The Young Turks

The Young Turks (TYT) is an online American liberal/progressive political and social commentary program hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian; the show has an associated network of online shows and is owned by a company of the same name (The Young Turks LLC). TYT was founded in 2002 by Uygur as a talkshow on Sirius Satellite Radio.

The Young Turks claims to be "the world's largest online news show"; YouTube video views for the TYT Network stood at a total of 2 billion as of July 2014.^[5] The show offers internet-only video content via their YouTube channel, which in April 2012 averaged 750,000 views a day, and by November 2014 over 1,400,000 views a day.^[6] The Young Turks also have a network of other affiliated shows on separate YouTube channels, known collectively as the TYT Network.

From 2011 to 2013 a second show, called The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur aired on Current TV. After Current TV was acquired by Al Jazeera America, the TV show was discontinued.

History

Cenk Uygur at the 2010 Streamy Awards.

The Young Turks as a show began when Cenk Uygur started a talk show similar to a public-access television cable-TV show he had done previously called The Young Turk. With the help of friend Ben Mankiewicz (with whom he had previously worked), his childhood friend Dave Koller, and Jill Pike, he began The Young Turks as a radio show in 2002 on Sirius Satellite Radio.^[7] The show's name derives from the English-language phrase "Young Turk", meaning a reformist or rebellious member of an institution, movement, or political party.^[8]

In 2005 the show received attention for its 99-hour "Live On Air Filibuster," conducted during Congressional hearings for the Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination. Hosts including Thom Hartmann and John Amato filled in so that the show's regulars could rest or have breaks.^[9]

According to The Guardian The Young Turks is the first daily streaming online talk show, having started in that format in 2006.^[7]

In August 2007, Mankiewicz left the show to move to a new television show for TMZ.^[10] At roughly the same time, Pike left to pursue a job in Washington, D.C. Ana Kasparian, then an intern, was hired to do pop-culture segments. Mankiewicz eventually returned to The Young Turks as a regular correspondent.

During the 2008 elections, the show developed close ties to Brave New Films. They aired ads for the film company and featured actors such as Robert Greenwald and Jonathan Kim.

After Current TV was acquired by Al Jazeera America which discontinued the show in 2013, The Young Turks production staff relocated for a time to temporary studio quarters in Los Angeles at YouTube Space LA.^[11] They moved to new studio facilities in Los Angeles late 2013 and completed their new studio in June, 2015

Satellite radio

Prior to signing with Air America, the show was broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio, on Sirius Left 143 and later 146, weekdays from 6-9PM ET, and re-aired on Sirius Talk Central 148 from 12-2PM ET. The Young Turks was the first show exclusively for Sirius Left to air that was not part of a syndication network. The show was exclusive to Sirius for several years. TYT was also carried by KFH (1330 AM/98.7 FM) in Wichita, Kansas from 7-9PM CT and webcast by RadioPower.org.

On February 2, 2009, TYT was removed from the broadcast schedule on XM/Sirius Channel 167, America Left. Their program was filled by an extra hour of Bill Press. The show returned to XM/Sirius on March 16, 2009. In late 2010, TYT announced through their Facebook page that they would leave XM/Sirius radio; their last show on XM/Sirius was on November 19, 2010.

Weeknight program on Current TV

The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur
Created by	Cenk Uygur
Presented by	Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian, Ben Mankiewicz, Michael Shure, Brian Unger, Wes Clark, Jr., RJ Eskow
Country of origin	United States
Production
Executive producer(s)	Cenk Uygur Dave Koller
Producer(s)	Jesus Godoy Jayar Jackson Mark Register
Location(s)	Culver City, CA
Running time	Television: 1 hour
Release
Original network	Current TV
Original release	December 5, 2011 – August 15, 2013

On September 20, 2011, Current TV announced that TYT would launch a weeknight TV edition of the show at 7 pm EST on the network beginning sometime in the 4th quarter of 2011. The show joined Countdown with Keith Olbermann as the second news and opinion program on Current as the network continued to develop a new lineup of programming followed by The War Room with Jennifer Granholm in January. According to the show's website, the show was introduced as The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur to differentiate itself from the popular web series.^[12] For two years the two separate shows were done one after the other with an hour break in between shows Monday through Thursday.

On January 2, 2013, it was announced that Current TV had been sold to Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based broadcaster.^[13] Al Jazeera reorganized the channel into the new Al Jazeera America network and discontinued TYT, which continued to August, 2013.^[14] The show on Current ended on August 15, 2013. Al Jazeera America planned to build a news source with a more neutral tone.^[15]

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Uygur commented that since the TV show was discontinued, he was relieved to move on and focus on his web show and site. He said he had been "exhausted from doing the two shows at once." As he believes that the future of media is online, he is glad to put his energies there. Uygur also noted that he talked with Al Jazeera America after they bought Current and they mutually decided that the show would not continue due to Al Jazeera America's more neutral tone.^[15] However, members of The Young Turks, such as Michael Shure (as a political and general assignment contributor), Cara Santa Maria (part of TechKnow) and Ben Mankiewicz (as a movie critic), regularly appear on Al Jazeera America. The Young Turks also have a partnership with Al Jazeera's digital channel AJ+.

Roku

It was announced on July 30, 2013 that The Young Turks launched on Roku with the TYT Network.^[16] The Roku channel will feature much of the same content that’s already freely available on The Young Turks’ YouTube channel, which has over 1.3 million subscribers and generates 50 million monthly views. The network is among the few channels to generate more than 1 billion views since launching on YouTube. Since there is not a YouTube channel on Roku, the new app should fix that.

