Month: September 2019

A major advantage of advertising on YouTube is the ability to retarget ads to consumers based on past behavior. For example, retargeting for sports brands can involve using YouTube to advertise to the brand’s website visitors. This increases the chances of casual visitors becoming repeat buyers. 

One retargeting audience TV buyers should consider is WWE fans. Not only does WWE’s live TV broadcasts already get millions of viewers, but their YouTube channel is also one of the largest on the platform. 

In this article, we’ll examine some of the top WWE YouTube channels worth buying ad slots in. 

But first:

Why Should TV Media Buyers Invest in YouTube?

Successful TV advertising can be challenging nowadays, especially given that 55% of TV viewers leave the room during commercials. If you’ve read our 7 Benefits of Advertising on YouTube article, you’ll know that YouTube has massive reach and a retargeting ad platform that delivers results that are effective, inexpensive, and easy to track and measure. 

TV media buyers would be smart to set their sights on YouTube advertising for two reasons.

1. Cable Isn’t King Anymore

A recent survey on media consumption shows that 67% of survey respondents between the ages of 18 and 27 consumed sports content via social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. 

Online viewing has drastically increased since the pandemic. People from every age group and demographic have traded cable subscriptions for streaming services and free platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. An eMarket forecast predicts that by 2023, less than 50 percent of US households will have cable subscriptions.

Smart or connected TVs not only let you watch regular broadcasts, but you can also browse online and stream content on platforms like YouTube. Currently, over 100 million people in the United States watch YouTube on a TV screen.

2. A Larger Reach

For the same cost of a 30-sec broadcast TV ad spot, you could achieve up to 3X that reach against the same audiences consuming second-screen official and YouTube creator-made sports content on YouTube—either replays, recaps, highlights, interviews, commentary, or simply re-watching the game. 

Brand awareness and ad recall are also higher when an ad is viewed once on YouTube and once on TV, compared to being viewed only twice on TV.

Why YouTube Is an Effective Way to Reach WWE Fans

For WWE, YouTube content far exceeds the reach that advertisers would receive by running ads during live broadcasts of Monday Night Raw and Tuesday Night Smackdown. YouTube reaches millions more people than most local TV networks.

TV buyers can leverage YouTube to retarget WWE Raw and Smackdown fans while serving ads to the TV wrestling audience at a fraction of the TV buying cost.

The Top 8 WWE Channels to Retarget YouTube Viewers 

Official WWE channels get millions of views each month. However, the fan channels are worth looking into as well. The top WWE YouTube channels include:

1. WWE 

WWE Wrestler’s network of YouTube channels produces ad-supported, broadcast-level content that wrestler fans know and love.

The main WWE channel is home to episode highlights for Raw and Smackdown, as well as WWE’s digital shows like 205 Live and NXT. WWE also publishes post-match interviews, throwback matches, and weekly recap shows. It’s one of the most viewed and subscribed YouTube channels, with 74.5 billion total views and 93.6 million subscribers.

2. UpUpDownDown 

UpUpDownDown is a WWE-produced video game channel started by wrestler Xavier Woods. Woods interviews other wrestlers as they play video games, giving fans a chance to see a new side of their favorite wrestlers. It has 2.37 million subscribers and a total view count of 457 million. 

3. WWE On FOX

This channel focuses on FOX’s WWE programs, such as Smackdown and NXT. These include match highlights and backstage clips. It currently has 1.22 million subscribers and 404 million total views. 

4. WhatCulture Wrestling 

Some of the best WWE content is fan-made. Popular fan channels like WhatCulture feature show recaps, commentary, storyline predictions, and discussions on behind-the-scenes rumors. 

WhatCulture covers WWE and AEW-related news, offers insider insights, and showcases interviews with well-known figures in the professional wrestling scene. While they have 2.08 million followers, their total view count is over 1.75 billion. 

5. Cultaholic

The Cultaholic has over 773,000 subscribers and 494 million views. It provides news, predictions, and interviews, as well as podcasts and list videos. They also cover other wrestling promotions. 

