Talk:CollegeHumor

The Cast of CollegeHumor

Should there be a section or a page with a list of the CollegeHumor cast? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.228.147.122 (talk) 19:38, August 8, 2011‎

Splitting Proposal for The Drawfee Show

The Drawfee Show was sold to some of the former cast members of College Humour, and has been fully independent for just over two years

So it really shouldn't be on the page anymore 2A01:4B00:E20C:6A00:91B4:A8C8:9A86:6CA7 (talk) 09:57, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

In the historical context, Drawfee started with College Humor and was made in CH offices for years, but I'm surprised there isn't a separate page for it. The fact that "Drawfee" redirects here, with only the briefest of mentions on the page, could stand correction. I'll start looking for good sources to support a separate article for it. The Drawfee fan wikia currently has 441 pages but is short on references outside the show. https://drawfee.fandom.com/wiki/Drawfee_Wiki We would need to improve on that here. JimsMaher (talk) 16:36, 16 May 2023 (UTC)

bookmark dump: JimsMaher (talk) 07:10, 31 May 2023 (UTC)

Or JimsMaher (talk) 07:11, 31 May 2023 (UTC)

ok i was trying to drop the decent sources i found (14 links) here if anyone is interested. Not sure when i'd make an afternoon of writing an independent article for Drawfee, redirecting Drawfee Show too. It wouldn't be a stub with plenty to cite in describing the program/hosts/etc. JimsMaher (talk) 07:28, 31 May 2023 (UTC)

I agree that Drawfee should have a separate page since it has a large identity outside of the CH family nowadays. If you still have those sources I would be up for writing the new article. I’ve worked on the drawfee.fandom.com for years now. Wikipedria Editor (talk) 13:13, 10 November 2023 (UTC)

It's not going to win a Pulitzer, but I've started something on my sandbox page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Snowman304/sandbox @JimsMaher Snowman304|talk 07:11, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

Rebrand to Dropout

Hello! Since CollegeHumor is now rebranding to Dropout, should we be changing the title of this article to Dropout? NowInHD (talk) 19:05, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

It looks like it is still CH Media but is operating as Dropout on both its streaming service and on YouTube; before it retained the CollegeHumor branding on the YouTube channel even though the CollegeHumor website has been defunct for a while (and redirects to the streaming service). The name should be updated but there's already a CH Media - suggestions on how to differentiate (ie. CH Media (X))? Sariel Xilo (talk) 19:12, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

Looks like maybe they're changing that, too? The CH Media LinkedIn page that chmedia.com linked to now redirects to one named DropoutTV, and the dropout website's copyright notice at the bottom now says "© 2023 Dropout Connected Ventures." So perhaps they're "Dropout Connected Ventures" instead of "CH Media" now. Reil (talk) 19:59, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

Interesting! I was trying to trace the shift from CollegeHumor to CollegeHumor Media (at some point under IAC) to CH Media (at some point under Reich) but besides those various names being used in press releases, I don't have concrete dates for how long it operated under those various names. So the name should definitely be changed from CollegeHumor but maybe not to CH Media? Sariel Xilo (talk) 20:17, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

Yeah! I think that sounds right. "CollegeHumor" is getting scrubbed from everything, but I'm not 100% certain what's being/been changed to what, haha.

I was hoping CrunchBase would tell us something, but they still have CHMedia listed as being owned by IAC, so the company as it is now is either listed under some other name that isn't CH Media or Dropout? I've found ConnectedVentures as "operates CollegeHumor Media" on Crunchbase, which matches "Dropout Connected Ventures", but that seems like it was part of the IAC acquisition and disappeared with that. Reil (talk) 20:26, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

Per CNN in 2020 (quoting Reich's tweet), Reich is the "majority owner of CH Media" and per Bloomberg in 2020, "IAC will keep a minority stake in the business, according to a person familiar with the matter". There's also another Bloomberg article (IAC Explores Sale of College Humor Parent CH Media in October 2019) which might be useful but I can't see that one without a subscription. Sariel Xilo (talk) 20:40, 26 September 2023 (UTC) Update: ConnectedVentures was the parent company of CollegeHumor when founders Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen sold ConnectedVentures to IAC in 2006 (several companies operated under the ConnectedVentures banner). Sariel Xilo (talk) 21:07, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

Maybe the article title should become Dropout (production company) because that's their operating name and then something to clarify in the lead (Dropout, formally CollegeHumor, CollegeHumor Media, and CH Media, is...). I'm going to update the infobox to CH Media & grab the logo just so it is less outdated and we can update to Dropout later when the article name changes. Sariel Xilo (talk) 21:07, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

