Netflix is bringing in even more content it doesn’t have to produce.

In recent months, the streamer has done deals with content creators, podcasters, and for live sports licensing. For some of these deals–like its agreement with Salish Matter–Netflix appears to be at least somewhat involved in providing production muscle. But most of these deals are for syndication, where Netflix will get the benefit of expanding its programming library without having to make anything itself.

The latest deal brings Netflix into yet another area: content from digital publishers like Penske Media, BuzzFeed, and Condé Nast.

This week, Netflix announced it’s partnered with the aforementioned publishers, plus Hearst Magazines, People Inc, and Tastemade, to add their video content to its streaming service.

Per The Hollywood Reporter (which is part of this deal, as it’s owned by Penske Media alongside Billboard, Eater, IndieWire, Rolling Stone, and Variety), Netflix will get video content that ranges from three-minute shorts to 20-minute episodes. All of this content will be “discoverable directly from the Netflix homepage” starting Aug. 3, the platform said.

It added that the “first wave” of content will cover topics like travel, cooking, fashion, celebrity profiles, home and gardening, and viral moments.

Content and verticals included in the deals are…

• BuzzFeed: A*Pop, BuzzFeed Celeb, Cocoa Butter, Inga Lam, Pero Like, Tasty, 30 Questions
• Condé Nast: Allure, Architectural Digest (and its series Walking Tour), Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, Glamour, House & Garden, Self, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair (Lie Detector), Vogue, Wired, World of Interiors
• Hearst Magazines: Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar (Burning Questions), Seventeen, Women’s Health, Town & Country, Delish, Good Housekeeping
• PMX, a subdivision of Penske Media: Billboard (24 Hrs With), Eater, Indiewire, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety (How Well Do They Know?)
• People Inc: My Life In Pictures, Entertainment Weekly, Food & Wine, InStyle, People, Travel + Leisure (Travel Unfiltered)
• Tastemade: Tastemade
• The Hollywood Reporter: Hollywood Firsts, Close Collabs, THR in Focus, and Inside THR

Some of the shows are archival IPs, while others are ongoing. Past and new installments will be available to Netflix subscribers in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

“Members don’t just want to watch a show or film and move on; they want to keep exploring the stories and personalities they love long after the final credits roll,” John Derderian, Netflix’s VP of Animation Series and Kids & Family TV, said in a statement. “These partnerships help us deepen fandom and create more ways for members to carry those stories with them throughout their day.”

Netflix said more publisher partnerships will be announced at later dates.

So what’s the context here?

These deals, along with Netflix’s creator signings, podcast push, and live sports, are all about bulking up its content library. The goal is, of course, to bring in more watch hours, and to challenge YouTube. Google’s UGC juggernaut now has a commanding share of connected TV watch time not just in the U.S., but globally, and Netflix has not been shy about viewing YouTube as a competitor. If it can hike its own watch time without committing production resources, that could bring a bump to its position in the market.

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Four years ago, after climbing out of personal debt, Caleb Hammer started posting his flagship series Financial Audit on YouTube. In each episode, he takes on a person (or couple, or throuple) in real time, goes through their monthly income and spending statements, dissects the habits keeping them from financial stability, and helps them set a budgeting plan to pay down creditors, protect themselves from unexpected expenses, and start saving.

But while Financial Audit was his first and is his core production, his content business has gone far beyond it. These days, he brings in over 250 million views a month on YouTube with nine different shows. He also offers his own budget app, Dollarwise.

And he runs one of YouTube’s largest membership communities: Hammer Elite, which has 115,000 monthly subscribers paying either $9.99 or $14.99, depending on the tier. Those folks get access to things like extra shows and exclusive episodes, a private Discord server, post-show follow-ups with guests from Financial Audit, and priority reply to comments.

Last month, Hammer announced he’d teamed up with Uscreen to expand Hammer Elite. That expansion gives the program a dedicated off-YouTube platform and a mobile app where subscribers can watch paywalled content.

Robert Kaliati, President of Hammer Media, told Tubefilter’s own Josh Cohen that there’s a financial upside to having Hammer Elite flow through Uscreen’s system. It takes a smaller cut of the subscription revenue, versus YouTube’s 30% slice of Channel Memberships.

