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00:00:00 – 00:15:08
The video comprehensively examines the declining viewership and tarnished reputation of Steven Crowder in 2023, following his switch from YouTube to Rumble and a failed contract negotiation with The Daily Wire. Major issues covered include a significant drop in view counts on both platforms, accusations of abusive behavior, and troubling revelations from former staffers. The video also scrutinizes Rumble's engagement metrics, revealing potential discrepancies in view counts, possibly due to the platform's method of counting views during video loops and stream previews. The speaker's experimental tests support the theory of inflated views on Rumble, even when streams are not actively watched. The discussion concludes with an overview of Rumble's financial struggles and a general call for viewer engagement with the video content.
00:00:00
In this part of the video, the focus is on Steven Crowder’s declining viewership and reputation in 2023. After signing a deal with Rumble in March 2023, his views dropped significantly from over 2 million per video to less than 1 million. Crowder’s failed contract negotiation with The Daily Wire and the public fallout, including secret recordings and a rejected $50 million offer, set the stage for his troubles. His messy divorce and a leaked video of him being abusive further tarnished his image. Additionally, former staffers revealed troubling behind-the-scenes behavior. Analysis of Crowder’s YouTube and Rumble views shows a clear audience shift to Rumble, driven by his promotion despite lower engagement levels on the platform. Similar issues with engagement were observed for other personalities like Ben Shapiro and Tim Pool.
00:03:00
In this segment, the focus is on the peculiar lack of user engagement on Rumble compared to YouTube, particularly in terms of comments, likes, and dislikes. It is noted that even Stephen Crowder’s audience, potentially migrating from YouTube to Rumble, shows little interest in engaging this way on Rumble, raising suspicions about user behavior. The narrator then shares an observation from Crowder’s live stream for the GOP primary debate: before it started, the stream already displayed 138,000 views even though 27,000 people were waiting. This anomaly led to further investigation, revealing that pre-stream view counts on Rumble for Crowder and Dan Bongino’s streams often show significant numbers, sometimes tens of thousands, which seem to update only minutes before or after the streams begin, suggesting a potential discrepancy in how view counts are recorded and displayed.
00:06:00
In this part of the video, the speaker tests the hypothesis that Rumble’s view counts are inflated by counting views during the waiting period before a live stream starts. They set up a stream and used a short 8-second video as a preview, noting it played repeatedly for an hour. Despite only one viewer, the view count reached 226 after an hour, implying around 50% of the loops were counted as views. Repeating the test with a 30-minute stream, they found consistent results. A different test with a default 15-second video yielded 120 views in 30 minutes, suggesting similar over-counting. When no preview played, the count dropped significantly to five views, reinforcing the findings.
00:09:00
In this segment, the speaker investigates the discrepancy between view counts for videos of different lengths on Rumble and YouTube. They determine that Rumble counts a view every 15 seconds a video loops, while YouTube counts a view after 30 seconds of continuous watching. This explains why an 8-second video on Rumble has fewer views than a 15-second one, as the loop counter resets every other loop. To confirm this, the speaker runs a test using a 1-minute video, which garners 32 views over 30 minutes, reinforcing the 15-second count theory. The speaker speculates that Rumble may inflate view numbers through these short loops, particularly benefiting channels like Stephen Crowder’s, which often start late. Additional tests involving typical browsing behaviors, such as minimizing the window, still show numerous views, suggesting that Rumble counts views even when the stream is not actively being watched.
00:12:00
In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses a method they experimented with to test how stream view counts are potentially inflated. They share that by opening a stream preview and then closing it shortly after, they still managed to garner views without actually watching it. This led to nine views despite not actively engaging with the content. The speaker uses this as strong evidence suggesting that streaming platforms, specifically mentioning Stephen Crowder on Rumble, might have artificially inflated view counts due to people keeping tabs open without watching. Additionally, the speaker touches on Rumble’s financial struggles, noting a significant increase in revenue but even higher expenses leading to substantial losses. This raises concerns about the platform’s viability if it continues to lose money. The video segment is part of a larger upcoming video on Stephen Crowder’s early career, highlighting the speaker’s plans for future content and how supporters can access early videos through Patreon.
00:15:00
In this part, the speaker encourages viewers to leave a comment, like the video, subscribe to the channel, and hit the bell for notifications. They also express their gratitude to the audience for watching.