Their Privacy Policy makes it seem like Connected Ventures LLC is the operating company still? Just gonna keep throwing down hints as I find them. I think. Reil (talk) 21:45, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

The Dec 2018 archive capture of the chmedia.com states: CH Media is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAC comprised of the award-winning digital properties CollegeHumor, Dorkly, Drawfee, and the recently launched subscription service DROPOUT. which means CH Media was used before it was acquired by Reich. I think regardless of the holding company's exact name, the audience facing name is Dropout (instead of CH Media) so we should shift it Dropout (X) (with X needing to be determined; production company or something else?). Sariel Xilo (talk) 22:09, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

It's also worth noting that Dropout (streaming platform) already exists. Is a merge in the cards at that point, or is it not that weird to have two "Dropout (X)" articles pointing to two aspects of one legal entity? Reil (talk) 22:16, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

I think a merged article would be a bit long (ex: Critical Role Productions was split from Critical Role due to length but at least the names are slightly different). However, it is probably worth opening a discussion to get input from other editors. If it was merged, maybe the title should be Dropout (media company)? Sariel Xilo (talk) 22:31, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

Got a reply from Mr. Reich on the Dropout discord channel!

it'd be a rough time to edit the wikipedia page as we're still in the process of making all of these updates! for now on paper, we're still connected ventures, though we're hoping to replace CH media with dropout within the next few months. (fun fact: connected ventures was come up with by ricky van veen at the age of 18, trying to sound "as corporate as possible.")

So, at the most technical level, it's Connected Ventures and CH media operating with a brand name of Dropout, but will at some point in the future maybe become Dropout. I know "a discord reply" isn't a proper source, but it's a good indicator for the changes to look out for. Reil (talk) 21:04, 27 September 2023 (UTC)

Awesome idea to reach out directly! If Reich repeats that on a more public social media site (like Twitter), we can cite that primary source. Sariel Xilo (talk) 21:10, 27 September 2023 (UTC)

Merge proposal

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Decided to spin this out from the above discussion (@NowInHD and Reil) on what CollegeHumor should be renamed as in order to look for input on if Dropout (streaming platform) should be merged into this article or if the two articles should remain separate. I've suggested some options below but feel free to add other ideas. Sariel Xilo (talk) 20:59, 27 September 2023 (UTC)

1. CollegeHumor & Dropout (streaming platform) merged → combined article renamed to Dropout (media company)
2. CollegeHumor & Dropout (streaming platform) are not merged → CollegeHumor article renamed to Dropout (media company)
3. CollegeHumor & Dropout (streaming platform) are not merged → CollegeHumor article renamed to CH Media (with lead & infobox mentioning the trade name is Dropout)

• Option A - CH Media/Connected Ventures currently uses Dropout as their trade name (per Reich above, plan on formally doing a name change in "the next few months") so I think it would reduce reader confusion to have both the production & streaming platform info in one article. My only concern is that the article could get a bit long so the shows (for both CH Originals & Dropout) might need to be WP:SPINOUT into list articles down the line. Sariel Xilo (talk) 21:21, 27 September 2023 (UTC)
• Option C, but eventually A - I think it's less upfront work, and technically more correct, if we make this CollegeHumor page a CH Media or Connected Ventures "dba Dropout" page for the time being? When they officially rename CH Media (a subsidiary of Connected Ventures?) or to Dropout, or maybe rename Connected Ventures itself to Dropout, then it'll be for sure time to combine the pages into "Dropout, the media company with an eponymous streaming platform", imo. Reil (talk) 21:52, 27 September 2023 (UTC)

In terms of the layers of holding companies, my understanding is that it was Connected Ventures at top with several subsidiaries of which CollegeHumor/CH Media was one. After CV was sold to IAC, those subsidiaries have been sold or moved out of the Connected Ventures umbrella leaving just CH Media. Regardless, this article was only ever about the one subsidiary (CollegeHumor/CH Media) so I don't think Connected Ventures needs to be in the running for possible article names. Sariel Xilo (talk) 05:37, 28 September 2023 (UTC)

I think the nesting doll of entities situation has simplified, but per Sam's comments, it's still Connected Ventures owns CH Media runs Dropout dot TV. CH Media plans to rename to Dropout.

