How Does TLDR Really Make Money?

Every year we like to update you on our finances, so in this video we tell you exactly how much we earned from YouTube and how much money TLDR is making.

Our mission is to explain news and politics in an impartial, efficient, and accessible way, balancing import and interest while fostering independent thought.

TLDR is a completely independent & privately owned media company that's not afraid to tackle the issues we think are most important. The channel is run by a small group of young people, with us hoping to pass on our enthusiasm for politics to other young people. We are primarily fan sourced with most of our funding coming from donations and ad revenue. No shady corporations, no one telling us what to say. We can't wait to grow further and help more people get informed. Help support us by subscribing, engaging and sharing. Thanks!

[TLDRnews]

We've slightly extended the window for ordering Premium Edition copies of Too Long - so presuming they're still on the store when you visit you're all good to place an order

[skahtty]

Imagine if this level of ethics and transparency still existed in mainstream media

[thejnd]

Props to TLDR for always being transparent and impartial. A refreshing change from other media.

[Suscida]

As a premium YouTube user I REALLY appreciate that you put the sponsorship ads at the end

[grapesurgeon]

I bought a yearly subscription to Patreon, knowing I wouldn't get any rewards from it. You guys rock and deserve the money. Happy to keep paying.

[transvestosaurus]

5:49 this has got to be your best worst spelling ever. Bless you, oh chaotic bastard, who KNEW you didn't know how to spell 'miscellaneous' and just took a wild swing at it anyway

[monsieurmrfox]

You guys rock, the transparency is so refreshing

[deathdrone]

1:00. The moment you complained about mid-roll ads I got served one🤣

[alantully]

Very interesting. Bit sad that a news company being open about their finances is unusual.
I also like your policy of paying all your staff. Keep it up guys. What you do is important.

[JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much for explaining this. Very few viewers realise the complexity of earning revenue online. I don’t most people realise how much time, effort and expense goes into making videos. Taking a few one at to watching an ad is a small price to pay for otherwise free content.

[anubis]

Ahh yes TLDR’s annual transparent-financial report. The only financial report I look forward to.
Keep up the great work!!

[krisztianandrasi]

TLDR TEAM... you are the best thing that happened to journalism for a long time. Thank you for being an example.

[iansmith]

Phenomenal openness. Did have a moment of confusion debating whether "misculanious" was a typo or a regional term

[craigsteele]

Nice to see a YouTube channel being open and honest. I’m sure a good chunk of people just think “loads of subscribers = loads of money”

Glad to see you’re sticking to your morals and ethics

[TheFakeVIP]

I can honestly say that TLDR has changed my life. As a teen I'd always had one eye on politics but never strayed too far in that direction, now, as a 21 year old, I'm getting much more into it. TLDR doesn't only produce good content that got me more interested, it also acted as a catalyst for me to find other political podcasts and news sources, which is vital to exploring a problem-space as large and deviceive as politics. Thank you for all that you do.

P.S. Would love to see more TLDR podcasts answering questions, and responding to feedback from the audience.

[skillyoshi]

honestly, i was starting to resent the channel a bit due to increased ad space, but I now see that it is mostly to provide livable wages to your staff.

Thank you so much for being transparent, and letting me be a more informed subscriber.

[undermantreturns]

You guys make quality content worth every dollar

[Dbnfkdifiekdndn]

And that’s why every business should be run like TLDR. Transparency is king

[briancarroll]

This is just for anyone who's not used to analysing businesses. If the business owner is taking a wage of 50K and the business' profit is 0. It doesn't matter whether the business is profitable because the owner's wages make the business unprofitable. Usually, an owner will adjust their wages every year to maximise tax efficiency so that they pay the least amount of tax possible. Now this isn't me accusing TLDR of doing this but it is a very valid note that if the owner's wages are included there, those are most likely variable right now or will be variable in the future, unlike a normal employee whose wages are fixed year to year.

[RafaelW]

I've been following TLDR News since it was just Jack and a single channel with 10k subscribers. I am happy to have stuck so far, and I trust your journalism more than any other. You guys make some mistakes here and there, but keep improving all the time.