled in order to make the successible to non Japanese 123 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: speaking audiences. They called this service Crunchy Role. Now, the 124 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: piracy thing meant that anime studios and their corporate overlords 125 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: weren't terribly keen about Crunchy Role. When the small business 126 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: received a significant investment to the tune of four million dollars, 127 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: there was a concerted effort for Crunchy Role to go legit. 128 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 1: So instead of featuring pirated material, Crunchy Role would try 129 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: to secure licensing to feature various anime films and series. 130 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: This was much more amenable to those various studios and 131 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: aforementioned corporate overlords. So then fast forward to twenty thirteen, 132 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: a company called the Chernin Group comes into play. Now, 133 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: the Chernin Group is a media investment company, as in, 134 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: this is a company that invests in quote media, entertainment, technology, sports, 135 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: and consumer and digital media sectors end quote. It was 136 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: founded by a former news Core executive named Peter Chernan, 137 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,679 Speaker 1: thus the Churnin Group, and in twenty thirteen it acquired 138 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: a majority stake in Crunchy Role. Meanwhile, AT and T, 139 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,959 Speaker 1: the telecommunications company, was looking to branch out into media. 140 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: It wouldn't just provide the wires that brought you the content, 141 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: it would provide some of the content running across those wires. 142 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: Other telecommunications companies were doing similar things, notably Comcast, which 143 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: eventually becomes part of NBC Universal, or rather it becomes 144 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: the owner of NBC Universal. So in twenty fourteen, AT 145 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: and T forms a partnership with the Churnin Group, and 146 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: these two companies together create a joint venture and they 147 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 1: call it Outer Media. Each company, AT and T and 148 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 1: Churnin Group would retain a fifty percent stake in Automedia, 149 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 1: so Automedia would act as a kind of holding company 150 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: in One of the things it held was Crunchy Role. 151 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 1: Shortly after launch, Automedia was taking a good hard look 152 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: at the market to determine what other properties to scoop 153 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: up besides Crunchy Role, and it set its sites on 154 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: full Screen, so Automedia would secure controlling interest in full Screen, 155 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: though George Strompolis would manage to continue to run the 156 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: company as CEO, and other investors would maintain a stake 157 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: in full Screen as well, so it wasn't a full takeover. 158 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: And that wasn't like they everybody. They were kind of 159 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: trying to keep things as independent as possible so that 160 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: Strompolis wouldn't be interfered with too much. Now, a lot 161 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: was going on at this time. Traditional media companies and 162 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: by that I mostly mean television studios and cable networks 163 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: were all trying to figure out how to get into 164 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: the digital scene. It turned out that the stuff that 165 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: worked in conventional television didn't necessarily apply to the online world. 166 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: You couldn't just port a TV network mentality to YouTube. 167 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,679 Speaker 1: For example. The online world allowed for a tighter focus 168 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: on niche interests, and in the cable world things might 169 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: start off that way, but over time they would change. 170 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: And for more evidence of that, you can just look 171 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: at what happened to channels that started off with a 172 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:49,080 Speaker 1: really tight focus, like the sci Fi Network originally was 173 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: really a science fiction network. Over time it became less so, 174 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: or cartoon network even or A great example is MTV, 175 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: which when it first started was almost exclusively music videos. Gradually, 176 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 1: content that doesn't quite fit the mission of the original 177 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: channel concept starts to creep in in the cable world, 178 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: and eventually all the cable channels kind of become general 179 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: purpose rather than a channel that centered on a specific 180 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: topic or interest. But online that doesn't necessarily happen. The 181 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: hyper focused channels can maintain that focus and cater to 182 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: a specific audience while still experiencing wild success. This was 183 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: also in an era that bleeds into the pivot to 184 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: video scandal, which I talked about in a recent tech 185 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: Stuff episode, So as a reminder, pivot to video was 186 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 1: a concept that spawned largely because of Facebook. Facebook famously 187 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: stated that video content drove far more engagement on the 188 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: platform than it really did, and as a result, Facebook 189 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 1: would put a lot more focus in support behind posts 190 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: that contained video content, particularly video content that was posted 191 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: directly to Facebook as opposed to video content that was 192 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: hosted on an external site and then linked on Facebook. 193 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: That movement would ultimately decimate writer's rooms across content sites 194 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: all over the web, but it did mean that companies 195 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: that focused on video production were in a pretty darn 196 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,440 Speaker 1: sweet spot as far as the market was concerned, at 197 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: least for the short term. So anyway, Autermedia acquires a 198 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 1: majority stake in full Screen, and Autteromedia in turn has 199 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: the churnin group in at and T as Mommy and Daddy. 200 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,839 Speaker 1: That's a lot, but don't worry, it'll get a lot 201 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: more complicated as we go on. However, it was full 202 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: Screen in twenty fourteen that makes the offer to acquire 203 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: rooster Teeth, and the company accepted that offer. So why 204 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: did full Screen go after rooster Teeth well as deadlines? 