In this post I will talk about Tony's EXTRAORDINARY losses in views and subscribers, and I will tell you at the end what ONE thing can save Tony (it's not too late). Please also buy my merch in the Taipei Geek Store.
The numbers don't lie
The screen shot from Social Blade right below shows us the numbers from the past 2.5 years for Tony and Chelsea Northrup's Youtube channel. As you can see, Tony's view and subscriber numbers are down across the board. It started in 2019 and it really tanked in 2020. The trend doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon.
Let's first look at subscribers: In 4 individual months this year there was 0 new subscribers in a month (February, April, June and September). In the months where subscribers did grow, it was only 10,000 per month. Compare this to summer of 2018, where he got over 40,000 new subscribers per month (coincidentally that was the time Nikon and Canon launched their FF mirrorless cameras). It looks like that was his last peak, as the numbers go downhill from there. His channel is barely growing in new subscribers right now, and this should be a major concern for Tony.
Let us look at his monthly video views: Summer of 2018 was still really good, with over 4 million views per month. It then went down to 3 million in autumn, and bottomed out at over 2 million for most of 2019, which is already a 50% drop. From March 2020 however the numbers have dipped under 2 million for the first time in years. This is alarming, as this is significant shrinkage, and most of these views come from older popular videos, the newer videos have much less views than before.
His viewer feedback is very negative: In one of his latest spec review videos about Nikon's highly anticipated new full frame mirrorless cameras, the Z6 II and Z7 II, he absolutely missed the mark, and portrayed the updates as a failure and implied that Nikon has "given up". In reality the online community and reviewers received these cameras very positively, and pushed back and called him out.
Screen grab from his latest video.
His video received as many dislikes as likes. This could potentially scare his sponsors, which could be another big blow to his operations. It just seems that things are getting worse by the minute.
Camera brands are not inviting him anymore: The last time a brand like Nikon invited Tony and Chelsea for an event was in 2018, but unlike every other Youtuber that was invited, they published their video 3 months later in early 2019 for some reason. The video starts with them riding a speed boat and holding the camera with only one hand while trying to shoot wild-life (the only ones on the boat). They complained how the AF did not work well, without trying to adjust the AF settings on the fly and improve their hit rate like others did. Predictably they didn't recommend the camera for wildlife, meanwhile you have renowned wildlife photographer Morten Hilmer using the Z6 on expeditions to the Arctic and Canada without any issues. Here's a tutorial by him on how to use AF the Z6 for wildlife. Aside from constant AF complaints, Tony also said that the Z6 has the worst auto-balance of any modern camera. He was the only one to have that issue, nobody else on that trip mentioned anything like that.
Screen grab from the video that shows how to not shoot wildlife.
The community did not react kindly to the video, which had 1k dislikes and tons of negative comments, hammering the couple for not being able to use these cameras beyond auto-modes. This was ultimately very bad for their Youtube channel, as the displayed unprofessional behavior probably also scared away other brands from working with them. Nikon has not given them a pre-production camera for a launch review since, which was obvious when Nikon launched the Z50, Tony was the only big channel missing out.
What will Tony do?
Expect him to cut costs, so you will probably see less of Chelsea in the videos, most likely a sock puppet replacement. There might be more videos inside the studio talking about other products such as Ginsu knives or mascaras, so that he can capture new viewership from outside the narrow photography field. Also expect him to talk about the state of the Ginsu Cuttlery company, a sharpness comparison of the latest flagship knives, tips on how to most efficiently cut carrots, and several podcasts about the history of mascara. Perhaps this won't be your favorite content, but there's a good chance that you've already stopped watching Tony, so it will not affect you.
The one thing Tony HAS to do to stay relevant
My suggestion to Tony is to make a serious apology video and promise to: stop lying, stop creating controversies, stop pushing negativity and stop producing worthless click bait. That's the only way to regain the trust of the online community, camera brands, and sponsors over the next few years, and perhaps enjoy some growth again. That, or practice cutting those carrots. Chop, chop, chop.
