Ninja’s manager explains why they’re willing to lose viewers to stream on Mixer
Ninja / MixerTyler ‘Ninja‘ Blevins surprised fans by moving from Twitch to Mixer on August 1, a move met with both anticipation and scepticism in equal measure, but the Fortnite star reportedly doesn’t care if it hurts his viewership.
At the peak of his powers on Twitch, in early to mid 2018, Ninja was attracting upwards of 50,000 viewers on almost every stream, as Fortnite boomed.
This peak did dwindle somewhat, but he would still rarely pull less than 30,000 on any given stream for his remaining time on twitch, and his total subscriber count, while fluctuating, was probably at a similar number.
Ninja’s move to Mixer came as a surprise to almost everyone.Twitch is undoubtedly the dominant platform in the livestreaming space, so viewership is perhaps easier to come by for the top creators, with more casual viewers browsing who might land on your channel.
On the flip side, Ninja will perhaps benefit from the lesser competition on Mixer – it’s no secret that former FaZe Clan pro Turner ‘Tfue‘ Tenney had actually usurped Ninja as the most popular Fortnite streamer, in terms of average viewership.
However, according to Ninja’s wife and manager, Jessica Blevins, the move to Mixer wasn’t motivated by a desire to gain viewership – in fact, even if his viewing numbers fell of a cliff, he would still be satisfied with the decision.
Although the stats on @Ninja Mixer channel are amazing right now, thats not what we planned to focus on with the transition. We are stoked about it, but even if Ty had 5k viewers, we were ready and confident with this move. Aligns with what we believe in & wanted for the brand >
— Jessica Blevins (@JessicaBlevins) August 8, 2019
“Although the stats on Ninja’s Mixer channel are amazing right now, that’s not what we planned to focus on with the transition,” Blevins explains, “even if (Tyler) had 5K viewers, we were ready and confident with this move. Aligns with what we believe in and wanted for the brand.”
And Ninja’s stats since the move have been impressive – he racked up over a million subscribers in record time, but there is a major caveat to this success, because Mixer is giving away free subscriptions to his channel for the first two months of his move.
It remains to be seen if the hot start on Ninja’s Mixer channel that has been achieved is sustainable, or just part of the initial hype of the move, that will fade.
Some other streamers have been skeptical, notably Dr Disrespect, who predicts that Ninja’s current high numbers “will go down.”
Ninja’s prowess as a streamer and entertainer can’t be denied, but perhaps what will truly decide his success on Mixer will be the platform itself, and whether viewers are satisfied with the usability of the site.