GodTube is an online video sharing platform which strives to have Christian content. It is owned by Salem Web Network, the Internet division of Salem Communications. GodTube has a variety of video selections including music videos, comedy, children, animals, sports, news and inspirational. The site encourages users with the instruction, "Be inspired in your walk with Jesus Christ and grow in your knowledge of the Bible with videos highlighting inspirational messages and verses."
History
GodTube was launched in the Spring of 2007 by founder Christopher Wyatt from Los Angeles, California, Jason Martell from San Diego, CA, Lloyd Chartrand, and Mike Miller. Wyatt was once an online student at Dallas Theological Seminary. Wyatt was one of CBS's producers for the 1995 Day and Date show. Wyatt, a member of First Baptist Church of Dallas, has likened the site to neutral "Switzerland", in that he claims it is open to all theological viewpoints. He has stated that even atheists are welcome as long as they state their case "respectfully". The terms of use, however, prohibit any content "contrary to the evangelization of Jesus Christ and His teachings, or constitutes blasphemy, or is otherwise offensive to our online Christian community". According to comScore, GodTube was the fastest growing US website of any kind for the month of August, 2007. According to Quantcast, total monthly site traffic has since shed 75% of its users, from 2.7 million, to just over 690 thousand by February 2009. In February, 2008 the company raised $30,000,000 from GLG Partners, LP, at a valuation of $150,000,000 after 5 months of operation. In February 2009, GodTube re-launched as Tangle.com, expanding into a social network. Tangle also included other new features, such as an online bible, an "interactive prayer wall", and also encouraged non-Christians and atheists to participate and share their points of view as well. All activity on the site was also moderated in order to filter out objectionable content. However, by April 2010, GodTube returned as a separate site alongside Tangle. In May 2010, Salem Communications' Salem Web Network division acquired GodTube and Tangle.com's parent company Big Jump Media In June 2010, GodTube was recognized as one of the "Hottest Texas Companies" by Lead411. On December 1, 2010, Tangle.com was discontinued. As part of the transition, certain functionality was pointed towards other sites in the Salem network, and videos were migrated back to GodTube accounts. In May 2019, GodTube unveiled a new logo.
Features
Video technology
Videos uploaded to Godtube are encoded in MP4 format at a resolution of 480p, using an aspect ration of either or. JW Player provides the video playback technology. Adobe Flash Player is preferred, but if it is unavailable, an HTML5 video is used instead. Videos can also be watched with the GodTube app on Android 4.1 or newer and iOS 7 or newer,. The app was last updated in September 2016 for both platforms, and on Android, it received over 50,000 downloads. There is a file size limit of 500 MB per video uploaded. Originally, the file size limit was 100 MB and the time limit was 30 minutes, which was later raised to 200 MB with no time limit. In contrast to major video sharing sites, Godtube manually reviews every video uploaded to its site, resulting in a longer processing time but an assurance that the content is family-friendly. In some cases, Godtube embeds third-party videos instead of hosting them. Some Godtube features, such as view count and favorites, are still available with these embedded videos.
Music
GodTube has a dedicated music section with traditional and contemporary Christian music. It shares similarities with YouTube Music and its predecessor Vevo. GodTube's artist directory consists of licensed music channels, with 387 entries as of May 2019. Entries consist mostly of artists, but a few channels represent record labels. For instance, there are six entries that account for different Hillsong Music projects, such as Hillsong Worship, Hillsong United and Hillsong Young & Free. Godtube has premiered original music content. Some examples include:
According to a November 2010 Quantcast assessment, the GodTube audience is 60% female and 40% male, with a high percentage of teenagers and baby boomers. Users are also widely middle class. According to Quantcast, there are higher percentages of teenagers, African Americans, college graduates, and middle-class people using GodTube.
Investors
Although it was reported in the trade press in May, 2008 that they had received $30,000,000 in funding from GLG Partners, former Big Jump Media CEO Jason Illian was quoted by The Dallas Morning News as saying the investment was "actually around $17,000,000". According to Forbes, GLG's funds under management were deflated 40% after their ill-timed foray into GodTube. The founders of the hedge fund agreed to surrender their salaries in lieu of a $1 per year probationary stipend. KMA Direct Communications was a primary investor in the privately held web site.
