A rep from BroadbandTV got in touch with me...

5chan

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So, some backstory as to who I am real quick:

I'm a co-owner of 5chan.org, and our YouTube account is the main focal point of our site. We have the URL redirect to whatever current video we have uploaded to maximize viewers and to gain new ones (all this from merely piggybacking off of people accidentally hitting a 5 instead of a 4). It works well for us.

Back on April 16, 2015, we partnered up with the Freedom! network. Things have been going slow with us with them, but that's mainly due to us not hitting our cash-out threshold of what I believe is $100 in ad earnings. I also must state that I wasn't aware of a "contract" that may have been in order when I signed us up with Freedom!, and I'm not sure if I'm obligated to stay or if I can leave at any point I wish to go to a new network (if anyone can point me in the direction of finding this out, I'd greatly appreciate it).

Which brings me to the topic of this thread: last Friday, a woman named Janet Wong from BroadcastTV sent me an email saying that the network was interested in exploring business opportunities with our channel. Some of you on here I'm sure may have gotten a similar email before (it's a standard copy-and-paster they use it seems like, there was some grammatical errors but I verified the sender to be legit and not a spambot), but I went ahead and scheduled a Skype meeting with her this Friday, so I know she's a legit human being.

Honestly, what she presented to me in the follow-up emails seemed to paint BroadcastTV in a positive light, which included, as she put it, Epoxy to manage all of your social media - For example, allows you to cut 15 seconds of your YouTube videos and upload onto Instagram, as well will let you know the best times to upload/when followers are most engaged. (what intrigued me about this one was the letting me know of what times to upload my videos) She went on to say that, with Epoxy, connected channels saw a growth of 31% on YouTube, which is always a plus. Other social media sites went up in viewer percentages too through Epoxy.

It's interesting to note that on BroadbandTV's Wikipedia page, their current YouTube clients include the NBA, Sony Pictures and A&E.

But then, one of the other owners of 5chan linked me to this Reddit thread about BroadbandTV, and I read this:

BroadbandTV is, I believe, a YouTube partner network. Some notable sub networks is the popular gaming network TGN. As a partner network, they can put ads on your videos, and you get a certain cut of it. Usually as a standard gamer on YouTube, you do not have much of the copyright ownership needed to monetize your own videos; hence many go with networks who usually have permission from big game companies to monetize. The email and network, to my knowledge and some short research, are not scams. HOWEVER, I've heard BBTV (which actually has little to do with actual TV) is one of the worst networks out there, providing less pay and less partner support. In addition, I believe BBTV has a certain threshold you must earn before you get paid. This is why they have recruiters to recruit thousands of people, some of whom barely get over 1000 views a month. This is because they know that that these small channels will never quite reach the threshold, and so they are just getting free money off of them.

A little more information: the BBTV contract is a 3 year lock in with a 60/40 split, which is really low and the lock in is insane. So no, the thing is not a scam because you will get paid according to the contract you sign. However, I recommend you don't sign with them. Either wait until you get a little more popular and partner with a better network that's not looking to take advantage of you, or don't partner at all.

Hmm... okay then.

Case in point, does anyone have any dealings with this network, and are they worth it? Am I getting screwed out of a deal or other things, like contractual obligations with Freedom! as well that I'm not aware of? I just want what's best for my channel and co-owners, and that starts with more viewers and subscribers (obviously). BroadbandTV seemingly promises that, but I know things can be too good to sound true. I was also contacted by a rep from a network called ScaleLab, but that was over a year ago and I only just recently saw the message. Any thoughts behind them? Might as well ask.
 
No matter what they promise, no network will help you gain views, subscribers, or higher paying ads.

Unless you're in an area where you can not join AdSense, I see no reason to join a network.


