YouTube creator The Try Guys says it’s on track to becoming profitable after a tough few years. Subscriptions to its three-month-old ad-free service, 2nd Try, now account for 20% of the company’s revenue.
Of course, that number means The Try Guys will continue to rely on other revenue streams, including YouTube advertising. But in an interview with CNBC, co-founder Zach Kornfeld said the service has exceeded expectations, and the goal is to continue growing 2nd Try until it becomes its largest revenue source.
In addition to their popular music videos and series, The Try Guys also became notorious for a scandal in which one of the group's co-founders was found to have had an affair with an employee. The scandal also damaged the group's relationships with advertisers.
“Our company has essentially been losing money for two years,” Kornfeld said. “We got to the point where it was costing us more to make shows that our audience liked than we were making money from YouTube.”
Another group of popular YouTubers launched a separate subscription service, Watcher Entertainment, earlier this year, which drew backlash from fans over its plans to limit the number of episodes made available for free on YouTube.