205 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 1: David Bloom put it in a twenty fourteen article titled 206 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: full Screen buys online video pioneer Rooster Teeth. Rooster Teeth 207 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: had proven itself to be an early success story with 208 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: regards to subscription models. You know, the company originally called 209 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: them sponsorships and later called them first memberships. They also 210 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,600 Speaker 1: were a success with merchandise and live events. All of 211 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: these things are potentially revenue generating enterprises. It was clear 212 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: that online delivery was going to be the future of 213 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: content distribution. There was no denying there was a shift 214 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: as there were more and more cable cutters and those 215 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: who would never become cable subscribers to start with. Heck, 216 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: full Screen itself was part of that online distribution world. 217 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth had found a way to foster a community 218 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: and cater to that community in a way that was profitable. 219 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,679 Speaker 1: That's something that a lot of other content creators hadn't 220 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: quite figured out yet. For example, Rooster Tee's subscription model 221 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,079 Speaker 1: had proven to be popular, so in the earliest days, 222 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: the subscription or sponsorship was twenty dollars for a single 223 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: season of their flagship show Red Versus Blue. At the 224 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: end of the first season, Rooster Teeth sent out DVDs 225 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 1: of the episodes that contained things like commentary tracks and 226 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,439 Speaker 1: bonus material to all the sponsors. Some folks would actually 227 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: contribute far more than the twenty dollars. In an interview 228 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: on the Recode podcast, co founder Bernie Burns said that 229 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 1: one supporter sent five hundred bucks and they contacted him 230 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 1: to find out if this had been an error, but 231 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: the fan said no, no, it was intentional. So Burns's 232 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: conclusion was that people liked to support the stuff they like, 233 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: and that this support meant that the company could actually 234 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 1: stay afloat despite hefty expenses like file hosting and bandwidth fees, 235 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,240 Speaker 1: because remember, they're hosting all these video files themselves, and 236 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: people are downloading each episode over the internet and then 237 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: watching them at home, So they had to find a 238 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: way to be able to support this because the bill 239 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: for those bandwidth fees would be in the tens of 240 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: thousands of dollars. Sometimes so over time, this subscription would 241 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: change to a monthly fee, and in return for which 242 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: subscribers who are now called first members, would get early 243 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: access to some content, exclusive access to other content, and 244 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: depending upon the level of membership, they sometimes would receive 245 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: physical merchandise as well, including exclusive items that were just 246 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: made for members. And the model totally worked, which showed 247 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: rooster Teeth had a savvy handle on how to do 248 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: business in online media, despite the fact that the co 249 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 1: founders didn't come from a business background. Okay, we're going 250 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: to take a quick pause in our history to thank 251 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: our sponsors, but we'll be right back. Before the break, 252 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: I was talking about how rooster Teeth had managed to 253 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: find a model that allowed them to be very self sufficient. 254 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: A huge part of this was how the company had 255 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: put in a ton of work to encourage their audience 256 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: to become a community. You never hear them talking about 257 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: audiences or very rarely, they almost always use the word 258 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 1: community instead. So the rooster Teeth website hosted message boards 259 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: where fans could congregate and discuss all sorts of topics. 260 00:15:57,960 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: Some of the folks who worked at rooster Teeth actually 261 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: got the start as community members on those forums, the 262 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: folks at the company would dip into those conversations, and 263 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: that further strengthened this communal bond. I could probably go 264 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: off on a tangent about parasocial relationships because a lot 265 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: of that was happening too. We'll actually have to talk 266 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: about that in the next episode, but we're gonna move on. 267 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: So the article I had mentioned earlier also quotes George 268 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: Strompolis as saying, quote, rooster Teeth is one of the 269 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: strongest and most authentic media brands in the world amongst 270 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: eighteen to thirty four year old male skewing audiences. The 271 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: combination of its massive reach, unique creative voice, and insanely 272 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: powerful community makes it a perfect match for full Screen 273 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: end quote. Okay, but what about rooster Teeth, why did 274 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: the company agree to this acquisition? Well, according to Bernie Burns, 275 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: who was also quoted in that same article, quote, at 276 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth, we have a long history of creating the 277 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: best digital content in the industry. With full Screen, we 278 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: look forward to continuing that tradition in even bigger and 279 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: better ways. Matt and I are excited about the opportunities 280 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: this alliance will present for our creators and all the 281 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: amazing content it will empower them to produce for our audience. 