PragerU’s videos have reached over 100 million people so far in 2017, which is the organization’s record number of views in a quarter.
According to a press release, PragerU’s videos have received more than 103 million views in 2017, averaging over two million views for each video.
Craig Strazzeri, PragerU’s chief marketing officer (CMO), told The Daily Wire that PragerU is on pace to double its total views from 2016, from 250 million views to 500 million views. In 2015 PragerU had 75 million total views for the year.
The organization has experienced a noted uptick in viewership from Brazil and various European countries, suggesting that PragerU is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Strazzeri told The Daily Wire that the increase in views from Brazil, in particular, can be attributed to a video titled How Socialism Ruined My Country, in which journalist Felipe Moura Brasil explains how socialism unraveled Brazil’s budding economy. A Portuguese version of the video is also available.
Strazzeri cited PragerU’s marketing strategy as a contributing factor for the substantial increase in views.
“We pride ourselves at PragerU at having a very talented digital marketing team,” Strazzeri said. “We have a team that lives on the edge of social media and lives and breathes social media, so we have a very talented team who’s focused on nothing more but spreading conservative ideas online.”
Facebook has been a key platform for PragerU’s success; the organization has also focused on promoting their videos through their Instagram account, receiving over one million views thus far in 2017, according to Strazzeri.
The CEO of PragerU, Marisa Streit, pointed out in the press release that the education system’s failure to provide a proper education is one reason for PragerU’s success.
“Schools and universities are simply not teaching students what they need to know, and the students are aware of it,” Streit said. “Our videos give anyone with access to the internet the ability to escape the overwhelming liberal dogma of most academia, and to learn, in five minutes, about issues of personal, political, economic and moral importance from renowned experts, teaching facts.”
Indeed, their short, easy-to-understand videos provide viewers with informed discussions on topics they don’t receive on largely left-leaning college campuses. Whether it’s videos on debunking the gender wage gap myth, explaining the true obstacles to peace in the Middle East or even debunking myths about American legends, PragerU empowers people with the information necessary to gain a better grasp on history and the issues of the day. Their most-watched video so far this year is Dave Rubin’s video Why I Left The Left at over five million views.
However, Strazzeri pointed out that there is still work to be done for PragerU “to catch up to the Left.”
“We have a hundred million views, but sites like AJ+ and Buzzfeed and Huffington Post and CNN, New York Times, they get billions of views,” Strazzeri said. “So we have a long way to go. We’re proud of our accomplishments, we’re excited about our accomplishments and we have a lot of momentum, but there’s a ways to go to catch up to the Left.”
And PragerU will only continue to grow from here.
“We have a lot of exciting new video courses planned for the coming months, new partnerships with organizations who share our mission, big name presenters, and new, creative ways to engage with our viewers,” Streit said in the press release. “The team at PragerU is elated about reaching our first hundred million views this year in three months; we’re even more excited because planning for the next hundred million views is well underway.”