The Young Turks

Format

The Young Turks live streams for two hours, with its story selection and associated commentary broken up by format. Issues that the show focuses on include the influence of money in politics, drug policy, social security, the privatization of public services, climate change, the influence of religion, abortion and reproductive rights, and sexual morality. The program maintains a liberal/progressive ideology in its political commentary. Co-creator and host Cenk Uygur describes himself as an "independent progressive" and asserts that the show is aimed at the "98 per cent 'not in power'" and what he describes as the 60% of Americans who hold progressive views.

The first hour, which is solo hosted by Uygur, focuses on American politics, foreign policy and breaking news headlines. The second hour – which is co-hosted by Uygur and Ana Kasparian – provides social commentary on a wide range of topics, both domestic and foreign. The program also features a post-game show, in which Uygur and Kasparian discuss their personal lives. Uygur has regular bits and on-air interaction with other staff members who create and run the show, including among others Jesús Godoy, Dave Koller, Jayar Jackson and Steve Oh.

Each Friday, The Young Turks features a panel of guests from the worlds of politics, journalism, pop culture, sports and comedy, that is led by Uygur and John Iadarola in the first hour and Kasparian in the second hour. Along with Iadarola, other fill-in hosts and recurring guests include series co-creator/contributor Ben Mankiewicz, Jimmy Dore, Brian Unger, Hannah Cranston, Hasan Piker, Becca Frucht, Brett Erlich, Wes Clark Jr., Michael Shure, Cara Santa Maria, RJ Eskow, Dave Rubin, Gina Grad, Grace Baldridge, Samantha Schacher, Jayde Lovell and Kim Horcher.

Production

The Young Turks is broadcast in a two-hour live stream format, which airs Monday through Fridays at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The program was originally based out of the living room of creator/host Cenk Uygur, however it moved production to a small office in Los Angeles after the show hired a limited staff to produce the program. When the program was given a secondary live show on Current TV in 2011, the network provided a larger studio in Los Angeles to house its television and online broadcasts; production was forced to leave the facility after Current TV was sold to Al Jazeera, prior to the network's conversion into the now-defunct generalized news service Al Jazeera America.

In 2013, The Young Turks' production staff relocated temporarily to new studio quarters at YouTube Space LA in Los Angeles. In October 2013, The Young Turks launched an Indiegogo campaign, aimed at raising $250,000 in order to build a new studio. Fundraising completed with $400,000 being raised. The program moved its production facilities and staff operations to new studio facilities in Los Angeles later that year, with construction of their new studio being completed in June 2015.

Radio program

The Young Turks was originally developed as a radio talk show that was similar in format to a Los Angeles-based public access television program that Cenk Uygur had hosted, titled The Young Turk. With the help of friend Ben Mankiewicz (with whom he had previously worked), his childhood friend Dave Koller, and Jill Pike, Uygur began The Young Turks as a radio program in February 2002 on Sirius Satellite Radio. On the show's website, the title is explained as deriving from the English-language phrase "Young Turk", meaning a "progressive or insurgent member of an institution, movement, or political party" or a "young person who rebels against authority or societal expectations".

In 2006, the program received attention for its 99-hour "Live On Air Filibuster," conducted during Congressional hearings for the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Hosts including Thom Hartmann and John Amato filled in during the event, to allow the show's regular hosts and contributors to rest or take breaks.

Prior to signing a distribution deal to carry the program on Air America in 2006, the show was broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio, on Sirius Left 143 and later 146, airing weekdays from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time; a day-behind rebroadcast of the program aired on Sirius Talk Central 148 weekday afternoons from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Being carried exclusively on Sirius for several years, The Young Turks was the first show to air exclusively on Sirius Left that was not distributed through a syndication network. TYT was also carried by KFH (1330 AM and 98.7 FM) in Wichita, Kansas each weeknight from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Central Time and webcast by RadioPower.org.

On February 2, 2009, TYT was removed from the broadcast schedule of America Left, a progressive talk channel carried on Sirius/XM Channel 167, and replaced by an additional hour of The Bill Press Show. The program returned to Sirius/XM on March 16, 2009. In late 2010, TYT announced through its Facebook page that it would discontinue carrying the program on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio; the last edition of The Young Turks to be carried on the service aired on November 19, 2010.

Web series

The Young Turks was the first daily streaming online talk show, having begun airing in that format in 2006.

In August 2007, Ben Mankiewicz left the show to serve as a contributor for TMZ's syndicated entertainment news program TMZ on TV. At roughly the same time, Jill Pike left to pursue a job in Washington, D.C. Ana Kasparian, then working as an intern for the program, was hired to do pop culture-focused segments. Mankiewicz eventually returned to The Young Turks as a regular correspondent.

During the 2008 elections, the show developed close ties to Brave New Films. The program aired commercials for the independent film production company and featured actors such as Robert Greenwald and Jonathan Kim as guests.

On July 30, 2013, The Young Turks launched a TYT Network app on Roku, which features much of the same content that is already available for free through the program's YouTube channel, which has over 2.9 million subscribers and generates 50 million monthly views. The network is among the few channels to generate more than 1 billion views since launching on YouTube, which does not market a channel on the Roku app store. Young Turks COO Steve Oh acknowledged that making the TYT Network available on Roku was the first part of a strategy to continue the network's growth, regardless of what medium in which its viewers are watching its content, with the intent to figure out a way to monetize its programming through multiple distribution channels, rather than relying on one or two larger channels (such as YouTube or cable television distribution). The network also announced plans to unveil native apps for iOS and Android devices. Oh also noted that the network's representatives were speaking with other media platforms about expanding its programming.

