Philip DeFranco

About

Philip DeFranco is a YouTube vlogger best known for hosting the pop culture and news series The Philip DeFranco Show and launching a network of channels owned by Discovery Digital Networks.

History

On September 15th, 2006, DeFranco launched the Sxephil YouTube^[1] channel while attending East Carolina University. The earliest public video uploaded to the channel was released on December 27th, in which DeFranco lists 10 ways to "get out of an argument" (shown below, left). In a video uploaded in September 2010, DeFranco revealed that 70 of his earlier videos had been unlisted because he found them to be too "douchey."^[3] On July 30th, 2007, DeFranco uploaded an episode of The Philip DeFranco Show titled "Doda Elektroda has some huge…..", in which he discusses Polish artist Dorota Rabczewska (shown below, right). Over the next nine years, the video gained over 5.2 million views and 2,900 comments.

On September 19th, 2007, launched the Philly D vlog channel on YouTube.^[2] On July 1st, 2009, DeFranco released an episode in which he discussed a trending photograph of a sea pig, garnering more than 3.5 million views and 10,200 comments in seven years (shown below, left). On November 22nd, 2010, DeFranco uploaded an episode of The Philip DeFranco Show in which he discussed the viral Carlos Rodriguez mugshot (shown below, right). In six years, the video gained over 6.9 million views and 14,800 comments.

On August 23rd, 2011, DeFranco uploaded a video titled "Marriage Makes You Fat! Science Confirms," which accumulated upwards of 3.9 million views and 13,800 comments over the following five years (shown below, left). In January 2012, DeFranco launched the SourceFed^[10] news channel on YouTube. On May 1st, DeFranco released a episode discussing a widely circulating video of Kate Upton performing the "Cat Daddy" dance (shown below, right). Within four years, the video garnered more than 3.8 million views and 14,500 comments. That month, DeFranco's channels were acquired by the Discovery Digital Networks subsidiary Revision3.

On July 22nd, 2014, The Philip DeFranco Show released an episode discussing a $7.5 million lawsuit against YouTube Michelle Phan (shown below, left). Over the next two years, the video gained over three million views and 8,300 comments. On March 23rd, 2016, DeFranco uploaded a video about virtual reality pornography, which received upwards of 3.2 million views and 2,300 comments in four months (shown below, right).

News and Entertainment Network

On May 1st, 2017, DeFranco uploaded a video announcing plans to launch his own news and entertainment network, which aims to expose fake news and properly research and represent all signs of a variety of issues (shown below). Within 24 hours, the video reached nearly two million views and received upwards of 16,400 comments, becoming the #1 trending video on the platform.

Meanwhile, Redditor fries4life submitted the video to /r/videos,^[11] where it garnered more than 30,300 points (64% upvoted) and 3,600 comments over the next day. That day, DeFranco launched the DeFranco Elite crowd funding campaign on Patreon^[12] for the network, which gathered upwards of 10,100 patrons in 24 hours.

Social Media Presence

As of July 2016, DeFranco has more than 980,000 likes on Facebook,^[4] 680,000 followers on Twitter,^[5] 481,000 followers on Instagram,^[6] 127,000 followers on Vine, 12,089 subscribers on Reddit and 11,300 followers on SoundCloud.^[9]

Reception

In 2008, DeFranco won the Sexiest Geek award from Wired Magazine. At the Streamy Awards in 2013, The Philip DeFranco Show won Best News and Culture Series and SourceFed won the Audience Choice for Best Series of the Year.

Personal Life

DeFranco was born on December 1st, 1985 in New York, New York. He has attended several universities, including the University of South Florida, the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College and East Carolina University. DeFranco has stated that he is an atheist and identifies as a libertarian politically.

Search Interest

External References