Opinion
Charlie Jacoby makes the case why there is still some positive numbers for Youtube inclusion of guns and hunting.
United Kingdom – -(AmmoLand.com)- The new YouTube gun and hunting TV channel ranking is out: Read the full report below or online.
For anyone who thinks that YouTube has pulled all support guns and hunting, it makes a surprising read.
- Our sport has had 12.8 billion views on YouTube from the 500 top-performing channels
- More than 20 hunting and shooting channels are over the 100 million views mark
- One channel has hit a billion views. Hats off to Greg Kinman of Hickock45.
“In a public space like YouTube, that’s an incredible achievement,” says Charlie Jacoby, presenter on UK hunting channel Fieldsports Channel, which compiles the report using figures from Socialblade.com.
Many gun channel owners misunderstood a 2018 update to YouTube’s terms that appeared to ban guns – and moved their channels to other Gun media servers. Some claimed demonetization as a factor, at the same time that YouTube removed its conditions about sponsored content it actively encouraged channels to seek sponsorship and ad deals from its own market places.
“That’s a mistake,” says Jacoby. “You can’t abandon a network that goes to 1.3 billion individual users, especially when the gun trade is queuing up to support channels that can prove they have audience. And we have to engage with this public. Dumping YouTube sounds like Lee crying ‘retreat’ while Washington shouts ‘attack’.”
YouTube now exceeds all print and broadcast media viewership. The top shows on market leader Outdoor Channel claim to reach around 6 million viewers.
Any YouTube channel with 150,000+ subscribers and regular output of films will reach more viewers. And lead times on films can be hours on YouTube compared to months on the cable/satellite channels, which makes YouTube the prominent place to launch products.
Jacoby adds: “YouTube wants to crack down on backyard bombmakers, not legal hunting and shooting channels. When it banned a raft of airgun channels in 2018, it admitted its mistake and resurrected them. Our channel was not affected but a quick call to our YouTube manager in London resulted in the ban withdrawn from all the UK channels, even those too small to warrant a YouTube manager.
“YouTube wants to stop school shootings. Who doesn’t? And like everyone, it does not know how. YouTube has a liberal culture, but it recognises the importance of specialist consumer activities.
“Do not write off YouTube. We don’t. We reach 7.5 milllion individual viewers through YouTube, we have 93% likes on our films, and the anti-hunting and anti-gun snowflake libtards hate that.”
2019 Hunting TV ranking by on Scribd
For a regularly updated ranking, visit https://www.fieldsportschannel.tv/ranking – figures compiled using Socialblade.com. Check out our pictures from Fieldsports Channel at Flicker.
About Fieldsports Channel TV:
Fieldsports Channel aims to provide the best hunting, shooting and fishing via a free-to-watch weekly TV show on YouTube. Visit www.fieldsportschannel.tv/ and www.youtube.com/fieldsportschannel