In April 2014, The Young Turks began offering its content on Hulu. With this, it began providing a condensed 30-minute version of the program featuring excerpts from the full two-hour daily show, along with a 30-minute weekly version of its daily pop-culture show PopTrigger, with other shows being added shortly afterward. Oh stated on the Hulu launch that, "as TYT Network has grown from a single show to an entire network, we've consistently found ways to bring our shows to more people[..] We’ve long admired Hulu as a leader of online video and both parties saw an opportunity to bring digitally-native politics and pop culture talk shows to Hulu’s audience." He also stated that the company is pitching shows to cable network, but had no immediate plans to revive a television broadcast as either a relaunched program or a show similar in format to the one it formerly produced for Current TV.

The website's yearly revenue was roughly US$3 million in 2013. According to Cenk Uygur, "about a third of the revenue comes from subscriptions, and the rest comes from YouTube ads." The company maintains a staff of 30 employees. In 2014, the company received a US$4 million investment from Roemer, Robinson, Melville & Co., LLC, a private equity firm led by former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer.

Reception

The Young Turks claims to be "the world's largest online news show" based on the number of YouTube hits for the main TYT channel.

The Independent described it as "the most-watched online news show in the world." In a September 2006 article, U.S. News & World Report contributing writer Paul Bedard described TYT as "the loudly liberal counter to the right-leaning presets on my Sirius Satellite Radio."

Awards and nominations

The Young Turks has won and been nominated for numerous Internet content awards.

The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur

The first linear television incarnation of the program began as an hour-long show that premiered on Current TV on December 5, 2011. Co-created and hosted by Cenk Uygur (who executive produced the series with original program co-creator Dave Koller, with Jesus Godoy, Jayar Jackson and Mark Register serving as producers), the program was co-presented by Ana Kasparian, with Ben Mankiewicz, Michael Shure, Brian Unger, Wes Clark, Jr. and RJ Eskow as contributors and correspondents. It was filmed at studio facilities in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City.

Current TV announced the launch of a separate television broadcast of The Young Turks on September 20, 2011, with the program intending to air Monday through Friday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time beginning in the fourth quarter of 2011. It was the second news and opinion program to air on Current, alongside Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and was part of a strategy to refocus the network's prime time schedule around progressive talk programming (which was followed by the debut of The War Room with Jennifer Granholm in January 2012). According to the show's website, the show was titled The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur to differentiate itself from the popular web series. For two years, the two separate shows were produced each Monday through Thursday, with a one-hour break between the production airtimes of the television and web shows. In a press release, representatives for Current described TYT as "a group of progressive, outspoken journalists and commentators discussing politics and pop culture" and founder Cenk Uygur as bringing a, "uniquely progressive and topical commentary about politics and pop culture."

On January 2, 2013, Current TV was sold to Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, which announced plans to reorganize the channel as Al Jazeera America, focusing on world news and investigative content with a more neutral tone; with the move, the channel would discontinue its talk programming slate, including The Young Turks with Cenk Ugyur, which ended its run on Current TV on August 15, 2013, shortly before the network's relaunch.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Uygur commented that with the discontinuance of the television broadcast, he was relieved to move on and focus on his web show and the TYT Network site, stating that he had been "exhausted from doing the two shows at once" and that he was glad to put his energies there, as he believes that the future of media will gravitate towards online content. Uygur also noted that he talked with Al Jazeera after the company bought Current, reaching a mutual agreement not to continue with the television broadcast due to the change in ideological tone that Al Jazeera America would maintain. However, members of The Young Turks' on-air contributing staff, such as Michael Shure (who served as a political and general assignment contributor), Cara Santa Maria (part of TechKnow) and Ben Mankiewicz (who worked as a movie critic), regularly appeared on Al Jazeera America. The Young Turks also maintain a partnership with Al Jazeera's digital channel AJ+, in an arrangement first announced in March 2015.

The Young Turks on Fusion

The Young Turks returned to television with a weekly, hour-long program on Fusion, The Young Turks on Fusion, which premiered on September 12, 2016 for a twelve-week limited run. Hosted by Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola, the program – which was broadcast from college campuses around the United States, in a live-audience format modelled after ESPN's College GameDay – focused on coverage of the 2016 United States presidential campaign. The show also featured Cenk Uygur, Jimmy Dore, Ben Mankiewicz, Hannah Cranston, Hasan Piker and Kim Horcher as contributors, as well as Fusion reporters and celebrity guest hosts.

TYT Network

The Young Turks has spawned a multi-channel network of associated web series, known as the TYT Network.

Some of the programs produced for the service are produced in-house, among which include:

Other shows are not produced in-house:

Programs produced for the TYT Network that are no longer in production include:

Programs no longer produced or owned by the TYT Network, but are still in production:

Name controversy

The Young Turks have been criticized for their name, as it originates from a Turkish political movement that has been associated with involvement in the Armenian Genocide. The company's founders have denied any linkage to the name's historical significance as it relates to the Armenian Genocide. Cenk Uygur has retracted his college article denying the Armenian genocide, stating that "My mistake at the time was confusing myself for a scholar of history, which I most certainly am not. I don’t want to make the same mistake again, so I am going to refrain from commenting on the topic of the Armenian Genocide, which I do not know nearly enough about." [1]