SourceFed

Former YouTube channel and news website

  • SourceFed
Created byPhilip DeFrancoPresented bySee Hosting belowYears active2012–2017Genre(s)News, entertainmentSubscribers1.57 million[1]Total views962.9 million[1]
Creator Awards
100,000 subscribers2012
1,000,000 subscribers2013

Last updated: September 2, 2023

SourceFed was a YouTube channel and news website created by Philip DeFranco in January 2012 as part of YouTube's original channel initiative, and was originally produced by James Haffner.

The main SourceFed channel mainly focused on popular culture, news, and technology.[2] SourceFed was a part of DeFranco's portfolio of Internet-based media properties, including his own eponymous news YouTube series. That portfolio was named DeFranco Creative and later renamed SourceFed Studios when acquired by Discovery Communications' Revision3.

On March 20, 2017, the cancellation of SourceFed, along with its still-active sister channels, was announced.[‡ 1] The closure of the SourceFed Studios network was decided by the newly formed Group Nine Media, led by Discovery Communications, which was formed as a merger between SourceFed Studios and four other networks in October 2016.[3] The final SourceFed video was a farewell livestream broadcast on March 24, 2017.[‡ 2] Around the time of the closure of SourceFed Studios, the SourceFed channel had accumulated over 1.7 million subscriptions and 900 million video views.[2]

History

Under DeFranco's ownership (2011–2013)

Development and launch

Philip DeFranco, the creator of SourceFed

SourceFed was an idea Philip DeFranco had been considering as an evolution of his own YouTube series, The Philip DeFranco Show (PDS). In an interview with Forbes, DeFranco stated that he originally wanted to turn his daily show into several daily segments. He added that there was confusion among his audience when this format was tested, convincing DeFranco that he would need to create a new series to not alienate, but grow his audience.[4]

The SourceFed YouTube channel was created in April 2011.[2] In late 2011, YouTube began its $100 million funding of original or premium content channels. Due to DeFranco's position as a YouTube partner, the website offered him funding for an original channel.[5] The SourceFed channel, based on a blog of the same name, was one of these channels.[6][7][8][9] DeFranco revealed that he acquired the funding to launch the channel by originally promising YouTube that the channel would be run as a "celebrity gossip channel", and that it would consist of a single show rather than multiple different shows. However, DeFranco negotiated for less funding, in return to have creative control over the channel's content.[‡ 3] The funding was provided by YouTube, as the channel was part of YouTube's original content initiative.[5] DeFranco hand-picked the first six hosts of SourceFed: Joe Bereta, Elliott Morgan, Lee Newton, Steve Zaragoza, Trisha Hershberger, and Meg Turney.[‡ 4] Additionally, SourceFed was originally produced by James Haffner.[10]

The channel launched as an original channel on January 23, 2012.[6][11][12] In 2012, Reuters reported that DeFranco had plans to create a news network.[13][14] Along with the staple news show (20 Minutes or Less), five additional shows began airing within the first month of the channel's January 2012 launch: Curb Cash, One On One, DeFranco Inc.: Behind the Scenes, Comment Commentary and Bloopers. Curb Cash ended in March 2012. The New Movie Thing Show, a movie review series, and a movie club-style series titled The SourceFed Movie Club were launched in May 2012. Since then, SourceFed has debuted new additions to the channel's lineup. As additional content was being introduced, the SourceFed crew expanded, adding hosts and editors to its team.[‡ 5]

Launch year events

In early 2012, the Maxim Hot 100 voting website crashed on multiple occasions. Bereta and Morgan claimed that these crashes coincided with them telling their audience through 20 Minutes or Less to vote for Newton as a write-in candidate.[‡ 6] Maxim did not address their claims, but did come out with an article noting that Newton had "list potential".[15] In May, it was announced that Lee Newton placed 57th on the 2012 Maxim Hot 100 list.[16][17][18]

In March 2012, Philip DeFranco announced that he would take the SourceFed crew to VidCon 2012.[19] The four hosts (Morgan, Newton, Bereta, and Zaragoza) of 20 Minutes or Less, along with DeFranco, had a Q&A panel and performed at VidCon 2012.[4][20]

SourceFed hosts Meg Turney and Elliott Morgan, along with Philip DeFranco, presented a series of videos as part of YouTube's "Election Hub" during the 2012 Democratic National Convention and the 2012 Republican National Convention, and joined journalists during live coverage streamed at the end of each night of the conventions.[21][22][23] A public relations representative for YouTube stated “Having awesome partners like Philip DeFranco involved will attract younger viewers and he will have a really fresh take on politics".[24] YouTube's "Election Hub" channels for major news networks only received several hundred views, whilst DeFranco's videos on Election Hub received tens of thousands. It was put down to it being in an 'experimental stage'.[25] Most of the partners of Election Hub, excluding DeFranco, Al Jazeera English and BuzzFeed, struggled to garner 1,000 views of their on-demand content during the RNC.[26] During the videos, Turney predicted that the DNC will not make a difference for young voters.[27] During the conventions, SourceFed uploaded videos explaining them.[28] #PDSLive 2012 Election Night Coverage, a five-hour live event hosted by SourceFed and DeFranco, was nominated for a Streamy Award for Best Live Event.[29]

Philip DeFranco later created a spinoff channel, SourceFedNerd (stylized as SourceFedNERD), which was announced on May 16, 2013.[‡ 4][30]

Under Discovery and Revision3 (2013–16)

In June 2013, Philip DeFranco sold SourceFed along with the other channels under his DeFranco Creative portfolio to Revision3.[31] DeFranco also became an executive of Revision3 and the Senior Vice President of Philip DeFranco Networks and Merchandise as a result of the move.[31] In June 2016, DeFranco made his earliest public clarification that he has "no hands on the creative decisions [made] on [SourceFed],"[‡ 7] and while discussing the cancellation of SourceFed in 2017, DeFranco detailed that after selling his DeFranco Creative umbrella to Revision3, he began to have less involvement on the channel, before having no involvement at all.[‡ 4]

L–R: Reina Scully, Maude Garrett, and William Haynes were brought on during Revision3's ownership.