Found and Explained \\ ITBM
The Opportunity
Since 2020, Found and Explained has published long-form educational content focused on aviation, engineering, transportation, and mechanical concepts.
Built around detailed storytelling, research, and custom visualizations, the channel explores everything from aircraft and airports to engineering projects that never made it beyond the drawing board.
The content was naturally suited for long-tail consumption. Topics remained relevant long after publication, creating a substantial evergreen catalog capable of performing beyond the primary platform.
Facebook distribution began at the start of 2025 with the goal of transforming existing content into a scalable audience and revenue channel through native optimization and platform-specific distribution.
MSN distribution followed in October 2025, expanding the content library into a publisher-driven ecosystem designed to unlock additional reach and monetization opportunities.
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Initial Phase
The first phase focused on identifying which content formats resonated most strongly within each ecosystem.
On MSN, early performance quickly validated demand for engineering, aviation, and explainer-focused content. Consumption remained consistent across both current and archived uploads, demonstrating the durability of the catalog.
Facebook followed a similar trajectory. Once content moved beyond traditional reposting and into a structured distribution strategy, watch time, engagement, and follower growth accelerated significantly.
Both platforms demonstrated that educational engineering content could reach audiences far beyond the channel's existing subscriber base when properly adapted to platform behavior.
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Performance Snapshot
MSN (Since October 2025):
• 293M+ consumed video seconds
• 2.2M+ engaged views
• 265M+ interactions
• Daily averages approaching 10M consumed seconds
• Recent days exceeding 13M consumed seconds
Recent MSN activity continues to generate:
• Around 9M-13M consumed seconds per day
• 60K-90K engaged views per day
• Consistent performance across both new and archived content
Facebook (Since January 2025):
• 68.6M+ views
• 37M+ 3-second views (+1,551%)
• 5.7M+ 1-minute views (+2,261%)
• 23,025+ days of watch time (+1,732%)
• 2M+ engagements
• 862K+ reactions
• 27K+ comments
• 72K+ shares
• 143K+ total followers
• 82K+ net new followers
The majority of Facebook growth was driven by content discovery beyond the existing audience, creating sustained reach rather than isolated viral spikes.
Across both platforms, performance has remained consistent over time, reflecting strong audience-content alignment.
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Monthly Interaction Momentum
MSN interaction history demonstrates sustained performance at scale:
• Monthly interactions consistently above 200M
• Multiple months exceeding 300M interactions
• Peak months reaching 360M+ interactions
• Continued stability throughout the distribution period
MSN consumption history further reflects:
• 293M+ consumed video seconds generated since onboarding
• More than 2.2M engaged views
• Monthly averages approaching 10M consumed seconds
• Multiple months generating nearly 10M-13M consumed seconds
Facebook growth over the distribution period reflects:
• More than 1,500% growth in video consumption metrics
• More than 2,200% growth in deeper retention signals
• Significant expansion in watch time and audience engagement
• More than 143K followers built through distributed content
The pattern across both ecosystems demonstrates that highly educational content can maintain performance well beyond its original publication cycle when distributed strategically.
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Impact
Since distribution began, Found and Explained's content has:
• Activated licensed distribution across MSN and Facebook
• Generated incremental revenue from existing content assets
• Expanded audience reach beyond the core YouTube viewer base
• Built a substantial follower base on Facebook
• Extended the lifespan of a growing engineering and aviation catalog
• Created multiple monetized distribution channels from the same content library
All without requiring additional production or major workflow changes.
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Outcome
Found and Explained's content library now operates across MSN and Facebook as structured, monetized ecosystems.
What began as Facebook distribution in January 2025 and MSN onboarding in October 2025 evolved into a scalable multi-platform distribution strategy.
The results demonstrate:
• Strong alignment between engineering-focused educational content and platform-native audiences
• Sustainable consumption volume across MSN
• Long-term audience growth and retention on Facebook
• Revenue diversification without production expansion
• Continued value creation from both new and archived content
The content library has evolved from a single-platform operation into a diversified distribution structure generating audience growth, engagement, and monetization across multiple ecosystems.