282 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: End quote. Now, the Matt that Bernie mentions in that 283 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: is Matt Hullum, another co founder and at that time 284 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: the CEO of Rooster Teeth. Bernie served as the creative 285 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: director for the company at that time. Both would continue 286 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 1: to operate in those roles post acquisition, at least for 287 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: the near future. Now, I suspect that one other reason 288 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: that they agreed to this acquisition is the big ol' 289 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: honk and check that they presumably received for this transaction. Again, 290 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: it was never made public how much this was for, 291 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: and Bernie would actually say on that Recode podcast. I 292 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier that he had enough money to retire, but 293 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: then he pointed out that if he did retire, it 294 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: would just be so that he could do what he 295 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: was already doing at Rooster Teeth. So I'm sure the 296 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: money definitely helped with the decision making process. Rooster Teeth 297 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: was in an interesting position with regard to online media. 298 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: For the first several years of the company existence, they 299 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 1: hosted all their own content right I mentioned this earlier. 300 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: They didn't jump onto YouTube right away, and in fact, 301 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 1: YouTube didn't launch until two thousand and five. And remember 302 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: rooster Teeth launched in two thousand and three. So again 303 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:14,359 Speaker 1: in the earliest days, he would actually have to go 304 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,679 Speaker 1: to the rooster Teeth site. They would have a link 305 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 1: to the media files that were for each episode. You 306 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: would download the file, you'd watch it on your computer locally. Now, 307 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: according to Burns, rooster Teeth held off on YouTube until 308 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight or two thousand and nine before 309 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: dipping a toe in, So even when YouTube became a thing, 310 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: rooster Teeth was not immediately on board. Now, part of 311 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: the concern was that early on with YouTube, there was 312 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: no way to monetize videos on the platform and it 313 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,360 Speaker 1: would take some time for that to happen. Google would 314 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: acquire YouTube and then eventually would put into place a 315 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: partner program, And there was also a fear that if 316 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: they did put stuff up on YouTube, it would cannibalize 317 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,960 Speaker 1: traffic from rooster Teeth itself. Burns said on that Recode 318 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: podcast quote, people who were on YouTube and leave YouTube, 319 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: they didn't click away to go to anything else. In 320 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: the quote. Now, seeing as how rooster t that really 321 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: wanted to encourage people to become subscribers or members, as 322 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: well as to encourage merchandise sales. You can understand that 323 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,439 Speaker 1: there was a reluctance to share videos on a different 324 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,200 Speaker 1: site because it's very hard to get folks to leave 325 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:20,919 Speaker 1: one site and go to another to do something like 326 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: make a purchase. YouTube has a very strong incentive to 327 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: keep people on YouTube for as long as it possibly can, 328 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: So if you did jump on YouTube and you hope 329 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: to get people to come to your site, you actually 330 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,119 Speaker 1: have two organizations that have conflicting goals, and that's just 331 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: not easy to overcome. It's a similar problem content creators 332 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,560 Speaker 1: would run into with social media sites like Facebook when 333 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: they changed the game. You would get a lot more 334 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 1: engagement if you uploaded your content directly to the platform itself, 335 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:50,919 Speaker 1: as opposed to posting a link to your content, but 336 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:52,879 Speaker 1: that meant all the traffic was going in and out 337 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: of the social media site, not your site. So you 338 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: have to weigh the benefits of getting more eyeballs on 339 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: your content by posting where a lot of people are congregating, 340 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,400 Speaker 1: such as YouTube, versus hosting everything yourself, getting the most 341 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: benefit of each individual user, but perhaps having far fewer 342 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: users overall. Ultimately, rooster Teeth would choose to host some 343 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 1: of its content on YouTube as well as its own site, 344 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:19,919 Speaker 1: but Burns stress that it was always important to maintain 345 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,120 Speaker 1: your own base of operations because you have no control 346 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 1: over a third party site like YouTube, and when YouTube 347 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: makes a change, say to its recommendation algorithm or to 348 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 1: its advertising policy, well that affects you, and there's not 349 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: really much you can do other than try to adapt 350 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: to the changes. On your own site, you have far 351 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: more control. So roster Teeth was living in both worlds, 352 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,719 Speaker 1: and there would be times when Rooster Teeth would actually 353 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: pull or set to private some of the videos that 354 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 1: previously were publicly viewable on YouTube. So not all the 355 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: stuff that rooster Teeth has uploaded to YouTube is still 356 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: there or still available today. The full Screen acquisition marked 357 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: a big change for rooster Teeth. Now it was neither 358 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 1: completely positive or negative. Recently, at least at the time 359 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,359 Speaker 1: of the recording of this podcast, the Rooster Teeth staff 360 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 1: appeared during a really emotional live stream. This happened a 361 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,000 Speaker 1: day after the announcement that Warner Brothers Discovery was shutting 362 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: down rooster Teeth. They gathered to talk about their experiences 363 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,960 Speaker 1: working at this company as well as with each other, 364 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: and also to share what information they had about what 365 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: comes next. We'll talk about what comes next in our 366 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: next episode. There were a lot of tears in that 367 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: live stream, y'all. You can check it out. It's up 368 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: on YouTube. But one moment that really stood out to 369 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,160 Speaker 1: me was one in which Rooster Teeth employee Chelsea Atkinson 370 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: lamented the full Screen acquisition and talked about how many 371 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 1: folks were upset at the time. They were essentially saying, 372 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 1: how could you sell this company? A lot of her 373 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: colleagues appeared to share her feelings about this. The effects 374 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:57,920 Speaker 1: of that sale would actually take some time to really 375 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: shake out, apart from the fact that the state holders 376 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,680 Speaker 1: at Rooster Teeth got a hefty check for their acquisition. 