The Rise of Dropout

After their original website shut down, CollegeHumor took their content in a new direction under Reich’s leadership. They prioritized their newly-created streaming platform Dropout, and the company increasingly diversified the media they were creating. Instead of the sketch comedy that CollegeHumor was known for, Dropout became home to unscripted series like Dimension 20, Game Changer, Dirty Laundry, and Um, Actually. Thanks to talented comedians on the platform — including Brennan Lee Mulligan, Ally Beardsley, Lily Du, and more — and a new focus on progressive comedy, Dropout’s fan base grew beyond Reich’s expectations.

In a Threads post about the company’s recent switch-up, Sam Reich said, “CollegeHumor’s original cast — including me —was a bunch of nerd types making fun of frat types. It was also predominantly white, straight, and male. Eventually, when we ran out of frat jokes, the content became truer to ourselves: nerdier.” Reich expanded upon this in a following post, stating, “As [the original] cast moved on and a new cast moved in, CollegeHumor became more diverse and inclusive. We grew up. Our values changed. The content became not just nerdy, but also thoughtful, progressive, and innovative.”

The Big Rebranding

In celebration of their streaming service’s fifth anniversary, Sam Reich revealed that CollegeHumor would fully rename itself to Dropout. The decision was made to distance the company from the CollegeHumor legacy. Reich’s thought process was that, “[The name] didn’t represent us anymore, hadn’t for years, attracted the wrong audience, and repelled the right one.” While the CollegeHumor YouTube channel will remain intact, all future content will take on the Dropout branding in order to stay in line with the identity the company has adhered to since 2018.