New York City-based producer-distributor Big Media and Beverly Hills-headquartered independent film studio Insurgence have partnered to launch more than 60 YouTube channels encompassing more than 2,000 hours of doc programming from the former.
The announcement was made jointly by Big CEO Jon Loew and Insurgence’s CEO and founder Niccolo Messina.
The channels will feature hundreds of docs and series across several genres, including science and engineering, wildlife, crime and paranormal, food, home and garden, fishing and hunting as well as history and war. New content is planned to roll out weekly across all channels. Plans are in place to expand to more than 300 channels, localized for audiences in 10 different languages.
The initiative is enabled by Insurgence’s proprietary platform, Insurgence StudiOS, aimed at automating content delivery, channel creation, metadata and AI-driven editorial selection. According to a release, the platform has facilitated the launch of numerous independent YouTube channels, collectively reaching 25 million subscribers and accumulating 250 million views per month across more than 7,000 films.
The digitally-focused Insurgence, formerly V Channels Media, was founded in 2019 and has since amassed more than 100 original films and 60 docs on its channel. Meanwhile, Big Media has produced more than 100 unscripted series, such as the true-crime Wardens (pictured) and represents more than 9,000 hours of programming.
“This multichannel launch represents Big Media’s most significant commitment to YouTube to date, and Insurgence has made it possible to execute at an unprecedented scale,” said Loew in a statement. “As YouTube has firmly established itself as the largest TV platform in the world—reaching more than 2 billion logged-in users monthly and now accounting for the biggest share of TV viewing in the U.S.—it has become a critical platform for premium documentary storytelling. This initiative allows us to activate our library in a way that is both global in reach and highly targeted by audience interest.”
“The partnership between Insurgence and Big Media signifies the beginning of Insurgence StudiOS as a transformative approach to YouTube distribution, allowing for a level of engagement previously considered unimaginable,” added Messina.