However, to be clear, Kaliati wasn’t disparaging YouTube. “They definitely deserve and should do that,” he said. “They’re bringing the audience to you.”

Hammer, speaking to us, agrees. “We do love YouTube,” he says–which is why he’s not pulling Hammer Elite off YouTube, nor downgrading any perks for the audience subscribing through Google’s platform.

“We’re keeping our membership on both platforms exactly the same,” he explains. “So wherever people subscribe, be it on YouTube or on our app with Uscreen, it’s going to be identical other than a couple caveats. We just wanted to make sure that we’re giving people a little more options.”

One of the perks of subscribing through Uscreen is an annual version of Hammer Elite that lets people pay for 10 months upfront and get 12 free. There are also quality-of-life perks like a calendar that shows drop dates for all upcoming episodes.

“YouTube’s our bread and butter, YouTube’s the platform we love until our dying days,” Hammer says. “But if anyone’s a die-hard fan, we wanted to make sure they could join us on our own exclusive platform, if they wanted.”

He says launching a dedicated streaming app through Uscreen made sense because “our Hammer Elite programming is, within itself, almost its own network of television.” So if fans are embedded in the Hammer universe, they can get the app and “really focus on the Hammer Elite stuff,” he adds.

As we mentioned above, this isn’t Hammer’s first experience with putting out an app for his viewers. His team built Dollarwise to help followers put what they learned from Financial Audit into action.

Constructing that app, though, was not a smooth process. Hammer says that initially, Dollarwise (going under a different name) was made by an outside app developer and “was just a broken mess and we couldn’t fix it.”

“We didn’t have hands on it and they fully ran it,” he says. “Then we brought in our head of tech, built out a team, and as of last year completely rebuilt it from the ground up, and now it’s ranking high on the app store. People absolutely love it and it’s changing lives and it’s pretty great. So now it’s fully us-built and we’re just making continuous improvements consistently.”

Building the Hammer Elite app, he says, was a much easier process.

“Uscreen has been super easy to work with. They’ve delivered exactly what I wanted, they’ve delivered it all on time. Nothing but happy things,” he says. “When we’ve worked with third-party companies for different things, oftentimes it just leads to endless amounts of complaints, unfortunately. But working with them, it’s been nothing but good things.”

With the Hammer Elite app up and running, Hammer and the team plan to introduce more shows, and keep investing in higher-production-cost content. Hammer specifically says he’s able to put more money into shows because “the audience has given us that ability.”

“We’ll be launching some more channels as well that people should stay tuned for,” he says.

Hammer Elite is the latest in a steady stream of creator-led platforms launching on Uscreen. Other recent additions include Theorist‘s Theoryverse and Keke Palmer‘s Practice by Palmer.

Curious why creators are choosing Uscreen? Go here for our deep dive on the company’s long history in our industry and what it offers entrepreneurial, community-minded content-makers.

Uscreen is a Tubefilter partner.

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Through Zigazoo, kids and teens can explore a social media environment that’s safe and age-appropriate. Three years after launching that space, Zigazoo has attracted some young creators who are destined for bigger things, and it plans to help them realize their dreams.

In tandem with Wheelhouse, the media company co-founded by producer Brent Montgomery and TV host Jimmy Kimmel, Zigazoo is launching an entertainment venture titled Zigazoo Studios. Through original content, live programming, consumer products, and brand deals, Zigazoo Studios will open up doors for some of the biggest names on the titular platform.

As reported by Variety, Zigazoo Studios will be a “launchpad for ambitious young talent” that will help Gen Alpha tastemakers “build enduring brands and sustainable careers both on and off the platform.” Wheelhouse has sold shows to a variety of distributors across TV, streaming, and digital. One of its best-known projects is the documentary America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, which just dropped its third season on Netflix.

Wheelhouse, a longtime Zigazoo backer, also has ample experience in the creator world. Through ventures like DNA and Additive Creative, the media company has connected with some of the best-known stars across major social platforms. In 2022, it opened a large meeting space dedicated to digital creators and their careers.