As for Sony, the NBA, and A&E, they obviously get significantly different perks than what would be offered to you...including a signing bonus, 100% income to them, and a specialized team working for better ads and licensing deals. They're signed specifically to look impressive and to make people like you more inclined to sign yourself. Most every major network has a few high caliber channels under them for that reason.
 
out of all the bigger ones broadband/tgn is OK

I dealt with them for six months and it was a good experience.

Just don't use the Catalyst that they say is going to help, it doesn't.
 
out of all the bigger ones broadband/tgn is OK

I dealt with them for six months and it was a good experience.

Just don't use the Catalyst that they say is going to help, it doesn't.

In what way was BroadbandTV a good experience for you and your channel? To me, the most enticing thing about what they have to offer (and, again, pardon my ignorance) is Epoxy and the statement that using that website or whatever will increase my viewers and view numbers. Is there any validity behind that with Epoxy?

Unless you're in an area where you can not join AdSense, I see no reason to join a network.

If I'm already with the Freedom! network, can I still sign up for AdSense? How would I go about doing that?
 
Epoxy to manage all of your social media - For example, allows you to cut 15 seconds of your YouTube videos and upload onto Instagram, as well will let you know the best times to upload/when followers are most engaged. (what intrigued me about this one was the letting me know of what times to upload my videos)

It's easy to upload to insta yourself- just cut out 15 seconds of video, export to email, then upload.

You can find out the best times to upload for free with Tubebuddy.

connected channels saw a growth of 31% on YouTube, which is always a plus. Other social media sites went up in viewer percentages too through Epoxy.

Is there a control group for this data? Without comparing this to similar channels without the network, it could easily just be organic growth over time.

I believe BBTV has a certain threshold you must earn before you get paid. This is why they have recruiters to recruit thousands of people, some of whom barely get over 1000 views a month. This is because they know that that these small channels will never quite reach the threshold, and so they are just getting free money off of them.

This is sad. One of the few legitimate reasons some small youtubers join a MCN is to get paid below the $100 threshold that youtube requires. Not only with this network do you still have to reach it, but they pocket all your money if you never do.

A little more information: the BBTV contract is a 3 year lock in with a 60/40 split, which is really low and the lock in is insane.

3 years is a very long time for a contract, especially where the internet is concerned. What is 60 cents now could be 6000 dollars you're paying them in the future. Who knows whether you'll still want to be with them after 3 years, let alone a network at all? I've heard so many horror stories of youtubers stuck paying MCN's all this money with no way out.

Case in point, does anyone have any dealings with this network, and are they worth it?

You're still asking this after all that? LOL :roflmao2:
 
You can find out the best times to upload for free with Tubebuddy.

Didn't know this existed. How's it work?

Is there a control group for this data? Without comparing this to similar channels without the network, it could easily just be organic growth over time.

This. This seems to be the most obvious case with me. They presented me with some data showing how they've had successful YouTubers on their network and how their numbers went up. But, again, it could have been over time and not every YouTube channel to sign with them will be a success.

This is sad. One of the few legitimate reasons some small youtubers join a MCN is to get paid below the $100 threshold that youtube requires. Not only with this network do you still have to reach it, but they pocket all your money if you never do. 3 years is a very long time for a contract, especially where the internet is concerned. What is 60 cents now could be 6000 dollars you're paying them in the future. Who knows whether you'll still want to be with them after 3 years, let alone a network at all? I've heard so many horror stories of youtubers stuck paying MCN's all this money with no way out.

This is my concern over blindly joining the Freedom! network. Does anyone have any info. on them and is it easy to back out?

I suppose now my best route is to go Google AdSense.
 
Didn't know this existed. How's it work?

Go to their website, download the free plug-in and test it out. If you like it, they offer various premium tool for a small fee.


This is my concern over blindly joining the Freedom! network. Does anyone have any info. on them and is it easy to back out?

I suppose now my best route is to go Google AdSense.

Easy to back out? No. You signed a legally binding contract and will have to serve the full term as you originally agreed.

Otherwise, yes, standard AdSense is the way to go for the vast majority of channels.
 
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