Did you know? Original CNL Video Views Top 1/2 Million

CNL2 loves small town video!

In CNL2’s first six months in production here in The San Juans, we’ve produced 85 videos. Six months from now we expect CNL2 to be producing four per day (annualized rate of 1,460 videos per year). That doesn’t include audio podcasts, which we also plan to be publishing daily, as well.

Some people question whether a small town wants video or television, and if larger audiences care about what’s going on in very special small towns. CNL’s history with one very special small town answers that question.

Before there was CNL2, there was the original CNL (CountyNewsLIVE) in Hermann, Missouri from 2008 to 2013. And while the original CNL content was decidedly more text and photos, we produced 203 videos in those years. They still live — now 10 to 14 years old — on YouTube here.

The similarities between Friday Harbor, WA and Hermann, MO are interesting.

• They are similar in population (Friday Harbor: 2,613; Hermann: 2,185)
• Both are known for breathtaking natural beauty; both have rich, well-preserved historical character
• Both are centers of art and music
• Both are county seats of agricultural-centric counties
• Both are wildly popular for tourism and weddings

If you’re curious about beautiful Hermann, Missouri, here is more. If you’re ever in Missouri, the City of Hermann — situated on the southern bank of the Missouri River — is very special to visitors from all over the Midwest.

The interesting thing about YouTube (which is essentially a huge video library attached to a powerful search engine) is the way videos live on far after their publication. Today, the original CNL YouTube channel — all about Hermann, Missouri and the surrounding region 10 to 14 years ago — has racked up 521,000 views of CNL videos so far, many of them from its 540 subscribers.

Below is just a sample of the CNL’s original (decidedly small-town) videos still piling up views.

Building a deep library of popular original videos is one of many benchmarks CNL2 intends to meet…then exceed.

NOTE: Do not click on the web address listed on the YouTube page. We sold the domain name when CNL ceased operation in 2014, and it now appears to be an unsafe site. We have not been associated with that domain for more than a decade.