Zigazoo, meanwhile, has used multiple strategies to court creators. It onboarded influencers in 2023 as part of its plan to appeal to Gen Z. Then, just last month, Zigazoo sent a trio of “Junior Correspondents” to VidCon. By giving upstarts the chance to cover an enduring creator gathering, Zigazoo began to identify young voices who are eager to get their work out in the open.

Building expansive IP alongside kids and teens won’t be so simple. All across the world, national governments are limiting social media access for under-18s. The consensus among those authorities is that platforms like Instagram and TikTok are unsafe for vulnerable young users.

Zigazoo’s leaders, however, see their upcoming programming push as something that can fit into current regulations. Zigazoo Studios plans to build IP that will be trustworthy and sustainable for kids and their parents.

“As Gen Alpha increasingly shapes culture, consumer behavior, and digital communities, Zigazoo Studios will identify, nurture, and scale the next generation of creator talent while providing young creators and their families with access to the infrastructure traditionally reserved for established talent,” reads a statement from Zigazoo and Wheelhouse. “At a time when the creator economy is evolving and lawmakers in countries like the U.K. and Australia have already moved to restrict social media access for minors, with similar legislation gaining momentum in the U.S., the demand for safe, positive digital experiences for kids has never been greater.”

Zigazoo Studios will begin rolling out its projects “later this year.” Its first offerings will be revealed at an industry event hosted at Wheelhouse’s Los Angeles headquarters.

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The show that uses MetroCards as microphones has earned a nomination at the 2026 Emmy Awards. Subway Takes, the YouTube-hosted series led by Kareem Rahma, will vie for a winged statuette in the category of Best Short Form Comedy, Drama, or Variety Series.

Since 2023, Rahma has put a unique spin on the man-on-the-street interview format by inviting his guests to unleash their hottest takes as they ride in a New York City subway car. Nearly 750 million YouTube views later, Subway Takes has become a pop culture touchstone that richly deserves the Emmy recognition it received.

Subway Takes was one of several creator-led shows that sought Emmy consideration amid a fervent push from YouTube itself. The platform threw its support behind some of its top stars while other YouTube hits, like Dropout, launched their own FYC campaigns.

Ultimately, all that hullabaloo resulted in a single Emmy nod. YouTube favorite Hot Ones fell short in the Outstanding Variety Series category, and neither Dropout’s Game Changer nor host Sam Reich were able to claim spots among the nominees.

If Kareem Rahma ever returns my calls, he’ll learn that this is my subway take: YouTube should stop chasing Emmys. FYC campaigns for creator-led shows date back a decade, when MCNs like Maker Studios were the ones doing the pushing. YouTube revived that strategy in the 2020s, but year after year, the Television Academy makes it clear that it doesn’t see creator content as anything more than a curious afterthought.

Even with this year’s Subway Takes nomination, the TV Academy’s bias is still showing. Sure, I can understand why Hot Ones got snubbed in favor of heavy hitters like The Daily Show and  Last Week Tonight. But it doesn’t seem fair that Martin Short gets a nod for hosting a ho-hum Match Game retread while Sam Reich is shut out for steering an iconic internet game show with millions of ardent fans.

Even in the Short Form Variety Series category, where Subway Takes is recognized, other nominees include the usual assortment of unassuming late-night companions. The TV Academy is finally giving a YouTube-based show a seat at that table, and all Rahma had to do was throw legendary parties, score massive brand deals, and literally influence U.S. politics.

It’s nice to see Rahma get feted for all that hard work. At the same time, if he weren’t nominated for an Emmy, I have a feeling he’d respond to my subway take with a “100% agree.”

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The bidding war for World Cup broadcast rights is in full swing, and YouTube is in the mix. As the platform’s creator community plays a pivotal role on soccer’s biggest stage, its dealmakers are angling to air the 2030 and 2034 editions of the FIFA tournament.

According to CNBC, the suitors for the World Cup broadcast rights include Netflix, Disney, and YouTube, with Amazon and Apple rumored to be considering bids as well. FOX paid $485 million for the rights to this year’s Cup, but the next two editions of the tourney will likely fetch a higher price tag, because FIFA plans to bundle the English- and Spanish-language rights in the U.S.

