Nerdrotic
*

by Charles Miller

After writing several times here on the subject of YouTube, I was ready to turn my attention to some other technology-related area. That was at least until I saw a headline on a news story that read: “Nerdrotic Defeats Legacy News Outlets – Friday Night Tights Beats CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News in Prime Time.” That article pointed out that there exists a whole other facet of YouTube I had failed to even mention, and that is the access that YouTube provides to podcasts and other live programming.

Nerdrotic is a YouTube channel run by an individual who goes by the name of Jeeg. The content uploaded to the Nerdrotic page on YouTube includes news, commentary, and opinion on a wide range of subjects. The content can include news roundups, interviews, live coverage of events political or cultural, and opinion pieces. Opinions and analysis can sometimes be outspoken and even confrontational. New content is uploaded to YouTube on a frequent albeit irregular basis, with livestreams made available most evenings.

So why would any of that be of any interest to anybody? It is about the numbers! A recent report by Yahoo News revealed that some YouTube contributors and content creators like Nerdrotic are outperforming legacy news outlets Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. Nielsen ratings data sampling during a recent week indicated that Fox News averaged 183,000 viewers in the 25-54 age demographic, CNN had 108,000 and MSNBC 57,000 viewers in that same demographic. Now hold on to your hats! During that same timeframe the Nerdrotic channel on YouTube had 215,000 views!

Obviously, these number matter to advertisers. They matter big time! This is one indication of how our culture has shifted and with it the way people consume news content. Not being part of that 25-54 age demographic could mean that I lack understanding of why this is happening. Years ago when I was a part of that age demographic the electronic news was synchronous, presented by Walter Cronkite, and if you were not home to switch on the TV promptly at 5:30 you missed him. YouTube is asynchronous, meaning you never have to miss anything because you can almost always replay any video you missed seeing live. To me that is the big difference, but there is probably a lot more to it than just that.

Nerdrotic
*

Younger people today are well aware that polls such as Gallup have long shown a steady decrease in public confidence in the mainstream media with fully 36% saying they have no trust at all in the MSM to fairly and impartially report events. I cannot say, but it might be the younger generations are finding on YouTube channels such as Nerdrotic, The Joe Rogan Experience, and The Rubin Report someone they can relate to and therefore someone they trust more.

It has been decades since the last time I rushed home to turn on the evening news at 5:30, so I know firsthand that people consume media differently than they used to. I still consume news programming from the big three, ABC/NBC/CBS as well as Fox, MSNBC, CNN, and others. Important news of the day is always uploaded to YouTube by those traditional news organizations I just sited. They apparently do this seeking more market exposure, and I enjoy clicking on the videos that interest me while avoiding those I do not, as well as avoiding most of the ads. And it should not be overlooked that not everyone is a news junkie and glued to news feeds 24/7, which is healthy and enviable.

The mainstream news media will have to fundamentally alter how they approach their viewership and even what they provide. The MSM still has a lot of money and resources, what they might lack is the vision to see the changing market and the agility to adapt before YouTubers upload their next podcast.

**************

Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant with decades of IT experience and a Texan with a lifetime love for Mexico. The opinions expressed are his own. He may be contacted at 415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.

Discover Lokkal: Mission

Visit SMA's Social Network

Contact / Contactar