Certain local YouTube channels are bringing in hundreds of millions of VND per month. Their target audience? Children.
According to Socialblade, a site that evaluates social media statistics, of the 50 highest earning YouTube channels in Vietnam, at least 10 are geared toward young audiences.
Tran Xuan Vinh, the manager of Vietnam’s 48th most popular YouTube channel, Vinh Vat To, told VietnamNet that advertising to kids is on its way to being a lucrative business. He reasoned: “Children are considered loyal viewers, who watch the same content many times.”
“Parents nowadays usually let children watch videos when feeding them, or use videos as ‘babysitters’ when they are away. In other words, developing channels for children is lucrative for YouTubers,” he told the news outlet.
Tho Nguyen is one of the most popular child-oriented YouTube channels in Vietnam. Launched in June 2016, it currently has over 2 million subscribers.
Nguyen Lac Huy of Schannel, Vietnam's 34th most popular YouTube channel with over 755,000 viewers, told the news source that the Tho Nguyen team brings in VND200-300 million per month from the video site.
He went on to say that children’s YouTube channels don’t make as much money as channels geared toward adults because the content is less ad-friendly. On average, though, two-thirds of a channel’s income is from paid advertisers outside of the website, so it is still profitable.
Prolonged exposure of children to the same ads reportedly causes problems between children and family members. After watching YouTube videos, children demand certain toys and sweets, unaware of their high cost or lack of nutritional value.
Families and educators are finally starting to take a more definitive stand against inappropriate and non-educational content for children. For example, Spiderman Frozen Marvel Superhero Real Life, a popular Vietnamese YouTube channel, had to pay a fine of VND30 million last January due to “unreasonable content”, according to Tuoi Tre.
[Photo via South China Morning Post]