YouTube is eager to land high-profile live sports packages it can pair with related creator content. Some recent negotiations, however, have revealed roadblocks that are impeding that strategy. YouTube was on track to land a multi-game deal for the upcoming NFL season, but that plan fizzled after the league gave a coveted game in Australia to Netflix.

When it comes to soccer, however, YouTube possesses leverage that could help it negotiate the World Cup deal it wants. It’s not just that soccer is huge on YouTube — though it is — but also that soccer-loving creators have already cultivated credibility with global audiences.

For example, some NFL viewers complained about the creators who showed up on screen during YouTube’s football broadcast. But during the World Cup, soccer fans have embraced creator-led streams. Brazil’s CazéTV, who got World Cup distribution rights in his home country, currently holds the top 15 spots on the list of the most-watched YouTube streams of all time. Belgium’s Celine Dept has also cultivated an international fanbase thanks to her positive personality, her challenge videos, and her fondness for Cristiano Ronaldo.

When discussing the global appeal and near-universal likeability of YouTube’s soccer creators, iShowSpeed is the epitome. His world tours have been blockbuster affairs, and soccer is often at the center of them. To emphasize how ubiquitous Speed is, YouTube has made him the poster child for the YouTube FIFA Creator Cup, an upcoming soccer competition featuring some of the internet’s biggest names. A successful Creator Cup would show FIFA how much it could gain should it sell the U.S. World Cup broadcast rights to YouTube.

YouTube’s soccer community is so big that the platform could revolutionize World Cup broadcasts, with local commentators for each country’s matches. Even if another media company wins the current bidding war, YouTube will still win. The 2026 World Cup has shown us that creators are at the forefront of soccer discourse, and they’ll continue to share their voices in 2030 and beyond.

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Welcome to our rundown of the most-watched branded YouTube videos of the week.

We’re publishing this snippet of a larger Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report in order to analyze sponsorship trends in the creator economy. Any video launched in tandem with an official brand partner is eligible for the ranking.

And – as the name up above would imply – all the data comes from Gospel Stats. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here. You can also download our YouTube 2025 Sponsorship Landscape Report here.

The World Cup is officially upon us, and considering YouTube is an official “Preferred Platform” for FIFA’s 2026 competition, we’re not surprised it’s putting serious effort into tapping its biggest resource: content creators.

Three of our top videos this week are YouTube + FIFA + creator partnerships–but even the world’s biggest sport can’t topple MrBeast from slot #1.

Check it all out right here:

#1 50 YouTube Legends Fight For $1,000,000
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Motrin
Views: 70,716,976

MrBeast has made 2026 his year of supersized collabs–and this video is just the latest in a long string. Like he did for previous uploads, MrBeast gathered an eye-catching number of fellow creators and promised them an eye-catching sum of money if they make it through his various challenges.

One thing is different about this video: It’s sponsored by Motrin, which appears to be a first for the Beast Man. The brand gets a shout-out in the video description–“Don’t let pain stop your momentum. Keep the moment going with MOTRIN”–that also comes paired with an instruction and affiliate link for viewers to buy the drug specifically on Amazon. Intriguing.

#2 I Got a Package from FIFA x YouTube! #ad @YouTube @fifa #FIFAWorldCup
Channel: Jenny Hoyos
Brand: YouTube and FIFA
Views: 65,188,442

Jenny Hoyos is one of several creators in YouTube’s World Cup group, and in this video she unveils her invite box, complete with personalized jersey, socks, and shoes. She and her companions get special pitchside seating–all the better to make more YouTube and FIFA-sponsored videos from, of course–and, we’re assuming, an entourage of Google employees to guide them around to the various games.

It’s clear the YouTube audience is responding well to this marketing effort: Hoyos’ 35-second Short topped 65 million views and very nearly caught MrBeast’s 32-minute video. Considering one features Hoyos sitting by herself in a room and the other took coordination from hundreds of people, it’s an interesting outcome, to say the least.