Expect him to cut costs, so you will probably see less of Chelsea in the videos, most likely a sock puppet replacement. There might be more videos inside the studio talking about other products such as Ginsu knives or mascaras, so that he can capture new viewership from outside the narrow photography field. Also expect him to talk about the state of the Ginsu Cuttlery company, a sharpness comparison of the latest flagship knives, tips on how to most efficiently cut carrots, and several podcasts about the history of mascara. Perhaps this won't be your favorite content, but there's a good chance that you've already stopped watching Tony, so it will not affect you.
The one thing Tony HAS to do to stay relevant
My suggestion to Tony is to make a serious apology video and promise to: stop lying, stop creating controversies, stop pushing negativity and stop producing worthless click bait. That's the only way to regain the trust of the online community, camera brands, and sponsors over the next few years, and perhaps enjoy some growth again. That, or practice cutting those carrots. Chop, chop, chop.
Ellen did it. Tony might be next.
I remember watching one of Tony's earlier videos years ago (thankfully I still never subscribed) and the intro had a full on production crew like wtf it's a dingy YouTube video talking in a static pose just sitting there, get over yourself?
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's seems like people are finally figuring out that a lot of YouTubers "photographers" are just click baiters, fakes or frauds and that real photographers don't spend their time whinging and complaining about camera specs, generally their work does the talking for them.
Great read by the way, would loooove to see YouTube videos discussing Tony's financial's give him a taste of his own medicine.
I watched his videos before he started with a whole studio and production crew. Once he made that change the quality became so much worse, from the actual video quality to content.
DeleteI have great ideas for videos, but I'm bad at executing. I feel much more comfortable writing my blog, but would also love to see a few videos on the issue in general. I think Youtubers won't do it, because a lot of them want to avoid drama.
This was funny!
ReplyDeleteWell done.
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it! :D
ReplyDeleteTony is a joke.
I have been a criminal investigator for 40 years. When Tony "Northoftruth" did his Steve McCurry hit piece he linked his source material. I went spent several days going through the material and it was blatantly obvious he was lying to create a controversy. He then doubled down on the lie and claimed his video was now source material for the US Military ethical journalism school. I personally spoke to the Staff Sergeant who organizes the curriculum, so again he lied. It is very unfortunate for new and young people looking to learn about photography that most of the top "tubeyou" channels by subscriber count, are not photographers. I noticed even some very good channels I used to follow went "hollywood" to gain subscribers and started following the Tony/Fro clickbait pattern. At the extreme we end up with conmen like Ken Wheeler who's sole purpose is to work the crowd for donations. Taipei it would be nice to feature some well meaning honest channels to help guide folks to the right place. I think Gordon Laing and Dustin Abbott are 2 very good review sites, and there are a few good channels for acquiring good skills
ReplyDeleteHi Jeff. I already posted a post like that: List of best Nikon centric Youtube channels — My Top 20
DeleteThank you, I don't shoot Nikon but I do subscribe to some of those channels. For the last 3 years I have been focusing on raptor photography and even been lucky enough to have some of my images used for publication. I am thrilled to see Nikon step u big with the Z9 and it can only mean good things for them. I am in the woods every day for 2-4 hours shooting so thankfully I have less time for YouTube.
DeleteStill loving and trusting them both. Perhaps he is actually saying what he truly believes, even if it doesn't agree with what you have experienced. I would encourage your readers to watch his chanel for themselves.
ReplyDeleteWith all respect Doug, feelings and opinions cant replace "facts". He was "factually" wrong in his McCurry video. He was factually wrong in his claim he is source material for the US military. Have you ever heard him say Sports/Wildlife Photographers call him for advice on camera choices? The folks who are some of the best photographers in the world call him for advice, really? Northoftruth wears shorts and flipflops into the woods to shoot wildlife and then openly says he missed a shot, damaging his gear because he tripped and fell wearing flipflops in the woods. This is not someone providing good advice for young aspiring photographers. He has one goal and that is a series of strategies using his computer knowledge to gain views and make money, not to educate at all.
ReplyDelete