Launched on Samsung TV Plus, House of Creators, the first French FAST channel dedicated to YouTubers, is aiming for hyper distribution this summer, Olivier Levard, president of House of Joy Studio, a start-up specializing in digital distribution, tells JDN.
JDN. House of Creators, the FAST channel that you are launching, has been live since April 22 on Samsung TV Plus. How did you come up with the idea of launching a 100% Youtube TV channel?
Olivier Levard. The desire started from Safe Zone, a show that I created and launched on YouTube with the journalist Faustine Bollaert (in which content creators talk about their journey, their vision of their profession, their experiences, etc., editor’s note). Seeing all these Youtubers parade by, I realized that there is a whole part of the French population who does not know them. It’s not even a question of generation anymore, because now people of all ages use YouTube. It’s mainly a question of usage. There is also the fact that even YouTube users like me want to be surprised, to get out of the loop of algorithms alone.
Finally, I come from television and for me TV has the power of joint listening, which is not favored by smartphones. It’s great to be able to watch Poisson Fécond as a family, which deals with science, or to go with friends to the other side of the world with Claire. House of Creators is here to help introduce talented creators to all audiences through television, which remains a very powerful medium.
What audiences are you planning on reaching?
We have the chance to launch with the leader in FAST channels, Samsung TV Plus, exclusively for three months. For the future, I am aiming for hyper distribution, because today it is the only way to find balance in FAST given that this market is still very fragmented into multiple players. We are in the negotiation phase with all FAST platforms active in France. I am convinced that by July we will be present everywhere. Our discussions are also very positive with the two box operators who offer FAST in their offers, namely Bouygues Telecom and Free. This market welcomes our channel with great enthusiasm, because they want to try new things.
How many creators are scheduled in House of Creators?
For this launch we are programming 13 creators (including L’atelier de Roxane, Morgan VS, Tartin· and DrFeelgood, editor’s note). Others may join us. We program our schedule with great care, like in a classic TV channel. For example, every day between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., we offer a very nice slice of travel with Claire, who travels around the world discovering culinary specialists in particular, and Louis-San who shares his passion for Japan. On the true crime section, between 10 p.m. and midnight, we will find Liv and Noa. At after school, Adem & Bilal do the stupid things we would have liked to do when we were younger. Poisson Fécond, which popularizes science in an exciting way, is once in the morning at 11 a.m. and once in prime time, at 8 p.m.
Some, like Poisson Fécond or l’Atelier de Roxane, certainly have several million subscribers on YouTube. But when will we get a Squeezie?
We are open to all quality creators with power but we have deliberately not contacted some of the bigger ones. We didn’t want House of Creators to ultimately become Squeezie’s or Lena Situations’ channel. We offer several big creators, but also small ones, with a few tens of thousands of subscribers, because we believe in their potential for television. This is the case, for example, of the channel run by two French journalists: Les Gens d’Internet.
What content will you program and do you have any exclusives for their channels on YouTube?
For the moment we do not produce content, YouTubers being their own content producers. We select their best content, and every month we update these choices. We draw on a scale going from now to two or even three years ago for the most essential content.
Don’t you fear a risk of competition with YouTube?
I also worked on television for a long time (TF1, LCI, TV5 Monde, etc., editor’s note) than on digital (Newen Digital, Melty Group, editor’s note) and I am well placed to know that these uses do not cannibalize each other, they add up. For years I ran the Bring in the Accused YouTube channel. We knew very well that those who watched the show on YouTube were the same ones who followed it on RMC on Sunday. When you love something, you love it everywhere. YouTube is a very open platform. They are aware that we will even be able to bring them audience increases. House of Creators is a tip of the hat to the best that YouTube can offer.
How will these Youtubers be paid?
Our model is a sharing of advertising revenue. It’s a real bet that these Youtubers are making on the future, in particular by creating a second potential source of income and allowing other people to discover them. I am even convinced that some viewers will discover them here and then subscribe to their channels on YouTube to access their latest videos. It is a virtuous system.