377 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:05,199 Speaker 1: So we're going to continue on our journey as the 378 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,439 Speaker 1: company would launch more projects, and again I'm not going 379 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,600 Speaker 1: to list everything because that would be exhausting and also 380 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 1: wouldn't be very interesting. Now. Like twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen 381 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: would be another really big year for Rooster Teeth for 382 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 1: both good and bad reasons. The company would launch several 383 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: new series, ranging from more comedy shows to a sports 384 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: related show to documentaries. Their first feature film, Laser Team, 385 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 1: would premiere in twenty fifteen, so this was a big 386 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: year and also as a mark of that strategy that 387 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: they were forming with YouTube, Rooster Teeth's film, Laser Team 388 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: would actually become a launch title for YouTube's subscription service 389 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:49,439 Speaker 1: called YouTube Bread. YouTube was looking for special content to 390 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,719 Speaker 1: acquire for this launch in order to attract people to 391 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,640 Speaker 1: subscribe to YouTube Bread. Laser Team was one of those 392 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: pieces of content, so the movie would become available on 393 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,840 Speaker 1: YouTube Bread for subscribers shortly after it had its cinematic debut. 394 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: So this was one of those cases where you have 395 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:09,120 Speaker 1: a film that almost simultaneously comes out in theaters and 396 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: on streaming. Is a fairly early example of that, not 397 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,880 Speaker 1: the first one, but an early one. The company also 398 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: saw lots of new hires in twenty fifteen. It was 399 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: on its way to growing into a much larger company. 400 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: It had taken years for Rooster Teeth to get to 401 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: just twenty employees. It would take much less time for 402 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:30,920 Speaker 1: it to grow dramatically into several hundreds in staff under 403 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: corporate ownership. One new division inside rooster Teeth at this 404 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: time was a games development department, the company that grew 405 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: up around creating content inspired by or featuring video games 406 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: would actually start to make its own video games as 407 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,360 Speaker 1: well as board games. More on that in a little bit. 408 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: The live events department also went into overdrive. Not only 409 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,840 Speaker 1: was Rooster Teeth involved with RTX, which is their big 410 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 1: annual fan convention, but the company also started putting together 411 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: live shows like Let's Play Live, so the Achievement Hunter 412 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 1: crew would travel to perform in live theatrical and concert venues, 413 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: and that's a really big step. It's one thing to 414 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,119 Speaker 1: perform for a camera or a bunch of cameras, and 415 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 1: it's another thing to appear in front of a live crowd. Also, 416 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,879 Speaker 1: the technical requirements of Let's Plays meant there were a 417 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 1: lot of things that could go wrong. Technically making sure 418 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 1: that all the camera and video feeds from video game 419 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,120 Speaker 1: footage to the live shots that are capturing the reactions 420 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: of the Achievement Hunter crew, that's considerable. And making this 421 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,760 Speaker 1: a show that could play in different venues meant that 422 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,639 Speaker 1: you could never count on the same setup twice. So 423 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,440 Speaker 1: I can't even imagine how intense the build in process 424 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 1: was for those shows. Rooster Teeth also overhauled its website 425 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: that year, the company launched an app, because everyone had 426 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: an app. If you were a content company online, you 427 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 1: had an app. I remember when how Stuff Works launched 428 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: its app because my former co host, Chris Pollette and 429 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,359 Speaker 1: I got together and we shot a whole bunch of 430 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: really dorky crnch videos promoting that app. If you can 431 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: find those online, go ahead and watch them. They are 432 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,120 Speaker 1: incredibly awkward. I love every single one of them, as 433 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: cringey as they are, so I believe they're still online. 434 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,680 Speaker 1: But holy cal that was That was a time, and 435 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,439 Speaker 1: whether anyone actually would adopt your app that was up 436 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:22,200 Speaker 1: in the air because they got to be so many 437 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: apps that I feel like a lot of people were 438 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,119 Speaker 1: just like, I don't want to install more stuff on 439 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 1: my phone. I saw a lot of content apps wither 440 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: and die because companies just moved away from supporting them 441 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 1: like they would launch them, and then within a year 442 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: or two it was like the company had forgotten that 443 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: there was an app there. But at the time, the 444 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,600 Speaker 1: conventional wisdom was that you needed to have an app 445 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,399 Speaker 1: for iOS and for Android for one thing. Designing an 446 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:47,960 Speaker 1: app that had mobile users in mind from the get 447 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: go was sometimes a little easier than having to retool 448 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: your website so that it would look good and be 449 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: usable on a phone screen. Twenty fifteen was also