The Impact From Dr Disrespect's Ban Has Everyone's Attention
Dr Disrespect is one of the most talked-about streamers in the industry, and for good reason. It seems his viewership has continued to climb over the last few months, resulting in the Doc possibly being more relevant than ever before. According to a new chart shared by Dr Disrespect himself, it also appears as though the Doc's influence has brought an impressive spike in viewership to his new streaming home.
On Twitter, Dr Disrespect posted a chart from StreamLabs that apparently displays the growth of YouTube Gaming Live's viewership numbers over a period of several months. It isn't hard to see why the Doc chose to share this information: it would seem to show that YouTube Gaming has had a large climb in viewership since he started streaming on the platform. Dr Disrespect referred to this growth in viewers as "The Doc Effect."
The Doc Effect pic.twitter.com/SE6HEd8amD
— #Doctober (@drdisrespect) October 16, 2020
The post, as mentioned by one fan on Twitter, makes it look as though the Doc's arrival has single-handedly raised YouTube Gaming Live's viewership by roughly 41%. It would certainly appear that way.
What's most noteworthy about this chart is that the number has certainly increased, but there has been a precipitous drop in how quickly viewership is growing. One of the replies to Doc's post pointed out, "technically the part before [Dr Disrespect] joined saw more increase and it slowed when he joined according to that chart." And this wasn't a comment from a hater, either. This Twitter user clarified that he was a fan of the Doc's work, but that he was also "just stating the obvious."
Another fan shared a similar chart for Twitch's current viewership numbers, which shows something of a decline since Dr Disrespect's departure from the platform. The fan referred to this chart as being another example of "The Doc Effect." This is a surprise to see, considering the fact that both Ninja and Shroud have returned to Twitch in recent weeks, with Shroud's return stream nearly breaking a viewership record previously set by Ninja.
Of course, the biggest issue with comparing these two figures is that both of these charts represent total viewership numbers. As one fan points out, these two platforms allow for a variety of different functions, which makes contrasting them much more of a dicey proposition. For YouTube Gaming Live, the chart apparently only shows the number of gaming streams. For Twitch, this number includes people doing "just chatting" streams, "IRL" streams, and the like. It almost seems impossible to fully compare the two platforms, just based on these charts.
Still, it cannot be overstated how huge Dr Disrespect's return to streaming has been for YouTube and for his fans. When the Doc first teased his return on YouTube, the fans went wild. Dr Disrespect's teaser stream alone, which simply featured static footage of an empty gas station and his Lamborghini parked outside, raked in some insane viewership numbers. It's no surprise that the Doc is continuing to do well, especially with the extra attention being paid to his mysterious ban from Twitch.
Dr Disrespect has maintained from the beginning that he doesn't know why he was banned, and that Twitch has been reticent to explain it to him. There have been numerous theories regarding the ban, including PewDiePie's assertion that Twitch wanted to get out of its contract with the Doc. The Doc has discussed his ban on a few occasions, however, which has certainly brought more curious viewers to check out his stream.
The Doc's channel has also received a good amount of exposure from his involvement with Hi-Rez Studios' Rogue Company. Not only has Dr Disrespect designed a map for Rogue Company, the Arena, but Hi-Rez has recently announced a new Dr Disrespect character skin for the popular shooter.
If the Doc's arrival on YouTube didn't cause this viewership increase, then what did? Well, some fans have pointed to other reasons for the growth. One of the theories includes the fact that PewDiePie signed an exclusive streaming deal with YouTube Gaming, bringing with him a massive built-in fan-base and plenty of interest from new viewers. Of course, that occurred well before the Doc began streaming on YouTube, so this theory doesn't necessarily account for the last several weeks.
Another fan has posited that the outbreak of COVID-19 has led to more people staying inside, watching YouTube, streaming, and gaming than ever before. This is also true, but again, that all began before the Doc's ban and subsequent YouTube return. After all, the Doc landed in hot water for his coronavirus conspiracy theories while he was still active on Twitch.
Basically, it's hard to entirely disprove Dr Disrespect's assertion that the jump in YouTube Gaming viewers is solely due to his presence. Still, after the tumultuous year that the Doc has had, it makes perfect sense for the streamer to feel proud of how far he's come. Maybe there is something to "The Doc Effect," after all.