Regardless! My inclination stays mostly "CH Media doing business as Dropout" situation until an official renaming, where that whole mess can be dealt with. That seems to be the state of the article's contents at the moment, save for the article name itself. Reil (talk) 19:04, 28 September 2023 (UTC)

• Updated Option D from below or alternatively, Option C, but also don't rename CollegeHumor, per WP:COMMONNAME, unless the common name actually changes, which we probably won't know for many months. Articles should focus on notability, rather than being structured around corporate branding, even if that corporate branding is led by Sam Reich. The most notable things in this lengthy brand history are "CollegeHumor" and the "Dropout" platform. Unless things really shift, we should have an article about each, somewhat similar to how it's structured now:
  • CollegeHumor, focused on the 2 decades of history with a lengthy summary of the transition to Dropout, including the corporate history, but only a bit of summary about the streaming platform or its original shows. Those areas should link to the latter article.
  • Dropout (streaming platform) should be structured pretty close to how it is now, perhaps moving some of the summaries of original shows from CollegeHumor over.

—siroχo 02:37, 28 September 2023 (UTC)

I don't actually think CollegeHumor has been the common name for a while; they shuttered the CollegeHumor website & had it redirect to the CollegeHumor YouTube Channel after a slow decline. Once Dropout launched in 2018, all the content they've created has been for that platform and then sliced up for other platforms (such as the CollegeHumor YouTube Channel) with Dropout branding. My understanding is that the YouTube Channel was basically the last platform with the "CollegeHumor" name and per coverage, fans had primarily been using Dropout so this "rebrand" was mostly a formality. There was a spike in using "CollegeHumor" & "CH Media" in 2020 during the sale to Reich. However, since then, most of the reliable coverage has been using Dropout when talking about work done by the company & has continued to do so after the latest announcement so per WP:NAMECHANGES: if the reliable sources written after the change is announced routinely use the new name, Wikipedia should follow suit and change relevant titles to match. Sariel Xilo (talk) 05:37, 28 September 2023 (UTC)

Agree with @Sariel Xilo here. People might use "CollegeHumor" to talk about the entity's previous work, but no one really refers to the current entity as anything other than "Dropout", that I see. Reil (talk) 18:57, 28 September 2023 (UTC)

• Note: This proposal has been listed at the following projects: WikiProject Comedy, WikiProject Internet culture, and WikiProject Websites. Sariel Xilo (talk) 19:43, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

Agree also; Dropout is definitely the common name today. I also think a merge would be too bloated, and would support Option B or C.--ERAGON (talk) 12:36, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

• Option D, reduce this article to being Collegehumor and limit to pre-buyout, merge the content of this article from post buyout (so 2020 onwards) into the Dropout article and rename that Dropout (media company). I would go with an Option A but I think the history of the company is too long in the tooth to be easily condensed to the point of being a single article for both and document the history of it. Given the uniformity of branding now I don't think it's entirely unwarranted or problematic to use chronology as the splitting point rather than corporate vs streaming service as suggested, so to me having an article for Collegehumor up to 2020 and then Dropout as everything post that makes sense. Apache287 (talk) 20:41, 7 October 2023 (UTC)

  Agree with Option D. While Dropout is the successor to CollegeHumor, it's a very different company. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 15:20, 2 November 2023 (UTC)

  I oppose this option because Dropout and CollegeHumor are the same company with one history. Sam Reich became the company's Director of Original Content in 2006 and led the company's pivot towards video. The type & format of videos has changed over time (with the streaming service being the latest iteration of this) but it has always been led by Reich who now owns the company. There are lots of articles on companies with long histories where the name/ownership has changed over time; I don't see how this article would be any different. Sariel Xilo (talk) 16:05, 2 November 2023 (UTC)

  While we don't automatically split articles over changes in name or ownership, it is also not unprecedented, see Twitter, Inc and X Corp. for example. The company itself says that the new name represents its new identity. They're now entirely focused on the streaming service. Also, Reich has not always led the company. He didn't even join the company until 7 years after its founding. Even after being promoted to Chief Creative Officer, he didn't take over the business side of the company until he bought it. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 17:08, 2 November 2023 (UTC)

  I !voted above, but I am also happy with this proposed option D. I think it's fine to include a summary section about CollegeHumor in the Dropout article, as well. —siroχo 10:51, 19 November 2023 (UTC)

Note: Initiated a formal request for closure at Wikipedia:Closure requests#Talk:CollegeHumor#Merge proposal Sariel Xilo (talk) 00:15, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.