#3 GRWM for the FIFA World Cup! #ad @YouTube @fifa #FIFAWorldCup
Channel: Jenny Hoyos
Brand: YouTube and FIFA
Views: 43,344,275

And for Hoyos’ second video of the week, it’s a classic get-ready-with-me as she gives viewers more deets about her World Cup adventures. This video is about double the length of the upload in slot #2, but it’s still under a minute, and raked in almost 44 million views.

Also, for the sharp-eyed, the timekeeper icon for this video isn’t YouTube’s usual red dot; it’s a little soccer ball.

Again, we’re not surprised YouTube is going all out here, nor that its efforts seem to be paying off. We’re sure this will all shake out as part of the platform’s plans to continue competing for live sports.

#4 GUYS… this is going to be the most fun summer EVER #AD @YouTube @FIFA #fifaworldcup
Channel: courtreezy
Brand: YouTube and FIFA
Views: 33,737,361

Closing out the World Cup tripleheader is courtreezy with her own get-ready video. She’s also got a spot in YouTube’s pitchside entourage, and enthusiastically tells viewers that 2026 is the year she told herself she would get tickets to everything–and so far that manifestation is working out.

courtreezy’s vid clocks in as the longest, 1:16, but it’s still a sliver of a Short getting the kind of view counts we typically see for big beefy VODs. Certainly we have Shorts coming in top spots on other weeks, but their views tend to hover around 5-10 million. Are these 40-60 million view counts from the World Cup tide? Or do they signal a larger pull for watch time on Shorts?

BONUS #1,945 Busy All Day But Feels Like Nothing Done!
Channel: Neil Koch: Dig-Drive-DIY
Brand: Camel City Mill
Views: 92,931

I know we’re not supposed to play favorites, but one of my most beloved YouTube genres is just watching dudes do their jobs. And this video is a peak example: Neil Koch has a lot to do around his homestead/workshop, and takes viewers around with him. Koch’s channel is a marvel for folks into mechanical DIYing. Sometimes he’s changing tires; sometimes he’s refilling transmission fluid. Other times he’s working on farming equipment or making upgrades around his shop.

Savvy brands know to tap these sorts of channels. What better way to show off your workwear than someone working while wearing it? Camel City Mill is the sponsor for Koch’s vid this week and also #1426, an upload from Outdoors with the Morgans.

…and there’s a lot more data where that came from. If you like our Weekly Top 5, you’ll love everything else Gospel has to offer. Start with our newly released YouTube 2025 Sponsorship Landscape Report, wfrom hich you can download right here.

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Microdramas aren’t just a growing entertainment trend — the short-form, serialized format is a hit with brands, too. As more advertisers use microdramas to connect with potential customers, TikTok is unveiling a tool that makes those videos more efficient and scalable.

TikTok Growth Max, a scaling solution designed for “content partners and advertisers in high-engagement verticals,” is now available on the videos TikTok calls Mini Dramas. As TikTok puts it, “Growth Max supercharges Mini Dramas by leveraging advertising automation and onsite signals to reach high-intent audiences and drive more revenue and better ad performance.”

The new TikTok campaign option arrives amid a pivotal moment for the microdrama community. After generating enough hype to spur the development of dedicated apps, product innovations, and film festivals, microdramas drew attention from brands. Crocs launched one of the first branded microdramas, and Marc Jacobs went big by casting actor Rachel Sennott as the lead in its microdrama.

Even as those investments pour in, the history of digital short-form fads is portentious. Will microdramas stay hot, or will the format fall victim to the same issues that plagued Vine, Go90, and Quibi?

TikTok is doing its part to make microdramas sustainable. A TikTok Minis Center makes microdramas more visible by turning the For You Page and search bar into discovery tools, and the TikTok Drama Center adds more monetization into the mix. The ultimate goal is to turn brands’ serialized stories into campaign inventory that connects with high-value consumers.

“By combining episodic content, built-in monetization, and performance powered by TikTok Growth Max, Mini Dramas helps brands connect with engaged audiences and drive growth,” reads TikTok’s introductory post. “The result is a more connected journey on TikTok—one where audiences can discover, watch, and take action in the moments that matter most.”

Growth Max for Mini Dramas won’t answer all the questions about the future of microdramas, but the product removes friction from the format. It’s easier than ever for brands to market microdramas on TikTok. Now, they have to decide if they want to.

