The Young Turks (TYT) is a progressive left-wing American news and commentary program on YouTube. It serves as the flagship program of the TYT Network, a multi-channel network of associated web series focusing on news and current events. The program was created by Cenk Uygur, Ben Mankiewicz, and Dave Koller. Currently co-hosted by Uygur, Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola,^[7] who are often accompanied by various in-studio contributors, the program maintains an anti-establishment stance and provides commentary on topics of varying news genres. The Young Turks began as a radio program that premiered on February 14, 2002, on Sirius Satellite Radio; it was later carried on Air America, before launching a web series component in 2005 on YouTube. In 2018, Regional News Network offered it initially on WMCN, its New Jersey broadcast television station.

In addition to being carried on the TYT Network and YouTube, it is also currently available on Hulu, Roku, and through a 24-hour feed on Pluto TV. It has spawned two spin-off television series, one that aired on Current TV^[8] from 2011 to 2013 and a second that debuted on Fusion in 2016 as a limited-run program developed to cover the 2016 United States presidential election. The Young Turks also served as the subject of a documentary, entitled Mad as Hell, which was released in 2014.^[9] The network also has a linear channel on YouTube TV.

The Young Turks live streams for up to three 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, civil rights and issues of injustice towards people of color and sexual minorities, sexual morality, and the influence of corporations, neutrality and establishment political thought on traditional news media. The program maintains a liberal/progressive ideology in its political commentary.^[10][11][12] Co-creator and host Cenk Uygur describes himself as an "independent progressive" and asserts that the show is aimed at the "98 percent 'not in power'" and what he describes as the 60% of Americans who hold progressive views.^[13]

The first hour, which is occasionally hosted solo by Uygur but frequently has Ana Kasparian among other co-hosts, focuses on American politics, foreign policy and breaking news headlines.^[14] 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 – dubbed the "TYT Power Panel" – 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, John Iadarola, Brian Unger, Hasan Piker, Becca Frucht, Brett Erlich, Wes Clark Jr., Michael Shure, Cara Santa Maria, RJ Eskow, Gina Grad, Samantha Schacher, and Jayde Lovell.

The Young Turks is broadcast in a two-to-three hour live stream format, which airs Monday through Fridays at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The program was originally based out of the living room of creator/host Cenk Uygur, but 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.^[15] 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.^[16] The program moved its production facilities and staff operations to a new studio facilities in Los Angeles later that year, with construction of their new studio being completed in June 2015.

In 2017, TYT sought to expand its media network and hire more staff through various fundraising efforts such as a $20 million investment by Jeffrey Katzenberg into the company.^[17][18][19]

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.^[10] 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".^[20]

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.^[21]

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 pm. Eastern Time; a day-behind rebroadcast of the program aired on Sirius Talk Central 148 weekday afternoons from 12:00 to 2:00 pm. 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, now KNSS (AM) and KNSS-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. TYT rejoined Sirius/XM in 2017 with the show being ran on SiriusXM Progress.^[22]

The Young Turks was the first daily streaming online talk show, having begun airing in that format in 2006.^[10]

In August 2007, Ben Mankiewicz left the show to serve as a contributor for TMZ's syndicated entertainment news program TMZ on TV.^[23] 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,^[24] which features much of the same content that is already available for free through the program's YouTube channel, which has over 4.2 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.^[25]

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." At that time, the company maintained a staff of 30 employees.^[26] In 2014, the company received a US$4 million investment from Roemer, Robinson, Melville & Co., LLC, a private equity firm led by Republican former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer.^[27] In December 2016, TYT Network launched a crowdfunding campaign aiming to raise US$2 million for the hiring of four further investigative teams.^[28] Five months later, the aim was met.^[29] In August 2017, it was announced that The Young Turks have raised $20 million in venture-capital from 3L Capital, WndrCo (owned by Jeffrey Katzenberg), Greycroft, and e.ventures. TYT stated it would use the funds to "hire additional management execs and creative talent, as well as enhance its subscription-video offering and expand marketing initiatives". Shawn Colo, managing partner of 3L Capital, joined the TYT Network's board.^[17][18][19]

In November 2017, TYT fired field reporter Jordan Chariton following sexual assault allegations against him.^[30] Chariton vehemently denied the accusations and has stated he's considering legal actions.^[31]

In mid-December 2017, Politico reported that TYT was courting former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather to host a news show.^[32] On January 21, 2018, TYT confirmed that it will show The News with Dan Rather, a half-hour "untraditional evening newscast" weekly on Mondays in the time slot before the main Young Turks show.^[33]

On May 17, 2018, The Young Turks launched a 24-hour linear channel on YouTube TV which includes all of TYT's current shows and four new shows called The Damage Report, "#NoFilter","The Happy Half Hour" and "Old-School Sports".^[34]

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."^[40] In 2014, The Independent described it as "the most-watched online news show in the world."^[13]

Following uncovered controversial remarks by Uygur regarding women and race, which led to his ousting from the Justice Democrats in late-December 2017,^[41][42] TYT saw the number of page visits to their website begin to decline going into 2018, according to Alexa Internet.^[43]

The Young Turks has won and been nominated for numerous Internet content awards, including, but not limited to:

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 pm. 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.^[52] 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."^[52]

On January 2, 2013, Current TV was sold to Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera Media Network,^[53] 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.^[26][54]

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.^[26] 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.^[55]

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.^[56][57]

The Young Turks has spawned a multi-channel network of associated web series and shows, 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:

In June 2019, during a high-profile Democratic presidential candidate campaign weekend in Iowa, TYT and a group of supporters launched the Progressive Economic Pledge campaign, challenging presidential candidates to sign. The pledge is to support higher wages, Medicare for All, Green New Deal, college for all and the end of private campaign financing.^[71][72]

According to Cenk Uygur, the name of the show was chosen because it is a popular colloquialism.^[73] According to the American Heritage Dictionary, one definition of a Young Turk is "a young progressive or insurgent member of an institution, movement, or political party."^[74][75] The name was earlier used by a rebellious group of Congressmen within the Republican Party, of which Gerald Ford was a prominent member, who had become disenchanted with the course of the Party during the early 1960s as well as other political groups around the world. However, the Young Turks show has been criticized for the name, as the original Young Turks political movement committed the Armenian Genocide,^[73] and that in 1991 Cenk Uygur wrote an article in The Daily Pennsylvanian in which he promoted Armenian Genocide denial.^[76] In 2016, he rescinded these statements, arguing: "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."^[77]