the 450 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,439 Speaker 1: year that the media company screw Attack would merge with 451 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,120 Speaker 1: rooster Teeth. Full Screen acquired screw Attack in twenty fourteen, 452 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:07,680 Speaker 1: so that actually made screw Attack and Rooster Teeth two 453 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: media companies that belonged under the same corporate umbrella. But 454 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen they decided to kind of join forces, 455 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: and screw Attack moved its content over to the rooster 456 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:22,159 Speaker 1: Teeth site. The journey of ScrewAttack is another complicated one. 457 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 1: At one point it spun off a group called game Attack, 458 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 1: which also was part of the Rooster Teeth network, But 459 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: then in twenty nineteen, Game Attack would leave Rooster Teeth 460 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:35,400 Speaker 1: to become an independent project and screw Attack would essentially dissolve, 461 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: and the only thing that would remain from ScrewAttack was 462 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,920 Speaker 1: a series called Death Battle, which is still a thing, 463 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,680 Speaker 1: at least as of the recording of this episode. One 464 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,200 Speaker 1: event in twenty fifteen that had a massive impact on 465 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,199 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth was the death of Monty Ohm. As I 466 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 1: mentioned in the previous episode, Ohm came up with the 467 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:59,720 Speaker 1: concept for the series Ruby Rwby and had spent countless 468 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: houtur is working on company projects. I mean he slept 469 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,720 Speaker 1: at Rooster Teeth on many occasions. He had a deep 470 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 1: passion for his work. In early twenty fifteen, he had 471 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:14,439 Speaker 1: a catastrophic allergic reaction and he later passed away, and 472 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,920 Speaker 1: his death shook the company, which was a very tight 473 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: knit community itself. Ohm was very well liked and respected 474 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,640 Speaker 1: within Rooster Teeth, and his passing brought up questions as 475 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: to the future of Ruby. His colleagues pledged to continue 476 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,080 Speaker 1: the series om had created and to see it through 477 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: to the story's conclusion. Whether they will actually be able 478 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: to do that or not still remains an open question. 479 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: We'll probably talk about that a little bit in the 480 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 1: next episode. In twenty sixteen, Rooster Teeth would debut a 481 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,160 Speaker 1: series called Day five. Now I call this one out 482 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:51,360 Speaker 1: not because it's particularly special, but because I'm in it 483 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: kind of but only barely. And I don't think I've 484 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: ever actually spotted myself in the one shot that I'm 485 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: in so way better. In twenty twelve, I attended my 486 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: one and only RTX event. I was just there incognito. 487 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,399 Speaker 1: I wasn't there as a guest or anything. I was 488 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:10,360 Speaker 1: there as just an attendee. I was checking it out 489 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: and I had the chance to be an extra in 490 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:14,800 Speaker 1: a scene for Day five. So the concept for the 491 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,919 Speaker 1: series was that a mysterious effect hits the earth. It 492 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: causes anyone who falls asleep to die. So a very 493 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: small group of people figure this out and they try 494 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 1: to stay awake in order to avoid death. But the 495 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: longer they remain awake, the harder they find it to 496 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: tell reality from hallucinations. And it's called Day five because 497 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: it's the fifth day of being awake. Anyway, while we 498 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: shot this scene in twenty twelve, the series itself would 499 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 1: not premiere until twenty sixteen. It took a really long 500 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 1: time in development to get the story right. Still can't 501 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: see me though, but I am there. I'm laying on 502 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: the street in Austin, Texas. Also in twenty sixteen, a 503 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: new channel formed in Rooster Teeth. This one was called 504 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: cow Chow and it would largely focus on couch based 505 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: co op let's play sessions with lots of comedy and 506 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: more than a little bit of destruction, which would lead 507 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: to issues with the channel's various landlords. The Couchop Crew 508 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: would ultimately locate their studio in Los Angeles, but after 509 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: three years of making content, they shut down as several 510 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 1: prominent members would leave to pursue other opportunities. Rooster Teeth 511 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: would also partner with another media company called kind of Funny, 512 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 1: founded by former IGN editors Greg Miller and Colin Moriarty. 513 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: Kind of Funny would not become a direct Rooster t subsidiary. Instead, 514 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: they leaned on Rooster Teeth to handle duties like merchandise 515 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: sales and ad sales for Kind of Funny properties. Okay, 516 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: we're gonna take another quick break. When we come back, 517 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about one of the early controversies 518 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 1: that broke out from Rooster Teeth. But let's take a 519 00:29:51,240 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 1: quick break to thank our sponsors, and we're back. So, 520 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 1: as I mentioned before the break, we would be entering 521 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 1: into a time where controversies would start coming out of 522 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: the company. Not that there were never controversies in Rooster 523 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: Teeth earlier, but for a long time the company was 524 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: such that one it was small enough that it wasn't 525 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: really getting that much attention from mainstream media. Two it 526 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: was kind of insulated by its community. You have a 527 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:33,040 Speaker 1: lot of community members who are personally invested in Rooster 528 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: Teeth and the health of that company, and as part 529 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 1: of that investment, these members, these community members helped protect 530 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,000 Speaker 1: the company for good and for ill. Sometimes they act 531 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 