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A playable version of Rainrow Road has come to YouTube. The notable Mario Kart level is featured in a video that utilizes YouTube’s 360-degree format to turn the platform’s video player into an interactive experience.

The video uses keyboard controls to present a bare-bones version of Mario Kart‘s technicolor track. By changing the orientation of the 360-degree interface, players can dodge obstacles and progress through the level. YouTube’s captions even enable a rudimentary “character select” feature, letting players choose between seven of Nintendo‘s iconic racers.

Speaking of Nintendo, one would think that the Mario Kart publisher will eventually hit this video with a copyright claim. After all, the gaming company is infamous for its restrictive approach to YouTube, which has frustrated creators for decades.

Even if the YouTube version of Mario Kart is eventually taken down, its designers have plenty of other interactive videos to offer. Atlas Arcade has dropped YouTube-ified takes on Five Nights At Freddy’s and Geometry Dash, while Animated Subtitles has turned YouTube’s captions into an ingenious creative tool.

These experiments aren’t the first playable videos to pop up on YouTube. The iconic creator MysteryGuitarMan also used the 360-degree format as the basis for a game, and the channel Many A True Nerd reimagined Fallout: New Vegas as a YouTube-hosted, choose-your-own-adventure experience.

A lot has changed in the decade since those interactive videos first hit YouTube. In 2026, gamified experiences have become trendy choices for marketing agencies. Roblox hosts more than 200 brands, and Fortnite has attracted advertisers as well. As those companies deliver new products that make their branded experiences even stickier, it’s a good time for YouTube to get in on the fun.

Atlas Arcade and Animated Subtitles are showing how a gamified YouTube experience could be built and marketed. YouTube is already leaning into interactive content, so what if Nintendo actually followed suit? Could it use this Mario Kart video to launch a new wave of gamified experiences?

Ultimately, the YouTube version of Mario Kart is so rudimentary that it’s little more than an interesting thought experiment. For now, YouTube users will have to stick to a library of casual games, but the platform’s videos clearly have some untapped creative potential.

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Google is sitting on a treasure trove of statistical data, and it’s putting those data points to work. Creators can now use the Google Search Console to analyze “platform properties,” a term that encompasses profiles on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X.

The Google Search Console lets users track the search terms that bring the most traffic to their webpages. The platform properties option applies the same approach to social media channels. By adding their accounts to their Search Console hubs, creators can measure their overall Google Search traffic while also identifying the videos that show up most often on results pages.

“Content creators and publishers use many channels beyond their own websites to reach their audiences,” reads Google’s explanation of platform properties. “As people gravitate toward firsthand perspectives and different content formats, we want to make it easier for site owners and creators—even those without their own website—to get a consolidated view of how all of their content is getting discovered on Search.”

Creators can see both impression and click data for content that appears in results pages. Impressions measure the number of times a particular piece of content shows up on Google Search, while clicks measure the number of times that content is accessed via search.

The arrival of platform properties is the latest step in the slow, steady mission to turn Google Search into a creator-friendly hub. As TikTok started challenging Google’s supremacy in the world of search, the team in Mountain View made its results pages more dynamic and filled them with creator content. Search profiles, introduced a month ago, give creators a strong presence on the results pages that are most relevant to their work.

Those initiatives have equipped Google with a deep reserve of search data that is now being passed on to the creators who benefit from it. Google is hardly the first platform to mine creator-related queries in search of insights. Famous Birthdays turned itself into a database of Gen Z culture by analyzing its internal search engine and using those data points to determine the creators who generate the most search demand from their fans.

Even if TikTok now rivals Google as a search engine among Gen Z, the latter company isn’t squandering its strong market position. Google Search is still full of insightful data, and creators can easily get their hands on those findings.

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After enduring multiple rounds of bankruptcy filings, Claire’s could use a win, and it’s hoping that the Roblox community can deliver a sales boost. A partnership between the retailer and the popular creator Lana’s Life will bring Roblox-inspired items to 866 Claire’s locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Lana Rae, the woman behind Lana’s Life, is known for serving up looks in Dress to Impress, a Roblox game that has been played more than ten billion times to date. To bring Rae’s virtual glam into the real world, Claire’s enlisted her for a line of cosmetics, accessories, and squishies, including a handful of items that are exclusively available at Claire’s.

