In a rather commendable move, the streaming platform Kick has decided to put the power back into the hands of its users. Yes, you heard it right. Users can now decide if they want to view gambling streams while browsing through the site’s various channels.
Kick’s co-founder, the esteemed Ed Craven, announced on Friday that the site was taking steps to remove “unnecessary exposure” to gambling content. And how are they doing this? By giving users the ability to “toggle” gambling (and hot tub) streams on and off. This means they can remove these streams from their recommended feed and search results.
Mr. Craven confirmed early Monday morning that the changes had been implemented. So, if you’re a Kick user who’s not too keen on gambling streams, you can now breathe a sigh of relief.
The topic of gambling streams has been a hot potato over the past year. Twitch, the leading streaming platform, banned unregulated gambling streams last year, leading some streamers to jump ship.
Kick, on the other hand, has a deeper connection with the gambling world. Its co-founders helped create Stake, an online crypto-based gambling platform. They were also instrumental in getting celebrities like Trainwreck and xQc to switch to their platform.
But Kick’s ambitions don’t stop there. They’re striving to be more streamer-friendly than Twitch, regardless of whether the streamers show gambling content or not. They offer a generous 95/5 revenue split for paid subscribers, compared to Twitch’s 50/50 and YouTube’s 70/30. They also pay hourly stipends to streamers, though the exact pay is based on various criteria such as viewer count, hours streamed, and CPM.
So, there you have it. Kick is making strides in the right direction, giving users more control over the content they view. It’s a refreshing change, and one that other platforms could certainly learn from.