Young Turks COO Steve Oh said making TYT Network available on Roku is the first part of the network’s strategy to continue its growth regardless of where people are watching its programming. Their intent is to figure out a way to monetize its programming from multiple distribution channels, rather than relying on one or two big channels (such as YouTube or cable television). The network is planning also to launch native apps for iOS and Android in the near future. Its representatives are speaking with other media platforms about expanding its programming.

Hulu

In April 2014 The Young Turks launched on Hulu as a channel. TYT released “The Young Turks,” a condensed 30-minute version of TYT’s self-titled two-hour daily show, as well as a 30-minute weekly version of its daily pop-culture show “PopTrigger,” with other shows being added shortly after.

Steve Oh was quoted as saying “As TYT Network has grown from a single show to an entire network, we've consistently found ways to bring our shows to more people”. “We’ve long admired Hulu as a leader of online video and both parties saw an opportunity to bring digitally-native politics and pop culture talk shows to Hulu’s audience.” Oh also stated that the company is pitching shows to cable but have no plans for a return of a show or a show like the one formerly aired on Current TV.^[17]

Format

Content

The primary focus of the TYT main show is American politics. Issues that the show focuses on include the influence of money in politics, drug policy, social security, the privatization of public services, climate change, the influence of religion, abortion and reproductive rights, and sexual morality.

Perspective

Politically, The Young Turks is liberal/progressive.^[7][18][19] Cenk Uygur describes himself as an "independent progressive" and asserts that the show is aimed at the "98 per cent 'not in power'" and what he describes as the 60% of Americans who hold progressive views.^[20] Writing for US News, Paul Bedard described TYT as, "the loudly liberal counter to the right-leaning presets on my Sirius Satellite Radio."^[21] Current TV (television carrier for TYT 2011-2013) described TYT as "a group of progressive, outspoken journalists and commentators discussing politics and pop culture" and founder Cenk Uygur as bringing a, "uniquely progressive and topical commentary about politics and pop culture."^[22]

Ana Kasparian at VidCon in 2012.

Format and Hosts

The Young Turks live streams for two hours every weekday. The first hour focuses on hard politics, foreign policy, and breaking news. It is hosted by Cenk Uygur.^[23] The second hour provides social commentary on a wide range of topics both domestic and foreign. It is hosted by Ana Kasparian along with Cenk Uygur. Every Friday, The Young Turks unleashes a two-hour Power Panel show, bringing in guests from the worlds of politics, journalism, pop culture, sports, and comedy. It is led by John Iadarola and Cenk Uygur in the first hour and Ana Kasparian in the second hour.

Other fill in hosts and recurring guests include: Ben Mankiewicz, John Iadarola, Jimmy Dore, Brian Unger, Hannah Cranston, Becca Frucht, Brett Erlich, Wes Clark Jr, Michael Shure, Cara Santa Maria, RJ Eskow, Dave Rubin, Gina Grad and Kim Horcher. Cenk has regular bits and on-air interaction with others who create and run the show: Jesús Godoy, Dave Koller, Jayar Jackson, Steve Oh, and others.

Business model

As of August 2013, TYT had approximately 4,000 paying subscribers online.^[15] The website’s yearly revenue was roughly US$3 million in 2013. According to Cenk Uygur, "about a third of the revenue comes from subscriptions, and the rest comes from YouTube ads." The company has 30 employees.^[15] In 2014 the company received a US$4 million investment from Roemer, Robinson, Melville & Co., LLC, a private equity firm led by former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer.^[24]

TYT Network

Over the years, The Young Turks have expanded their operation from one show to a variety of shows covering a variety of topics.^[25] These shows collectively are known as the TYT Network. Each has its own YouTube channel.

Discontinued shows

• In June 2010, TYT helped launch thetopvlog on YouTube, a vlog channel featuring a variety of liberal political vloggers posted irregularly online.
• In October 2011, twenTYTwelve, a spin-off show of The Young Turks was created to focus specifically on the upcoming 2012 elections. This show is hosted by Michael Shure and is designed to focus not only on the 2012 Presidential election, but rather various elections throughout the country.
• TYT Now, a TYT spinoff hosted by columnist Tina Dupuy and Tim Mihalsky, ran from May to August 2011.
• WMB, a spinoff hosted by Ben Mankiewicz, Michael Shure and Wes Clark Jr., ran from May to June 2011.
• Reality Bites Back, a reality-television-focused review series hosted by Jacki Bray and Misty Kingma, running May to July 2011.

Moved Shows

• The Rubin Report, A comedy and current events panel show hosted by Dave Rubin. Moved to the RYOT network in 2015.

Reception

The Young Turks claims to be "the world's largest online news show" based on the TYT main channel's YouTube views.^[26] The Independent described it as "the most-watched online news show in the world."^[20] On 20 April 2013 The Young Turks announced that their YouTube channel had received over 1 billion video views.^[27] On July 14, 2014, TYT announced that the TYT Network had hit 2 billion video views.^[5]

Awards and nominations

The Young Turks has won the 2009 Podcast Award in the "Political" category,^[28] as well as the 2009 Mashable Open Web Award for the "Best Political News Site".^[29] In March 2011, the show won a Shorty award. In the 2011 Webby Awards, The Young Turks won the People's Voice award in the news and politics series category.^[30]

External links

• Official website
• The Young Turks's channel on YouTube
• Mad as Hell - Documentary about The Young Turks

See also

• The David Pakman Show

References