What's Going On in Automotive YouTube?

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It's been a wild ride for the last few months in the automotive YouTube space. Today, I'm going to share my thoughts on what's going on and why it has been so controversial.

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DOUGSCORE CHART:

CHAPTERS:
00:00 THIS...
00:27 CARS & BIDS!!!
00:55 What the Hell is Happening?
02:46 YouTube Channels Being Bought Out
03:51 What No One Is Talking About
04:53 Creators Creating Their Own Channels
07:29 I Love It
08:11 This Will Probably Always Happen In This Space
11:22 It's a Big Risk
12:27 Final Thoughts

#dougdemuro #carsandbids

[ThrottleHouse]

James and Thomas better not get any ideas 🔪

[vin_tra]

I am one of the people you're talking about (started and left Hoonigan) and feel like you are mostly right but also overlooking a few major items. Namely, often times, the people you see on camera only did a select portion of what it takes to make a successful channel so there is a lot of security on just showing up and being "talent". Big Time is the perfect example of departing while on top, having the main brand promote the new brand, and coming out with the same quality content the viewers expected on from Donut. On my side, Hoonigan was on a decline (due to all the corp crap) and they didn't help myself or Hert promote our new ventures. As a solo creator the ad revenue is no where near what I made for a salary. If you can't figure out sponsorships, ads and drive the viewers to somewhere else to make money it is quickly a lot of effort for a very low return. I'm sticking to the low overhead route but even for channels like Big Time, they are 7 people so you need to make a lot of money to cover the expenses.

[TheStraightPipes]

Nothing quite like owning your own car channel with one of your best friends from highschool ☺️

[mightycarmods]

A lot of what you've said here is spot on. And of course they get to be in charge of their own destiny a bit more, while also earning more money. 

Sadly, it appears we are the grandpas of YouTube, but happily been independent the whole time, . We started filming in 2007 and uploaded our first 'How To Pimp Your Car for $500' episode in January 2008 so I guess that makes us the old, grey nomads of the YouTube-sphere.

[SpartanHighKing]

Carwow will literally fail if Matt Watson quits.

[RAFAELO]

Next week Doug demuro: why I sold my channel

[SSuperC]

"you should own your means of production!" HELL YEAH I didn't have Karl DeMuro on my bingo card

[autogefuehl]

Hanging in there for over 10 years, aint gonna go, aint gonna sell, sometimes it's tough being on your own, but the best boss you could have is still no one 😄

[Cartier_specialist]

I'm sure Jason Camissa has a pretty favorable salary package. Hagerty is providing an incredible editing and production value to the YouTube platform. In my opinion they have raised the bar.

[TritonLunar]

The matt watson point is slightly different as yes he does get paid a salary but hes also stated he has shares in carwow as part of his deal, therefore the incentive to leave isnt as high

[debestcanadian]

A significant percentage of people just aren't wired to go out "on their own". They are much more comfortable with minimizing risk and stress, being an employee and taking a regular paycheck. For them, it can absolutely be worth leaving a lot of money on the table if it means they can avoid that kind of stress and still earn enough to live very comfortably. Money isn't everything to everyone

[robthad]

Doug makes it look easy and can act goofy, but damn is he smart. His insights are always spot on.

[paxvesania]

James also departed from Donut.😅
Corpo touch really is a death touch in this case.

[aldomandovani]

Moral of the story: James Pumphry is not Brad pitt

[ImBarryScottCSS]

Automotive YouTube: Implodes.

Throttle House: 👀🤷‍♂️

[TheLorsx]

Doug Demuro spilling tea wasn't on my 2024 bingo card

[Durgenheim]

It’s the classic vulture capital playbook: sweep in and purchase something that someone else built, degrade the product, raise prices and/or stuff in more adverts, and make as much money as possible before the audience gets tired and leaves.

Then, once the business is sucked dry, move on and find the next one to prey upon.

[facepillownap]

Private equity. Unregulated growth at any cost is called cancer and is fatal.

[Stapleton]

I’m an independent and always have been. On the other side of this I have been approached by larger entities trying to absorb me any my channel into their business. Which is usually a sneaky attempt to gain rights to my likeness and everything I’ve already created. I honestly wonder how many independents this happens to.

[whafrog]

What makes me laugh is these "investors" think they are buying a "brand" and people's loyalty is to the brand. They have no concept of quality, artistry, knowledge, character...all the things that make a channel worth watching. If the channel sucks, people stop watching, period. If the creatives leave, the channel is toast.
I'm kind of glad the parasitic investor class doesn't get this, and that youtube is still a place where (in theory) anybody with quality content can shine. It's a great equalizer. The minute the money people are involved, everything goes to hell.