Why Colin & Samir Launched a New Channel

In 2022, we uploaded 48 videos on the Colin and Samir YouTube channel. The average viewership of those videos was north of 500,000 views. We grew almost 600,000 subscribers and crossed the 1 million mark. 

It was the most transformative year of our careers, and I think almost anyone would have suggested that we double down on the same strategy for 2023. But we didn’t. 

Instead, it’s one month into the new year and the only video we’ve released was on a new channel with zero subscribers.

We’ve come down with second channel syndrome.

What is second channel syndrome? It’s the urge to start something new when the pressure gets amplified on your original channel.

We’ve noticed that it happens to a lot of major creators:

• MrBeast has MrBeast 2

• Ludwig has Mogul Mail

• Yes Theory has Seek Discomfort

• Airrack has Also Airrack

Generally, a second channel is a space to try looser formats, infrequent uploads, lo-fi thumbnails, and more—really, anything that feels more experimental than the usual stuff.

Our reasoning: As our channel and business have grown, we’ve found ourselves evaluating our ideas based on scale and viewership expectations rather than the desire to express ourselves creatively.

That realization stopped us in our tracks. Because that desire for creative expression is not only what drives the company, but also what connects us to our community. 

So to remove the friction and close the gap between us and our audience, Colin and I launched an audio-exclusive show called Creator Support. The goal was to respond directly to our community by answering their questions every week, no matter what.

Immediately, we felt an intimacy with our audience and most importantly, we were having fun. After about eight months of doing the show every week as an audio exclusive, we decided to add video and give the show its own YouTube channel under the same name.

How did we feel comfortable launching our second channel? There were a couple big questions we needed to answer:

• Could we do Creator Support weekly with video and still enjoy ourselves? Yes, thanks to the constant influx of questions from our audience and a team to help us handle production. In the weeks leading up to the second channel launch, we started filming the episodes (with no plans to release them) to get comfortable with the new format. 

• Will this experiment hurt the main channel? The reality is this: It’s too soon to know. Our bet is that the Creator Support channel will grow the brand overall and help us deliver more value to our community. By adding video to a formerly audio-only show and publishing it to YouTube, Creator Support will benefit from increased discoverability and distribution. Lastly, we think it will build a deeper connection with our audience in a format that’s sustainable for the long term.

So what’s the content difference between our new channel and our original channel?

A second channel is all about expectations—from the audience, from ourselves, and from our team. On our main channel, we optimize for storytelling and editing. With Creator Support, we’re more focused on connecting with the audience.

Our main channel is behind the scenes with the biggest creators in the world. Lower frequency, bigger swings.

Our new channel is a weekly show with a looser format and looser expectations. More frequency, optimized for depth of connection and value to our community. We aren’t obsessing over retention—we are here to serve those who want to watch or listen to the show.

How does this make money? 

At the moment, Creator Support does not have brand partners, does not make money from AdSense, and does not have a direct revenue plan.

We want the show to take shape freely and we want to listen to the community. If membership is where that takes us, we’ll be a community-supported show. If we find a brand that values our community and in turn offers that community value, I could see us going down that path. Maybe it’s a combination of both.

We’re in a fortunate position that the other areas of our business are developed enough for us to move slowly and let the show grow with the community. 

Big picture: This is about depth vs. width.

With the rise of spectacle-style content, we’re seeing YouTube videos regularly hit 30 million or even 100 million views. The nets cast by video content have never been wider as creators are figuring out how to attract the largest possible audience—and in turn growing their channels and businesses at a similar pace.

As audience members ourselves, we crave the depth of connection with the creator. Tight knit communities with an intimate connection to the creator are becoming valuable again. We’re seeing this in the vlog format, live streaming, and the rise of long-form podcasts. 

So our prediction? For creators to get the best of both worlds—cultivating a big audience that supports a thriving content business and creating an outlet to build an intimate connection with the people watching—more second channels are on the horizon.

→ Watch the first episode of Creator Support here

→ Read the show notes from a community member here

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