1: as almost insulation from outward criticism or outside criticism. But 532 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,240 Speaker 1: that didn't mean that bad things weren't occasionally happening. I 533 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,840 Speaker 1: mean that's just going to happen with any organization, especially 534 00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: as it gets larger. You're eventually going to get people 535 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 1: who either make bad decisions or are bad people, or 536 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,360 Speaker 1: they're just mixed with other folks that they don't work 537 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 1: with very well and problems arise. So around this time, 538 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth would hire on Mika Burton, the daughter of 539 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 1: actor LeVar Burton. Mika would work with Achievement Hunter, among 540 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:24,000 Speaker 1: other departments. Now I mention her specifically not because of 541 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: her father, because no matter who her dad is, she 542 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 1: actually did really great work with Rooster Teeth. I liked 543 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: her work all by herself. Instead, I mentioned Mika Burton 544 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: because she was someone who first shed light on an 545 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: unpleasant side to Rooster Teeth, the company side. Because again, 546 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:46,840 Speaker 1: community members were mostly familiar with the content the company produced, 547 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: which included things like podcasts that seemed to give a 548 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,680 Speaker 1: behind the scenes look at people's lives and what was 549 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: going on at the company. But it's kind of like 550 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: social media, where you post the stuff you want people 551 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: to know about, and you don't necessarily talk about the 552 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: stuff you would rather folks not know about, which seems 553 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: kind of counterintuitive because if you listen to any of 554 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 1: those Rooster Teeth podcasts, the hosts talk about really personally 555 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,600 Speaker 1: embarrassing stuff, but it's not stuff on the level of 556 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: what I'm talking about here with Mika Burton. So Burton 557 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 1: left Rooster Teeth just two years after she joined the company, 558 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:28,480 Speaker 1: and later, and somewhat reluctantly, she cited issues she had 559 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 1: with the company itself, things that she faced like abuse and, 560 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: according to a message she posts on Twitter, being abandoned, blacklisted, ignored, 561 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:41,840 Speaker 1: and most of all not believed. When is your dad 562 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: going to hate us? Now was a bigger concern than 563 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: my well being. I knew I had to go, That's 564 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: what she posted on Twitter now. She shared those thoughts 565 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, that was two years after she had 566 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 1: already left the company, and it was also during the 567 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,800 Speaker 1: Black Lives Matter movement. When she shared this, members of 568 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth spoke out about their failure to listen to 569 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: Burton and to take her concerns seriously, and to speak 570 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: up against those who would dismiss her and abuse her, 571 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 1: and to be good allies. It was not lost on 572 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth's audience that the company was largely built off 573 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: the work of a bunch of white guys, and while 574 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,960 Speaker 1: these guys weren't necessarily bad people, they weren't always the 575 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 1: best allies either. Burton was really reserved in her statements. 576 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 1: She didn't want to make the whole matter about herself 577 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:33,240 Speaker 1: or her situation. Instead, she wanted to stress the importance 578 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,520 Speaker 1: of listening and learning. She said, that's what the company 579 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:39,960 Speaker 1: really failed to do. But Burton's statements would not be 580 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: the last from a former employee voicing grievances against the company, 581 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:48,880 Speaker 1: including implications and accusations that the company failed to protect 582 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:52,920 Speaker 1: black employees from abuse. We'll talk more about another of 583 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 1: those in the next episode. Anyway, back to twenty sixteen. 584 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 1: At this point, Mika Burton has just been hired on 585 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,240 Speaker 1: and we don't know anything about those problems yet. It 586 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: would take four years for that to kind of start 587 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:09,000 Speaker 1: to trickle out. At twenty sixteen, Rooster Teeth Games officially 588 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: released the title Ruby Grim Eclipse. This was based off 589 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,320 Speaker 1: the animated series Ruby, originally developed by a fan of 590 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,760 Speaker 1: the company named Jordan Scott. Rooster Teeth actually hired Jordan 591 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,400 Speaker 1: Scott in twenty fourteen. I think they even announced it 592 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:25,520 Speaker 1: publicly at RTX that year, and then they continued to 593 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,879 Speaker 1: develop the game that Scott had created. It entered full 594 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 1: release on Windows on July fifth, twenty sixteen, and it's 595 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 1: a co op hack and slash action game. Rooster Teeth 596 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:39,279 Speaker 1: Games would serve as both a video game developer and 597 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: a video game publisher for independent titles, while Rooster Teeth 598 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:47,719 Speaker 1: would publish games from developers like Team Chaos and Invisible Collective. 599 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,319 Speaker 1: The next actual Rooster Teeth Games title, the one that 600 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:55,960 Speaker 1: they would produce themselves, was an asynchronous shooter game called 601 00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: Vicious Circle. This game released in August twenty nineteen two 602 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:05,000 Speaker 1: let's say mixed reviews, not that that many people actually 603 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,960 Speaker 1: bought the game, which switched to a free to play 604 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,920 Speaker 1: model just a couple of months later, complete with refunds 605 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: for those who had purchased the game at full price. 