The American trend of dying physical malls has encouraged beleaguered retailers to appeal to one demographic that is still down for a shopping spree: Gen Z. That strategy begat numerous partnerships between creators and mall retailers: We’ve witness Danny Duncan x Zumiez, Karl Jacobs x Journeys, and SypherPK x Pacsun, to name three.

Claire’s has certainly been part of that movement. It has sold JoJo Siwa’s signature bow and even launched a collection alongside Doug the Pug.

As Gen Alpha began to usurp Gen Z in the cultural hierarchy, Claire’s pivoted to the world of Roblox. Its 2022 partnership with gamer MeganPlays was an innovative “phygital” campaign that blended Roblox-inspired designs with brick-and-mortar promotions.

Four years later, the world of Roblox has changed significantly. The sandbox is now a goldmine for brands, and on YouTube, Roblox content has reached one trillion views. The celebration of that milestone included a video that featured, among others, MeganPlays and Lana’s Life.

So as Claire’s kicks off its partnership with Lana Rae, it is taking its phygital approach to the next level. Rae hosted a demo of her Claire’s line at VidCon, and after it launched, the first 8,000 customers who purchased a Lana’s Life product at Claire’s received a complimentary Roblox avatar.

Michelle Goad, the Chief Brand Officer at Claires, described the Lana’s Life partnership as a move that brings virtual fanbases into physical stores. Goad joined Claire’s after private equity firm Ames Watson acquired the brand’s North American operations out of bankruptcy for $140 million.

“The only way to access the other is to actually go in and meet the other’s fans, and that was very intentional for us,” Goad told Glossy. “It’s a strategic way to actually get people off their couches just to meet other fans.”

The Lana’s Life line won’t be the latest creator partnership for Claire’s. If Gen Alpha is going to go to the mall, retailers have to appeal to the voices that cohort trusts. That means more deals with creators, so as Goad put it, “this is just the beginning.”

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[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like; a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]

Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart.

The Brazilian national soccer team has bowed out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a shocking loss to Norway, but a different Brazilian sensation may just be the star of the tournament.  CazéTV is broadcasting every match of the World Cup on YouTube, and the Rio-based creator is shattering viewership records left and right.

For starters, CazéTV is #1 in our Global Sub Top 50 chart for the second week in a row. By getting 2.9 million weekly subscribers, the Brazilian creator (whose real name is Casimiro Miguel) pulled within one million subs of the 40 million mark.

Just give CazéTV the Golden Ball already!

There’s no doubt about it: When it comes to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Miguel is the man of the tournament.

Don’t believe me? Consider this: At the start of the World Cup, the YouTube live stream with the most concurrent viewers was a rocket launch broadcast hosted by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). That stream registered eight million concurrent viewers.

Flash forward a few weeks, and you’ll find that CazéTV has hosted 15 live streams that all brought in more peak concurrent viewers than the ISRO’s rocket launch. At the top of that list sits CazéTV’s broadcast of Brazil’s knockout-round match against Japan. During that broadcast, CazéTV achieved a concurrent live audience of 21.1 million viewers. Not only did that topple the ISRO’s record, it more than doubled Ibai’s viewership record on Twitch as well.

Even if Brazil’s elimination from the World Cup brings an end to CazéTV’s record-breaking run, Miguel has already become a YouTube legend. A guy who was getting ho-hum viewership on Kings League highlight videos a few months ago is now hanging out with the biggest stars in the soccer world.

The thing is, Brazil’s elimination won’t stop Brazilian YouTubers from thriving during the World Cup. Sergio Lopes, the Co-Founder of CazéTV parent LiveMode, told Reuters that the company’s World Cup broadcasts in Portugal have reached nearly 90% of the nation’s households.

“Every major sports organisation is asking how to connect with audiences ​whose media habits have changed significantly,” Lopes said. “Brazil is one of the places where this transformation has moved very quickly, so it has allowed us to test ​and refine ideas at scale.”

