Economist Films Hits One Million Subscribers
Economist Films, the films initiative from the global current-affairs newspaper, has hit one million subscribers on its YouTube channel. The success coincides with the launch of two new series and comes just four short years after the channel launched.
Economist Films expresses The Economist’s globally curious outlook with a wide range of short and long-form mind-stretching documentaries in the newspaper’s singular and trusted voice. Every video presents clear, sharp analysis of a subject in a compelling and digestible way. You can watch the films for yourself here.
The success of the channel is being built upon with two newly-launched series. ‘The Story Behind’ reveals for the first time the processes that shape our video journalism. The first two episodes, Climate Change: can nature repair the planet? and How to help America’s poor are shortly to be followed by topics ranging from doping in sport to Brexit and Huawei. Accompanying each episode is a YouTube Live broadcast, featuring Q&As with The Economist writers. You can watch the first, with Senior Editor Oliver Morton, here.
Recently, Economist Films has been recognised by many awards bodies, winning a 2018 Lovie Award and 2016 British Media Award, as well as being a 2019 Lovie Award and 2019 Webby Award Winner for The Agony and Ecstasy: How MDMA is being used to treat PTSD.
“We are delighted with the success of Economist Films. Four years ago, we set out to reimagine The Economist in the moving image. Our ambition ever since has been to produce world-class video content that engages with existing readers and captivates new audiences for The Economist. We’ve achieved that with an unflinching focus on quality — of storytelling, film-making and, of course, journalism. Our growing subscriber base seems to agree. We’re excited to see the channel grow and for Economist Films to expand in new directions as we diversify with new series and formats,”
- Economist Films Director of Programmes, David Alter.
Economist Films also partners with brands, offering sponsored content packages, ranging from 90 second videographic shorts to half-hour documentaries. In line with The Economist editorial values, the films always remain 100 percent editorially independent. Past and current clients include; EY, Intel, Mishcon de Reya,Blancpain, DXC, Woolmark, Turkish Airlines, Santander, Credit Suisse, Salesforce and Thomson Reuters.
“It’s wonderful to see over one million people enjoying the high quality content we’re producing. As well as the benefits for our subscription business, delivering a best-in-class viewer experience for free to our globally curious audience means that sponsoring brands become a powerful benefactor in the process. We work with our clients to ensure they make the most of that engagement, whether through sponsorship, branded content, or co-promotional activities around the themes they sponsor.”
- Jamie Credland, SVP Economist Films
Economist Films By Numbers…
- More than 700million views
- 485 years total watch time or 4,245,400 hours
- Economist Films has produced over 660 pieces of video since launch in June 2015, content including
- 77 mini-documentaries
- 585+ short-form ‘Daily Watch’ videos
- 86% of Economist readers watch videos online every week
