YouTube Screenshot – Inoxtag Inoxtag successfully climbed Everest. His documentary “Kaizen” continues to reach new heights.
YouTube Screenshot – Inoxtag
Inoxtag successfully climbed Everest. His documentary “Kaizen” continues to reach new heights.
TELEVISION – Never has a YouTube documentary benefited from such exposure. Paradoxical for a film whose hero conjures spectators to“stop being behind the screens”. With KaizenInoxtag has reached several audience peaks, in addition to having climbed Everest. And it could well continue its momentum on television with the broadcast of the event documentary on TF1 this Tuesday, October 8, at 11:30 p.m., after Koh-Lanta: The Cursed Tribe.
Since the release of Kaizen on his YouTube channel on September 14, which retraces in 2 hours 30 a year of preparation and his ascent of the highest mountain in the world, it is impossible to miss the phenomenon. In three weeks, the video had 35 million views online and 2 million “likes”. At 22, Inès Benazzouz, her real name, was even noticed by the boss of YouTube. General manager Neal Mohan congratulated him “for the ascent of Everest and the enormous success of Kaizen! »sur X on October 1st.
But this success story goes far beyond the borders of YouTube. This is the particularity of Kaizenwhich opens the door to a new distribution model for content creators.
The release of Kaizen at the cinema poses a problem
The day before the release on YouTube, the Inoxtag documentary was previewed in cinemas throughout France but also in Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. “This is the first time that YouTube content has benefited, on a global level, from a distribution system like this”the press release stated.
In keeping with media chronology, a film must follow a precise release schedule. To be able to go out Kaizen in the cinema and on YouTube almost simultaneously, Inoxtag therefore had to request a “exceptional visa”limiting the number of sessions in France to 500 over two days maximum.
In a few hours, the seat reservation sites crashed. Problem: faced with high demand, some MK2 cinemas have added screenings, and broken the law. According to The Echoesmore than 800 sessions of Kaizen were held in France before its broadcast on YouTube. The National Center for Cinema and Animated Images (CNC) reported the offense to the public prosecutor and requested an investigation.
Where Inoxtag has the merit of bringing young people to the cinema, the profession takes a dim view of non-compliance with the rules made to protect a sector in decline. “The concern is that Kaizen could create an unfortunate precedent, since the MK2 distributor has clearly and knowingly exceeded the limit of 500 sessions, a limit which is the result of consultation with the industry”explained Olivier Henrard, deputy general director and interim president of the CNC, to 20 Minutes.
Televisions are struggling
An excess which is all the more annoying as Inoxtag’s film takes advantage of other media. In Belgium, Kaizen was broadcast on television in September on particlea channel of the RTBFand uploaded to the replay platform Auvio. In Switzerland, the documentary was shown on RTS 2 on October 4 and is now available for replay until November 3.
Same story in France. Before its broadcast on television TF1 this Tuesday, Kaizen was already available on the TF1+ platform since September 28. In addition to proving the success of Inoxtag, this multicast indicates a change in the way we view the content of web creators.
Channels are now ready to buy the broadcast rights to a documentary that is available for free on YouTube. The interest is obvious: attracting a younger audience to television channels that are losing audiences.
A boon for TF1, in search of a young audience
For the TF1 Group, the broadcast of Kaizen is part of a broader strategy. The launch of TF1+ in January 2024, successor to MyTF1, already signaled a desire to attract a younger target. In addition to replays of the group’s channels, the free streaming platform highlights information clips Top Infoexclusively created for TF1+, and bonus content around their flagship entertainment shows such as Star Academy.
A few years ago, the group had already attempted a partnership with another successful YouTuber, Seb La Frite, companion of Léna Situations. At the end of 2019, TFX broadcast the documentary in prime time Seb and Papua. Presented by the YouTuber as “a hybrid” between web video and television broadcast, the project was from the start destined to be broadcast on the channel, since it was produced by Studio71, owned by the TF1 Group.
But the audiences were not there, with only 278,000 viewers on average, compared to several million on YouTube. More than two years later, Seb La Frite shared his new documentary Seb in Kyrgyzstan only on his channel, specifying: “no TV, it’s made for family & for YouTube”.
With KaizenTF1 takes less risk. The channel did not finance the production and appears to have purchased the broadcast rights after the success of the documentary on YouTube. Contacted by the HuffPostTF1 communication did not respond to our requests. On TF1+, the Inoxtag documentary currently ranks third in the top 10 most viewed content on the platform. Tonight’s audiences will tell if this strategy pays off on TV. Meanwhile, Inoxtag is still at the top.
Also see on Le HuffPost :
