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Clicknetwork

Clicknetwork is one of Singapore’s most subscribed to YouTube channels, boasting over 1,230,000 subscribers and 373,000,000 views as of February 2020.[1] Having been on YouTube since before 2011, Clicknetwork is considered as one of the pioneering local content creators on the platform.[2] Over the years, Clicknetwork has produced a variety of content, ranging from comedy to lifestyle. Clicknetwork is a subsidiary company of Munkysuperstar Pictures Pte Ltd.

The Clicknetwork hosts pictured in 2017. Photo from Scene.sg.

Background

Founder

 
Clicknetwork's founder and director Gillian Tan. Photo from The Straits Times.

Gillian Tan founded Munkysuperstar Pictures Pte Ltd in 2003 after receiving S$10,000 in capital from her mother.[3] Clicknetwork started out as Gillian’s hobby, propped up by the income generated from the television show producing aspect of Munkysuperstar.[4] Munkysuperstar initially produced television programmes for Mediacorp.[5] Before founding either of the above companies, Gillian worked as a broadcast assistant at TBWA\Chiat\Day, an advertising company based in San Francisco.[6][7]

Origins

 
Rosalyn Lee (left) and Xiaxue (right) were the hosts of Girls Out Loud .

In 2007, Munkysuperstar Pictures intended to produce a second season of “Girls Out Loud”, a Channel 5 show hosted by Xiaxue (Wendy Cheng) and Rosalyn Lee.[8] However, the programme was cancelled due to public complaints about the show and its supposedly controversial nature.[9][10] This setback prompted Gillian Tan to take a road trip with the two hosts where she filmed short videos of the trip and posted these clips online.[11] Producing videos for Clicknetwork.tv became a full-time endeavour at Munkysuperstar Pictures in 2010.[12]

Business model

In 2017, founder Gillian Tan shared that Clicknetwork’s content is generated in-house by a small team of 5 full-time producers.[13][14] These videos are mainly uploaded onto YouTube, where the videos can be monetised. Clicknetwork also produces sponsored content from time to time.[15]

Content Growth

 
The Clicknetwork team receiving their YouTube Gold Play Button in 2017. Retrieved from The Straits Times.

Clicknetwork was the first channel in Singapore to hit 1,000,000 subscribers.[16] In light of this, they were presented with a YouTube Gold Play Button in 2017 at the Google Asia Pacific building.[17][18] The channel has diversified their content over the years, with a variety of comedy, informative and travelogue style videos under their belt. As of February 2020, Clicknetwork posts their content on their official website, their YouTube channel and their mobile app.

Clicknetwork.tv YouTube channel

 
A collage of Clicknetwork's popular series. Photo from ZULA.

As of February 2020, the channel’s longest-running series is Xiaxue’s Guide to Life, having published 224 episodes since 2011. Their most popular video to date is “Emergency Hacks - Hack It: EP12” with 5.3 million views.[19] A full list of the series produced by Clicknetwork can be found in the table below.

Year Series Main Cast Episodes Playlists
2019 Rozz Recommends: Season 3 Rosalyn Lee 4 -
Girl Band Called Girl Band Roz Pho as Jean

Xixi Lim as Pris

Munah Bagharib as Debbie

Caitanya Tan as Kai

17 Playlist
2018 Daddy Diaries Shan Wee 10 Playlist
No Sweat Tyen Rasif 32 (ongoing) Playlist
Rozz Recommends: Season 2 Rosalyn Lee 12 Playlist
2016 Rozz Recommends: Season 1 Rosalyn Lee 13 Playlist
2015 Hype Hunt Rosalind Pho

Jemimah Wei

38 Playlist
2014 Foodporn Irene Ang 22 Playlist
Wonder Boys Paul Twohill

Charles Benedict Ng  

25 Playlist
Hack It Rebecca Tan 108 Playlist
2013 The Click Show Don Richmond 37 Playlist
It’s a Date! Chua Enlai 18 Playlist
2012 In The Backseat Sara Wee - Playlist
Playlist - 38 Playlist
News Asia Debbie Wong

Howard Lo

9 Playlist
Nudge The Hamster - 11 Playlist
That F Word Andrea Chong

Jemimah Wei

41 Playlist
Girl on Girl Rosalyn Lee - Playlist
2011 Crack Comedy - 8 Playlist
Room 101 - 8 Playlist
Chick vs. Dick Yan Kay Kay aka Yan Qihua

Paul Twohill

Gillian Tay

101 Playlist
Now You Know Don Richmond 82 Playlist
Budget Barbie Bong Qiu Qiu aka Ang Chiew Ting 117 Playlist
Xiaxue’s Guide To Life Xiaxue aka Wendy Cheng Yan Yan 224 (ongoing) Playlist
Tried and Tested Oon Shu An 169 (ongoing) Playlist
Numbnuts Mike Braun

Hutch

25 Playlist
Vaunt Rebecca Tan

Arrian North

4 Playlist
2009 The Shan and Rozz Show Shan Wee

Rosalyn Lee

14 Playlist
Bored in Bikinis Sonia Krans

Gui Xue Sha

9 Playlist

Newsworthy incidents

Bored in Bikinis (2009)

Bored in Bikinis, first aired in 2009, had a total of 9 episodes and received criticism from conservative netizens that same year.[20] The common sentiment among these viewers was that the show demeans and sexualises women.[21] The series had been available online since August that year but only drew flak in November. There was no update on the series after the public backlash thereafter. An interview done with Gillian in 2017 revealed how she felt about the situation then. Contrary to what netizens accused Clicknetwork of, Gillian Tan maintained that:

“[It was] not my intention to sexualise our content.”, and “[she] never intended to attract a male audience with Bored in Bikinis.”

