Young Hollywood

R. J. Williams launched Young Hollywood in Los Angeles as a privately owned multimedia entertainment firm. It holds the rights to the “Young Hollywood” trademark for consumer goods and services both in the U.S. and abroad. The company also runs a television network and is a major creator and distributor of celebrity-focused digital content, accumulating over 2 billion views.

The network, YHN, operates 24/7 and reaches more than 700 million households across 180-plus countries, offering content in 24 languages. It provides scheduled shows along with a large video-on-demand library, producing original programming year-round for a global audience. In early 2015, Young Hollywood struck an exclusive deal with Apple to launch the network on Apple TV, debuting seven new half-hour original series spanning reality, scripted shows, animation, and documentaries, all centered on entertainment, music, sports, fashion, and lifestyle. By the end of that year, the network had expanded to Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Blu-ray players, and Android devices.

Young Hollywood’s programming avoids gossip and takes an anti-paparazzi stance. Its website, YoungHollywood.com, launched in 2007 and attracted 3 million unique monthly visitors. The company also built a street team of fan ambassadors to promote the brand, and its distribution network extended its reach to over 100 million viewers. The company has been likened to MTV for its 360-degree approach to reaching younger audiences, including original content creation, a built-in distribution network with a marketing arm, and direct advertiser relationships.

In January 2012, Young Hollywood partnered with Google on a channel initiative to launch “The Young Hollywood Network” on YouTube, alongside brands like WWE and The Wall Street Journal. That YouTube channel ranks #12 on AdAge’s list of top original channels of all time. On TikTok’s live.ly platform, Young Hollywood created the first live-streamed hit show, with its premiere drawing nearly 600,000 live viewers; the platform itself has over 95 million users. Young Hollywood’s programming was also parodied in a 2012 skit on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

In April 2010, the company formed a strategic partnership with the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills to build a fiber-optic, high-definition broadcast studio inside the hotel for daily celebrity interviews. That partnership expanded in August 2011 to include the hotel’s restaurant, launching The Young Hollywood Salad. Internationally, Young Hollywood signed an exclusive content distribution deal with Fremantle Media; the first two series from that agreement sold to over 30 territories. YH content now airs on RTL Group in Germany, Middle East Broadcasting Center in the Middle East, M-Net in South Africa, and the Lifestyle Network in the Philippines.