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Podcasts The Frame
How gamer 'The Rad Brad' makes a living playing video games
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The Frame Tile
Aug 29, 2014
Listen • 5:32
How gamer 'The Rad Brad' makes a living playing video games
Brad Colburn profits from people watching him play online. The growing phenomenon explains why Amazon just bought the streaming service, Twitch, for $970 million.
Brad Colburn, also known as The Rad Brad on YouTube, makes a living by recording himself playing video games and posting them online. He currently has 3.2 million subscribers to his channel.
Brad Colburn, also known as The Rad Brad on YouTube, makes a living by recording himself playing video games and posting them online. He currently has 3.2 million subscribers to his channel.
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Courtesy Brad Colburn
)

Brad Colburn profits from people watching him play online. The growing phenomenon explains why Amazon just bought the streaming service, Twitch, for $970 million.

Did you know that people really like watching people play video games online?

This week, Amazon bought the video game streaming service, Twitch, for $970 million. The site allows users to watch and interact with people playing video games in real time.  

This phenomenon of watching gamers online has been rising in popularity in recent years, on Twitch, but especially on YouTube. 

27-year-old Brad Colburn has made it his career. Known as “The Rad Brad” on YouTube, he’s been making a living since 2012 by posting videos of himself wielding his controller. Today he has more than 3.2 million subscribers and his videos regularly rake in hundreds of thousands of views — and the advertising that goes with that.

The Frame producer Michelle Lanz got Brad on the line from Atlanta to talk about the big business of gameplay webcasting.