Xiaxue’s Guide to Life: Kissing a girl (2011)

 
Xiaxue (left) and Yan Kay Kay (right) pictured in the controversial video. Photo from Mumbrella Asia.

In 2011, Clicknetwork posted a video of  Xiaxue and Yan Kay Kay kissing. The episode was titled “Xiaxue's Guide to Life: Kissing a girl” and was supposed to be the 56th episode of Xiaxue’s show.[22] The now-deleted video went viral and divided public opinion. Singapore’s Media Development Authority (now IMDA) later asked Clicknetwork to remove the video. Clicknetwork obliged to their request in December 2011.[23] In 2014, Xiaxue reflected that the video opened the floor to discussions about sexual diversity and tolerance in Singapore, which was considered taboo then.[24] She also acknowledged that the video was meant to catch people’s attention. In her own words:

“It was an idea that I knew would provoke a response, and [the MDA’s decision to delete the video] was good for publicity.”[25]

Censorship

Following the 2011 saga involving Xiaxue and Kay Kay, Singapore’s Media Development Authority asked Clicknetwork to censor all the swearing in their videos, which jeopardised the direction and branding of the channel itself as they could potentially lose all their views.[26] Ultimately, both parties reached a compromise and Clicknetwork prefaced their videos with a warning.

References / Citations

  1. ↑ “Total Video Views for ‘Clicknetwork’”. Social Blade. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  2. ↑ “About”. YouTube. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  3. ↑ Shami, M. “1M Subscribers Later, Clicknetwork.tv's Gillian Tan Shares What It Takes To Get That Gold Play Button”. Vulcan Post. May 5, 2017. Accessed on 4 February 2020.
  4. ↑ Tan, Gillian. “I’m Gillian, founder of Clicknetwork. Ask me anything!”. Tech In Asia. February 25, 2016. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  5. ↑  Lui, John. “The Life Interview with clicknetwork founder Gillian Tan: Tapping a whole new world”. The Straits Times. December 19, 2016. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  6. ↑ Tan, Gillian. “Gillian Tan”. LinkedIn. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  7. ↑ Lui, John. “The Life Interview with clicknetwork founder Gillian Tan: Tapping a whole new world”. The Straits Times. December 19, 2016. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  8. ↑ Huang, Joyce. “Clicknetwork.tv founder: Being a female director has its merits”. Tech In Asia. June 29, 2011. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  9. ↑ Lim, Elena. "Gillian Tan Interview – The Ladyboss Who Created Singapore’s First Youtube Channel with 1 Million Subscribers”. Zula. March 8, 2007. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  10. ↑ Chew, Melainne. “Click On This: Gillian Tan talks success and viral videos”. Prestige. December 19, 2017. Accessed on 4 February 2020.
  11. ↑ Cheng, Wendy. “"Girls Out Loud" part II!!”. Xiaxue. June 7, 2007. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  12. ↑ Teo Ren Feng. "Gillian Tan: Unscripted Success". High Net Worth. June 15, 2017. Accessed on 23 November 2020.
  13. ↑ Shami, M. “1M Subscribers Later, Clicknetwork.tv's Gillian Tan Shares What It Takes To Get That Gold Play Button”. Vulcan Post. May 5, 2017. Accessed on 4 February 2020.
  14. ↑ Chew, Melainne. “Click On This: Gillian Tan talks success and viral videos”. Prestige. December 19, 2017. Accessed on 4 February 2020.
  15. ↑ How, Clara. “Girl Boss: Meet The Woman Behind Singapore’s Top “YouTube” Channel”. Her World. October 13, 2017. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  16. ↑ “ABOUT US”. MunkySuperStar Pictures. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  17. ↑ munkysuperstar. Instagram. April 8, 2017. Accessed on 3 February 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSnZl5SBPBS/
  18. ↑ Wong, Cara. “Clicknetwork first YouTube channel from Singapore to get 1 million subscribers”. The Straits Times. April 4, 2017. Accessed on 4 February 2020.
  19. ↑ Clicknetwork. “Emergency Hacks - Hack It: EP12”. YouTube. June 11, 2015. Accessed 3 February 2020.
  20. ↑ Clicknetwork. “Wii - Bored in Bikinis: EP9”. YouTube. November 23, 2011. Accessed on 4 February 2020.
  21. ↑ Mathavan, Shree Ann. “Can’t figure out ‘For-bees’ (Forbes) Magazine”. Asia One. November 2, 2009. Accessed on 3 February 2020.
  22. ↑ “Xiaxue's Guide To Life: EP56 - Kissing A Girl”. Clicknetwork. Accessed on 4 January 2020.
  23. ↑ Clicknetwork. “MDA Request”. YouTube. December 20, 2011. Accessed on 4 February 2020.
  24. ↑ Hicks, Robin. “Singapore blogger Xiaxue: I thought the ‘kissing a girl’ video would be controversial, but it was good for publicity”. Mumbrella Asia. May 23, 2014. Accessed on 4 February 2020.
  25. ↑ Hicks, Robin. “Singapore blogger Xiaxue: I thought the ‘kissing a girl’ video would be controversial, but it was good for publicity”. Mumbrella Asia. May 23, 2014. Accessed on 4 February 2020.
  26. ↑ Teo, Ren Feng. “Gillian Tan: Unscripted Success”. High Net Worth. June 16, 2017. Accessed on 4 January 2020.
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