On this episode of China Uncensored,
On THIS episode of China Uncensored…
Hey, here’s the new script.
Thanks, Shelley.
“On this episode of China Uncensored,
top ten reasons why I love pandas.”
What?
What is this?
Why are you wearing that?
Oh, it's for our musical number,
“Pandas are Totes Adorable.”
Page 5.
Matt, can you bring Chris's hat?
Here you go.
Seamus, can you load up the new background?
That's very panda.
No, no.
This can't be happening.
Noooooooooo!!!!!!
Matt: He's fine.
He'll come around.
Is this on?
Ok, I snuck back into the studio
to record this episode.
Shelley doesn't know I'm here.
But look, we really need your help.
You’ve probably heard of
the YouTube Adpocalypse.
It’s something that’s affected a lot of YouTubers,
not just me.
It all started back in February
when this British newspaper ran a story
about Google Ads being placed before
extremist videos.
It was a dumb article with a bunch of errors,
and huge exaggerations.
But it started a chain reaction,
where other media picked up the story,
and soon big brands like these
started freaking out,
and a lot of them left YouTube completely.
In response, YouTube and Google
tightened up their algorithms,
blocking ads from videos
that might be “controversial or sensitive.”
Which is so nice and vague,
it could apply to anything.
On top of that,
they created new safeguards
so advertisers can opt out
of running ads on any and all of these things.
It's a good thing that China Uncensored
doesn't cover anything about tragedy or conflict.
Or anything controversial or sensitive.
Uh...can you still see me out there?
Anyway, this resulted in what became known
as the Adpocalypse.
And China Uncensored has been getting incinerated.
Just to be clear,
in the last year,
we've made two other episodes about
how Youtube is demonetizing some of our videos,
like the one where we sailed to disputed territory
in the South China Sea on a Filipino fishing boat.
That was before the Adpocalypse though.
Now it's much, much worse.
In fact, over the past month,
only about 1 out of every 10 video plays on China Uncensored
has included an ad.
Overall we lost more than
80% of our Youtube ad revenue—
even though just as many people
are watching as before.
So basically, I can’t even pay one
part-time person minimum wage from this—
let alone pay my whole team,
that includes Matt, Shelley, Seamus,
and, well, me.
One solution is, of course,
to stop making my videos controversial.
Then YouTube might start placing ads
most of the time again.
But I don’t want to see China Uncensored
turn into a panda-hugging,
no-substance show any more than you do.
Of course, that’s fine if you’re the type of person
who likes getting all your news
from the six mega-corporations
that own 90% of all media...
Conglomerates that all just happen to have
major business interests in China.
But I don't think you're that type of person.
You like China Uncensored the way it is:
Independent and Uncensored.
Standing up to the Communist Party
and its multi-billion-dollar propaganda.
I've met a lot of you now
through fan meet-ups and Google hangouts,
and email and Facebook messages,
and you're all pretty amazing.
Together, we called out Apple TV
for censoring our app in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
We rescued an innocent woman
from a Chinese detention center,
by calling the police until they let her go.
And, of course,
you all proved that you're way better at photoshop
than Chinese officials.
So we've done some great things together.
And we need your help again.
Because we can’t keep doing this show without you.
I’ll let you in on a secret.
Normally, YouTubers don’t talk about
how much they earn.
But I’ll tell you:
I used to make an average of $1.95
per thousand views.
Not much, you say?
Well, after Adpocalypse,
I started making only 14 cents.
That’s per thousand views.
And it's hard to say
if it will ever go back up.
We might never get our old revenue level back,
despite China Uncensored violating
none of YouTube’s community guidelines.
And so here’s the sad bottom line:
If we can’t earn money,
we will need to shut down China Uncensored.
But if you think independent media
and uncensored information about China
is important,
and you want to keep hearing stuff
you can't get anywhere else,
there is a way you can help.
A couple years ago,
we launched a campaign on Patreon.
Patreon is a website that lets you
directly support your favorite shows or artists.
You can contribute a certain amount of money
per China Uncensored episode.
Thanks to the incredible support
of nearly 1,400 patrons so far,
we were able to supplement our Youtube revenue,
and do things like:
Hire Seamus, our video editor,
so we could make better videos for you.
Travel to Washington DC
to arm-wrestle a congressman.
Take that fishing boat
to disputed territory in the South China Sea
to mess with the Chinese Navy.
Stalk Xi Jinping outside Mar-a-Lago.
And lots more.
Like the time I got followed
by the People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong.
What's that Shelley?
I'm not supposed to talk about that one?
Okay, fine.
Wait...how did you even know
I was recording this?!
She knows everything!
Anyway, my point is,
after the Adpocalypse,
now Patreon can’t just be a supplement
to our income.
It has to be almost the whole thing.
And that’s why we need your contributions
to keep China Uncensored alive.
The Chinese Communist Party
hires tens of thousands of online trolls,
called the “Wu Mao,” or “50-Cent” Army.
Those trolls are paid to leave
pro-CCP comments.
Well, I want you to join my China Uncensored
50-Cent Army!
At the end of this video,
and in the link below,
you can visit Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored.
You’ll see that we offer a bunch of different rewards
for our 50-Cent Army soldiers.
To join, click “Become a Patron”,
and it will allow you to choose
your specific level of support.
You can enter any amount or choose your reward level.
Then you can sign in with Facebook
or your email address.
And if you want to support us,
but are tight on cash,
you can set a monthly maximum amount to give.
Honestly, every dollar helps.
Pay with a Credit Card or PayPal,
enter your details,
and voilà!
You’re now a member of the exclusive
China Uncensored 50-Cent Army!
And that’s way better than working
as a troll for the CCP.
We can't rely on YouTube ad revenue anymore.
But we want to keep giving you
the kind of entertaining, uncensored information
that you can’t get on any other channel.
Especially not the giant American media conglomerates.
And if we get enough support,
we’ll use it to make China Uncensored even better.
We want to do more episodes,
expand our website,
cover different topics,
set up a podcast,
and lots more.
We have big plans,
and we can't let YouTube
stand in our way.
Don't worry,
we’ll still keep uploading videos to YouTube for now,
but we’ll also be giving additional,
exclusive content only to you,
our 50-Cent Army,
once you sign up on Patreon.
Like the story about the People's Liberation Army
following me in Hong Kong.
Just don't tell Shelley.
So click the link at the end of this video
to go to the Patreon website,
and help us keep China Uncensored, uncensored.
And unpanda-ed.
Once again I’m your host Chris Chappell,
and with your support,
I’ll see you next time.
Hey, we need you to come rehearse
your solo dance number.
Help me!
Please click the orange Patreon button.