Young male-oriented UPROXX wants people to know that it’s not just another MCN trolling the YouTube waters to collect and represent talent. And it’s not just another publishing company “that pivoted to video.”
Founded in 2008, UPROXX was building audiences with website publishing long before everything went video. It ultimately teamed up with “an incredible production facility” to surf the video wave, Chief Publishing Officer Jarret Myer says in this interview with Beet.TV following the UPROXX stage show.
“The idea is that if you marry a great studio, the dynamic newsroom and a passion for audience, you’re going to build a true influencer network,” says Myer, who co-founded UPROXX. “Not like an MCN where you’re finding a bunch of disparate things and kind of putting a circle around them. This is a truly one united company.”
With “true authenticity” at its core, UPROXX hosted a NewFronts panel with people representative of its audience instead of “just having the videos up,” Myer says.
The company will produce about eight new shows focusing on pop culture, news, “uplifting stories” and the music scene, in addition to expanding its existing Human series, as ADWEEK reports.
In a world of platforms and distributed video, Web publishing is still a central focus at UPROXX. “We’re very committed to building our destination site, our newsroom and a direct connection with the audience.”
In the section of its website titled UNCHARTED (“Discovering new artists before they chart”), Honda has a major and sole presence from top to bottom. Other brand relationships on the site include Coors Banquet, Toyota and the United States Marine Corps.
UPROXX takes its cues from the current zeitgeist among men ages 18-34. “That could be the new Game of Thrones. But it can also be this idea of maker culture,” Myer says. “It can be this idea of how young people can label themselves and broadcast themselves.”
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB’s Digital Content NewFronts 2017. The series is sponsored by the IAB. For more videos from the #NewFronts, please visit this page.