6. WrestleTalk

WrestleTalk is a wrestling show and website based in the United Kingdom. They provide news and other features for most professional wrestling promotions. Their YouTube channel has around 828,000 subscribers and over 546 million views. 

7. Wrestle Alert

This India-based wrestling channel focuses solely on WWE content. Besides highlights and previews, it also makes videos for pay-per-view predictions. Its sizable community has 378,000 subscribers and almost 76 million views.

8. Wrestlelamia

As one of the oldest wrestling channels, Wrestlelamia has 1.91 million subscribers and over 1.1 billion total views. It’s popular for its list of videos on more “obscure” topics. However, it also provides news on other wrestling promotions.

Reach Your Retargeting Goals with Channel Factory

Retargeting for sports is a trend you’ll want to jump on immediately if you haven’t already. Read our guide on How to Reach Sports Fans on YouTube for a more in-depth look. If you struggle with matching your ads to the right YouTube content, Channel Factory can help.Context matters to us, so we’ll help you find WWE or other sports content that best aligns with your ad campaigns. Get in touch today, and let’s discuss the YouTube advertising solutions that work best for your brand and budget.

7 Reasons Why TV Media Buyers Need To Be On YouTube

More and more TV watchers are migrating their viewing habits to YouTube where they can watch premium broadcast content reposts from TV networks, as well as catch creator-made TV-show and sports related content. Capture the incremental reach bump by integrating your TV ad budgets with YouTube campaigns.

1. Evolving Viewing Priorities 

• YouTube content addresses viewers with evolving video consumption priorities
• YouTube is the #1 video platform in the U.S. with over 2 billion active monthly users
• Passion about a YouTube creator/topic is 3x more important to consumers than a Hollywood name attached to viewed content
• YouTube reaches more A18-49 U.S. consumers in an average week than all cable TV networks combined
• 17.7% of A18-34 use YouTube to view video content on TV vs. 9.8% on basic cable, and 6.0% on broadcast networks

2. Cord-Cutting Revolution

• Consumers are cutting their cable cords and consuming digital video on TV screens
• Linear TV viewing by US adults has declined 22% since 2012
• 21.9 million households will be cord-cutters in 2019, with an approximate 2% year-over-year increase in cord-cutters
• Watch time of YouTube on TV screens was more than 250 million hours per day, an increase of 39% in less than a year
• 18.3% of U.S. YouTube video views come from connected TV devices – more than tablets and desktops
• YouTube ads shown on TV screens show a 47% lift in ad recall and 35% lift in purchase intent over other devices

3. Broadcast Content

• Major media companies redistribute TV content on YouTube
• 19% of YouTube’s top 100 channel entities are broadcasters
• YouTube channels for the five main U.S. late night shows garner a total 659.6 million monthly views
• YouTube won the exclusive rights to stream 13 Major League Baseball (MLB) games this season

4. Broadcast vs YouTube Reach

Combined reach of TV shows is outstripped by YouTube’s like-for-like genres

5. Broadcast Sports on YouTube

Sports content reposts and creator-made content offer massive incremental reach

6. Linear TV YouTube Extensions

• Consumers are cutting their cable cords and consuming digital video on TV screens
• YouTube reaches 91% of light TV viewers on connected TV
• Incremental reach opportunities against broadcast TV content reposted on YouTube
• Incremental reach opportunities against YouTube creator-made, TV show-related content (episode recaps & reviews, show extras, behind-the-scenes/off-screen commentary)
• 55% of TV viewers leave the room during commercials vs. 2% of YouTube CTV viewers
• Brand awareness and ad recall are higher when an ad is viewed once on YouTube and once on TV vs. twice only on TV

7. Unique Audience Reach

• Non-ad-supported premium show audiences are even available to YouTube advertisers
• YouTube channels dedicated to show commentary, predictions, and reviews garner millions of views, reaching audiences consuming more show content
• Fan-created content revolving around popular shows on non-ad-supported platforms (Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc.) offer reach to audiences that are off-limits for advertisers