It’s not just Miguel and his crew who are benefiting from that transformation. The Global Sub 50 is filled with soccer-obsessed YouTubers and brands. FIFA (7th place) also took first in this week’s global YouTube viewership ranking, American sports fan Jesser (5th place) united creators from across the world for his World Cup content, and Brazil’s Natan Por Aí (3rd place) added 1.3 million weekly subscribers while recording the highest weekly view count he’s received since the start of 2026.

Data via Gospel Stats

After the World Cup ends, CazéTV may not be the high-flying, global force it has been since the start of the tournament. Miguel may have to settle for occasional cameos in our viewership and subscriber rankings.

His profile as a sports icon, however, won’t diminish. People around the world now know the name Casimiro Miguel, and as he continues to secure broadcast rights for major soccer leagues, he’ll ensure that he remains a familiar face among fans of la joga bonita.

Channel Distribution

Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:

• United States: 9
• India and Mexico: 7
• Brazil: 4
• Russia: 2
• Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Germany, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Spain, Switzerland, Turkiye, and United Kingdom: 1

This week, 43 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.

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[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like; a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]

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In a recent edition of our Top 50 rankings, we discussed a few strategies for channels that want to soak up World Cup viewership. One of those strategies was self-explanatory: Be FIFA.

Despite generating controversy throughout 2026, the governing body of international soccer is thriving on YouTube and beyond. As the World Cup headed into the Round of 16, FIFA headed to the top of our Global Top 50 chart. The org’s Switzerland-based YouTube hub received 942.8 weekly views as the calendar turned over into July. That performance was good enough to vault FIFA from fifth place in our viewership ranking up to first.

AI slop marketing is here, and it’s (kinda sorta) working

We’ll talk more about FIFA and the World Cup in the subscriber edition of our weekly charts. For our rundown of YouTube’s most-watched channels of the week, we’re going to hone in on a topic that has come up a lot in this space: AI slop.

Low-quality videos made using generative AI are good for a few different purposes: They can greatly increase the speed of production pipelines and can keep costs low for creators. Now, a channel called Veltovate has found a use for AI slop that we haven’t seen before. The mysterious channel is turning its bizarre videos into a marketing tactic.

The average Veltovate upload is a YouTube Shorts video that appears to be AI-generated. For example, this clip features a faucet that isn’t connected to any water source (and it has a weird, uncanny vibe in general).

All of those bizarre videos connect to the online Veltovate store, which features varied product listings. Some of the products Veltovate offers are on display in its Shorts library. Who knew a juicer could be such a valuable parenting tool?

Any honest brand rep would mock Veltovate’s unusual marketing tactics, but the brand’s strategy is at least accomplishing one goal: It’s drawing attention. Veltovate ranked 14th in the Global Top 50 after collecting 648.1 million weekly views.

Without being able to track down details about Veltovate, it’s impossible to say how many of those views are translating into sales, but the brand is definitely benefiting from a YouTube Shorts community that loves gadgets. Channels featuring tools — especially oddly satisfying machinery — have long been favored in the Shorts algorithm.

This week, the prevailing trends are no different. Several channels have reached the Global Top 50 by almost exclusively posting videos that feature machines and tradespeople at work. Daily crafts currently sits in 31st place, while SnapWorks has moved all the way up to 12th. The latter channel is a particularly astonishing case, as it had zero regular viewership three months ago.

Data via Gospel Stats

By connecting the depiction of gadgets to the sale of gadgets, Veltovate is following the eyes on YouTube Shorts. Viewers want to see machines in use, and Veltovate invites viewers to bring those machines into their homes.

As for the AI slop marketing videos, in some ways, they are inherently unethical. Who knows, for example, how much juice the juicer in the above video can actually produce? Veltovate, however, is a master of deception. If those cheap, low-effort videos result in any actual sales, then they’re paying for themselves.

Channel Distribution

Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:

• India: 17
• United States: 5
• South Korea: 4
• Australia: 3
• Canada, Russia, and Turkiye: 2
• Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands, Pakistan, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Vietnam: 1

This week, 39 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.

As always, keep up to speed with the latest Tubefilter Charts and all our news by subscribing to our newsletter. You’re going to love it.   Newsletter.Tubefilter.com.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.