606 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:17,960 Speaker 1: Earlier gamers complained that the title had limited content and 607 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,720 Speaker 1: not much replay value, and the lack of a strong 608 00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:23,480 Speaker 1: community around the title meant there just wasn't much to do. 609 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,399 Speaker 1: I mean, it's a team based game, and if there's 610 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: no one online, there's no one to team with. And 611 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: not only was that team based, one player would take 612 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:34,760 Speaker 1: on the role of the monster that you were supposed 613 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:37,520 Speaker 1: to kill. So if there's no one on, there's no 614 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:40,400 Speaker 1: one to be the monster or the monster hunters. So 615 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,160 Speaker 1: it sort of fizzled out. In fact, not just sort of. 616 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:48,920 Speaker 1: According to streamdb dot info, the peak number of online 617 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,279 Speaker 1: players at any given time was just three hundred and 618 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:59,240 Speaker 1: twenty three players total. Like that's not good. Vicious Circle, 619 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,320 Speaker 1: by the way, would become one of the favorite targets 620 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,760 Speaker 1: for finger pointers who were looking to explain why Rooster 621 00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,360 Speaker 1: Teeth was headed in the wrong direction or why things 622 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:10,600 Speaker 1: just didn't seem to be as good as they used 623 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,440 Speaker 1: to be. Now, I'm not saying that the quality of 624 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 1: content at Rooster Teeth was actually in decline, but for 625 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 1: some folks, that was the conclusion they came to, and 626 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,400 Speaker 1: a lot of the blame fell on a perceived lack 627 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:25,720 Speaker 1: of focus at the company. There was this perception among 628 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,719 Speaker 1: this particular circle of critics that Rooster Teeth was just 629 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,920 Speaker 1: trying too many things and throwing spaghetti at the wall 630 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: to see if anything was sticking, when they should have 631 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: been focused on keeping the quality of their flagship content 632 00:36:37,239 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 1: at a high level. Now, again, that's not me saying this, 633 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 1: it's this group of critics. You also have to keep 634 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:44,920 Speaker 1: in mind that at this point, the company is more 635 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,359 Speaker 1: than a decade old, right, You've got the people who 636 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:50,400 Speaker 1: have been creating the content, some of whom have been 637 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:53,960 Speaker 1: working on it since the beginning, and burnout is a 638 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:56,319 Speaker 1: real thing. So a lot of people were kind of 639 00:36:56,360 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 1: handing the reins over to a new generation of storytellers. 640 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,720 Speaker 1: And this transition meant that things would start to change. 641 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,920 Speaker 1: Sometimes the style of narrative would change, the style of 642 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 1: animation or presentation might change, the tone would change, and 643 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 1: with that would come critics who don't want anything to 644 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:18,760 Speaker 1: ever change. Right, there are folks who just despise change. 645 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:21,200 Speaker 1: And I get it, Like when you find something you love, 646 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,200 Speaker 1: you don't want it to see it change because then 647 00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:26,160 Speaker 1: it's no longer the thing. That you fell in love with. 648 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:29,800 Speaker 1: I totally understand that this was a case with Ruby, 649 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 1: for example, with Monty Ohms passing, there was this deep 650 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:38,120 Speaker 1: concern within the fan community that Ruby itself was going 651 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:40,760 Speaker 1: to go astray, that it was going to move away 652 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:44,719 Speaker 1: from Ohms's vision, and that without his guidance, it was 653 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:47,880 Speaker 1: going to become something else. As for my own opinion, 654 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:52,000 Speaker 1: at this point, my tastes in content were actually changing. 655 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:53,720 Speaker 1: I felt a lot of the stuff that Rooster Teeth 656 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,040 Speaker 1: was producing was really aimed at a younger audience, and 657 00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: that's totally fine. It just meant that the content was 658 00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:03,279 Speaker 1: starting to not resonate with me as much as it 659 00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:05,800 Speaker 1: had when I was younger. I was sticking with the 660 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:09,479 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth podcast because that largely still felt in line 661 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 1: with what I had found entertaining with the original company, 662 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:16,600 Speaker 1: and I had become personally invested in hearing more about 663 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:20,640 Speaker 1: the misadventures of the various hosts, sort of that parasocial 664 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 1: relationship thing going on there. But I didn't get the 665 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,560 Speaker 1: feeling that the company was necessarily losing focus. I didn't 666 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:30,239 Speaker 1: agree with that criticism. I did get the feeling that 667 00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 1: there were some corporate forces that were starting to affect 668 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth's direction, and that perhaps the decisions of the 669 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 1: company were in the process of making were somewhat at 670 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:44,200 Speaker 1: odds with what the folks at Rooster Teeth had actually 671 00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 1: wanted to do. In other words, sometimes the company comes 672 00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:49,840 Speaker 1: in and tells you to do something, and while you 673 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:53,239 Speaker 1: might not agree with the decision, you don't necessarily have 674 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:56,759 Speaker 1: the power to say no anyway. Rooster Teeth Games would 675 00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:00,960 Speaker 1: develop only one other video game title itself published others, 676 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,760 Speaker 1: but only one other video game title would be produced 677 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 1: by Rooster Teeth Games. That was actually a remaster of 678 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:09,759 Speaker 1: Ruby Grim Eclipse, and that happened in twenty twenty one. 679 00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,600 Speaker 1: So not only did they only publish one more in 680 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,600 Speaker 1: house game, it was a remaster of a previous game 681 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:19,440 Speaker 1: they had published. The division also developed card and board games, 682 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:23,920 Speaker 1: including Million Dollars Butt the Game and Achievement Hunter Heist. 683 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:27,840 Speaker 1: I've got Million Dollars Butt, but I've never played Achievement 684 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:29,719 Speaker 1: Hunter Heist, even though it looked cute when I saw 685 00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:33,480 Speaker 1: the promotional video for it. Now, this seems like we're 686 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:37,439 Speaker 1: getting to a pretty good place to stop for episode two. 687 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:40,000 Speaker 1: As I said when I first started putting these together. 