VPRO powers YouTube with Donuts

A Dutch broadcaster has partnered with a local production company on a sketch series that showcases the talents of YouTube stars from all over the world.

The Donuts was created by Amsterdam-based prodco NewBeTV in collaboration with Dutch pubcaster VPRO and features YouTube talent from Italy, Japan, New Zealand, England, the US, Venezuela, Germany and the Netherlands.

The series is presented in a studio setting with a host introducing the creators and their videos, which focus on themes such as “my first drug experience” or “things my parents-in-law shouldn’t know about me.”

Participants include Dutch online animators KUD, New Zealand’s comedy cover version expert Matt Mulholland and members of the US prank channel Whatever, which holds 1.8m subscribers on YouTube.

The Dutch version of the series will air in a primetime slot on VPRO beginning this Friday, while an English subtitled version of the show will launch on YouTube at the same time, giving it a potential reach of more than 3 million viewers, NewBeTV said.

NewBeTV director Jeroen Koopman said: “The Donuts will be a new TV sketch show that unites popular YouTubers worldwide without undermining their authority and personal creativity.

“Creators keep the online rights of the video and are free to exploit it on their own channel.”