WSL breaks records on YouTube. Traditional broadcasters are struggling with over-35s in the UK. And how to make the best YouTube videos possible.

Our Managing Director, Simon Bell , is excited to share one of the biggest stories in football this season: live WSL games are now streaming on YouTube!

Live football is on YouTube!

This season’s partnership between WSL and YouTube has got to be the story of the football season so far. Moving live games onto YouTube, along with a content strategy of supporting content, is generating some seriously impressive engagement - this the kind of fan-focussed innovation that football really needs.Some standout figures show just how much momentum is building:

?? Live streams of games are getting BIG viewership, with West Ham vs Arsenal on Sunday 20th October the latest match to get over 200,000 viewers.

?? Only one month since launch, the channel has already hit 125K subscribers.

? It’s not just the WSL, the Women’s Championship is part of the partnership, and setting their own records for viewership (including Newcastle's recent thrashing of Sunderland...)

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Next up, our Strategy Director, Nikhil Acharya , has been diving into the recent Mr. Beast "how to succeed" document that’s taken the internet by storm.

"Your goal here is to make the best YOUTUBE videos possible.”

The leaked ‘how to succeed’ document from Mr. Beast caught viral fame of its own for all the wrong reasons, laying bare just how exploitative the man behind the generous ‘giveaways’ truly is.

But even from the most uncomfortable (and patronising) of reads, we’ve managed to fish out some helpful reminders of how to get YouTube right.

- Titles and thumbnails are the start, not an after-thought. Yes, he’s sensationalist and a master of click-bait. But an audience truth that he does get is really interrogating what elements you need in your story and videos to make them truly click-worthy.

- Always follow through on audience expectations. Despite his love for OTT setups, the one thing he does do is meet or even surpass the crazy premise in the thumbnail. He understands that viewers don’t like being lied to, and that the job of the content creator and editor after the click is to keep audiences watching to drive the all-important AVD (avg. view duration) metric.

- Bring the “wow factor” by doing something that only you, the creator, can do. This is probably the most transferable thing to takeaway for brands in a world of copycats that usually end up being a cheap approximation of viral content.

Now, go forth and be viral.?

And please be a good human being while you’re at it. ???

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To close out, here’s a fresh perspective from Nikhil Acharya on the shifting video habits of... you guessed it, us Millennials.

I forgot that I, like my fellow Millennials, am old AF now.

Did you know that YouTube is the second-largest video platform in the UK for the OVER-35s (after only the BBC)? ???

Evan Shapīro and Barb’s recent UK video viewing report highlighted how aging Millennials, the generation that drove the growth of YouTube on their phones years ago, are carrying on their love affair for their beloved platform on their connected TVs. (40% of YouTube viewing is on these now).

So, this isn’t a case of second-screening or watch time on personal devices - YouTube is literally the TV channel that is stealing eyeballs on the same ‘living room envy’ device the OG broadcasters want to be winning on.

And as for the under-35s:

“YouTube pulled in more watch time than all the Broadcasters – combined.”

Yikes. ??