688 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:42,600 Speaker 1: I didn't even plan on it being two episodes, but 689 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:46,200 Speaker 1: as I was working on this one, it got to 690 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,359 Speaker 1: a length that was just unmanageable. It would have been 691 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:53,040 Speaker 1: like a two hour podcast. Now we're still technically in 692 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,399 Speaker 1: the early days of Rooster Teeth, at least as far 693 00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:58,280 Speaker 1: as it being part of a much larger corporate entity. 694 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:00,040 Speaker 1: But I do have one more thing I want I 695 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,120 Speaker 1: want to say that happened in twenty sixteen that does 696 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:06,680 Speaker 1: relate to that particular part of Rister Teeth's existence. In 697 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:11,239 Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, AT and T made a huge announcement it 698 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:15,120 Speaker 1: planned to acquire the media company Time Warner. Now, the 699 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:18,960 Speaker 1: history of both AT and T and Time Warner is 700 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:25,000 Speaker 1: super long and incredibly complicated, including issues with things like 701 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,040 Speaker 1: monopolies and antitrust lawsuits and all that kind of stuff. 702 00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:31,080 Speaker 1: So we're not going to go into all of that here, 703 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:34,359 Speaker 1: but we will say that Time Warner had already been 704 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,960 Speaker 1: through a pretty phenomenal flop of a merger with America 705 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:40,879 Speaker 1: Online back in the day, sometimes referred to as one 706 00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:45,200 Speaker 1: of the worst mergers in corporate history, So could AT 707 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:49,320 Speaker 1: and T avoid the pitfalls that AOL had encountered previously? 708 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:52,799 Speaker 1: With its merger with Time Warner. In a word, no 709 00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:57,719 Speaker 1: spoiler alert, the merger would actually take almost two years 710 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:01,759 Speaker 1: to complete. The deal closed into twenty eighteen, so we'll 711 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:04,480 Speaker 1: talk more about this in the next episode. And also 712 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,719 Speaker 1: four years after that, AT and T would actually divest 713 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:10,600 Speaker 1: itself of Time Warner. Now at that time AT and 714 00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:14,680 Speaker 1: T had renamed this division as Warner Media, and in 715 00:41:14,719 --> 00:41:19,640 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two they sold WarnerMedia to Discovery Communications. So 716 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,399 Speaker 1: this is where all the Warner stuff comes from. Because 717 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:25,239 Speaker 1: you know, I've talked about Warner Brothers Discovery shutting down 718 00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:28,319 Speaker 1: Rooster Teeth, but we hadn't actually talked about Warner yet. 719 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,720 Speaker 1: That's because we're not even at the point where Warner 720 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:35,160 Speaker 1: as part of the media oversight for Rooster Teeth. But 721 00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:38,000 Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen, the wheels are set in motion for 722 00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:42,640 Speaker 1: that to happen. Anyway, that announcement was so far above 723 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,359 Speaker 1: the head of everyone at Rooster Teeth, and the deal 724 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:48,320 Speaker 1: would take so long to complete that it wouldn't immediately 725 00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:51,240 Speaker 1: have an effect on the company, but eventually it would 726 00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:57,680 Speaker 1: make a huge difference. Eventually. All right, this is where 727 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:01,920 Speaker 1: we're going to say goodbye for now. On Wednesday, we 728 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,759 Speaker 1: will have part three of this, and that really will 729 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:07,279 Speaker 1: be the end of it, because I'm not going to 730 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:10,880 Speaker 1: go on and on and on. But again, it's a 731 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:13,560 Speaker 1: great opportunity to talk about lots of other things in 732 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:19,080 Speaker 1: the tech world, like the different monetization strategies multichannel networks, 733 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:23,080 Speaker 1: the fact that you had this one model for revenue 734 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:25,839 Speaker 1: generation that was working for this one company, and whether 735 00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:30,040 Speaker 1: or not that would be applicable to other channels out there. 736 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:33,120 Speaker 1: Some channels did find some success doing stuff that Rooster 737 00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,400 Speaker 1: Teeth does, others would find that that just wasn't working 738 00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:41,759 Speaker 1: for them. And also this conflict between traditional media that 739 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:47,680 Speaker 1: desperately wanted to tap into online distribution because clearly that's 740 00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:50,760 Speaker 1: where things are headed at this point, and the fact 741 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:55,200 Speaker 1: that they're so firmly entrenched in an older strategy that 742 00:42:55,280 --> 00:43:00,160 Speaker 1: works for terrestrial media that would be a huge issue. 743 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:02,959 Speaker 1: One of the biggest problems that I think Rooster Teeth 744 00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:07,120 Speaker 1: would encounter is working for a corporation that ultimately didn't 745 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:11,080 Speaker 1: have a full understanding of how the online digital world 746 00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:15,120 Speaker 1: worked compared to the traditional television media world. I know 747 00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:18,520 Speaker 1: that my own personal experience working for an online media 748 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:21,359 Speaker 1: company that at one point was part of a more 749 00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:26,640 Speaker 1: conventional television cable based company was really frustrating because of 750 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,840 Speaker 1: that disconnect, So we'll talk more about that in the 751 00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:33,640 Speaker 1: next episode. We'll also talk about some other really unfortunate 752 00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:38,040 Speaker 1: controversies that came out of Rooster Teeth and some times 753 00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:42,640 Speaker 1: of real upheaval, including an unfortunate time where the company 754 00:43:42,719 --> 00:43:45,240 Speaker 1: had to lay off a significant portion of its staff 755 00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:47,480 Speaker 1: for the first time in its history. But that's for 756 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:50,920 Speaker 1: the next episode. In the meantime, I hope you are 757 00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:54,879 Speaker 1: all well and I will talk to you again really soon. 758 00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:05,840 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 759 00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:09,879 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 760 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:11,000 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.