YouTube Pioneer Phil DeFranco to Launch First New Channel for Discovery (Exclusive)

ForHumanPeoples will mesh e-commerce with entertainment — a Home Shopping Network for YouTube.

Philip DeFranco will launch a new YouTube channel on Monday, his first new channel since selling his company to Discovery in May. The channel, ForHumanPeoples, adopts the name of DeFranco’s merchandise website and will offer shows blending entertainment and commerce.

It will launch with two shows, one of which is called “Weekly Awesome Showcase.” It will accept submissions of different clothing designs and feature the best four or five on the show. Those designs will be available for sale, and the one that sells the best will remain on the site for sale. The creator will also receive a $1000 bonus.

“We want to build out the ForHumanPeoples community aside from people buying stuff,” DeFranco told TheWrap. “We have creative people submitting different ideas and what people liked most were things tied to the show.”

Also read: Phil DeFranco Was Ready to Give Up on YouTube – Until Google Gave Him Money

Another show will feature one-off short films that also integrate a product.

“We’ve experimented a few different times with how you combine buying stuff and web video to drive a lot of revenue, but no one has cracked it on the web,” Discovery Digital CEO Jim Louderback told TheWrap.

Louderback argued this stood a good chance given DeFranco’s passionate audience and his own understanding of online video.

DeFranco was one of the first video bloggers to find success on YouTube, and has since built his own network of successful channels. In addition to his eponymous channels, he launched SourceFed, an award-winning news channel, and SourceFed Nerd, dedicated to nerd culture.

DeFranco’s entrepreneurial spirit and understanding of YouTube prompted Discovery to purchase his company. Since that deal, Discovery Digital has mostly left him alone.

“They’ve been enabling me,” DeFranco told TheWrap in June. “When you get acquired and work in a giant organization, most people worry that you won’t matter or someone will tell you what to do. My experience has been that they think what I do is special – that I know some secret sauce. 50 percent of that is true.”

Also read: Why YouTube Pioneer Phil DeFranco Will Inspire More Networks to Buy Up Stars

DeFranco previously told TheWrap that he hoped to launch several new channels by year’s end. That won’t happen because of the logistical complications of joining Discovery, adding staff and strategizing the future. DeFranco has also had an eventful year in his personal life, announcing recently that he and his fiance were having a baby.

Yet DeFranco pegged 2014 as the year where he can start launching a new channel every few months.

“It’s up to Phil,” Louderback said. “He’s got a zillion ideas. My guidance to him is keep doing what you’re doing and we’ll be right there helping you launch it.”

Here’s the teaser for ForHuman Peoples:

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