03.14.14

In today’s changing media landscape, we could all learn a thing or two about how to engage and build an audience from none other than late-night host Jimmy Kimmel himself. Kimmel, the force behind hilarious viral video pranks, may claim he simply gets “kick out of fooling people” but he is proving that striking the right balance between old and new media, along with compelling content, can help grow your audience and build an online community.

Why listen to Jimmy? His YouTube channel has nearly 1 billion views and he is reaping the ratings rewards from videos including “I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy” and the “Mean Tweets” series, with his show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” recently having its most-watched quarter in its 11-year history.

His videos contain content specifically shaped by and produced for an online audience, and while not all of those people tune in at night, Kimmel says we can’t fight the future of content production. He says “you can only do so much planning” and that chance still plays a big role in a video ‘going viral’ – but adding puppies helps. For more, read his recent interview with Re/Code here.