Kotaku has taken a deep dive into the recent work and social media life of YouTube star PewDiePie (aka Felix Kjellberg), one that's yielded an interesting conclusion: he's probably making a TV show. Kjellberg is set to spend the next two months in Los Angeles, and so far he's spent his time zipping between various sets and local landmarks; when he arrived, TMZ reported that he was "in town to shoot a TV show," a claim Kjellberg danced around in a subsequent video.

Kjellberg's attempt to leap across the chasm separating YouTube from more traditional video media makes sense given this particular moment in his career. He's still one of YouTube's most famous homegrown talents, with a subscriber base pushing 40 million viewers and a robust associated profit stream, but he won't remain a golden boy forever; in the video linked above, he acknowledges that his viewer counts have been declining for months. A successful transition into the TV market would mean access to a new, massive audience, one with completely different demographics than his YouTube fan base (and presumably more money).

It's also likely that Kjellberg is vulnerable to appeals rooted in ideas about prestige and respectability, a vulnerability he'd share with every other human on this planet. It may not be fair or reasonable, but TV has more to offer in those respects than YouTube, and that might've been seductive. And it's not as if he's banging on a closed door, either; networks and streaming services are just starting to figure out how to tap into the giant, mobile audience YouTube represents. For the time being, Kjellberg's mysterious TV show slots in right alongside his upcoming self-help book: they're both trying to use old media to expand the brand of a new-world star.