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Netflix signs another big creator deal

2026-07-10T21:04:37.150+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Friday and yet another YouTuber has scooped up a Guinness World Record. Luke Bell’s claim to fame: pulling off the longest drone flight at 261 minutes.

Today’s News

🃏 A doc delves into card collecting
🎬 Character.AI joins the microdrama race
🇺🇸 TikTok tours the U.S.
🤝 Netflix makes a deal with The Stokes Twins
🏎️ Ryan Blaney hits the gas

IN THE CARDS

Creators have transformed the card collecting community.

This documentary delves into the history of card collecting—and its creator-led future

The documentary: A new feature-length film combines a Pokémon history lesson with a deep-dive into the psychology of card collecting. CardBound, which premieres today across Plex, Amazon, and YouTube, explores the world of collectible card games with help from Olympic athlete Noah Lyles and creators Logan Paul, Duke Dennis, and Deep Pocket Monster.

The documentary was created and executive-produced by John Nelson, who reps members of the creator group AMP as the SVP of Digital at Night. The exec developed CardBound through ALP, a full-service production company that exists under the AMP umbrella and has worked with external clients like Sting, T-Pain, and Buffalo Wild Wings.

As a lifelong collector himself, Nelson told Tubefilter that his curiosity was piqued when his friend PhillyBeatzu embarked on a quest to find the very first Pokémon card.

“Once I realized there was still uncertainty about the origins of one of the world’s biggest franchises, I became fascinated and started researching and collecting the earliest Pokémon cards.”

- John Nelson

The creator angle: Nelson ultimately joined Rui Couto (aka ThatMangaGuy) on a two-year mission to learn the true story of Pokémon’s origins. The research and interviews conducted during that time form the basis of CardBound—but the documentary itself doesn’t remain stuck in Pokémon’s past.

The film also focuses on the present-day hobbyists who have transformed card collecting from a niche, nerdy pursuit into a powerful mainstream force. Paul, for example, wore a Pokémon card as bling during his Wrestlemania debut, while Lyles has been known to race with Yu-Gi-Oh! cards tucked into his jersey.

Those creators have revived the popularity of trading cards while also turning their markets into precarious, speculative bubbles. At the end of the day, however, CardBound is most concerned with the passion that causes card collectors to pursue rare finds.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Character.AI is getting in on the microdrama game.

Character.AI has announced the launch of c.ai Series, “a new Microdramas offering” comprised of AI-driven short-form videos that viewers can interact with on mobile. (The Verge)
As Netflix reckons with signs of falling engagement, the platform is reportedly considering the introduction of always-on channels and streaming bundles. (The Verge)
Anthropic’s Claude is putting its own spin on features like Spotify Wrapped with the debut of a Reflect tab that allows users to view data related to their interactions with the chatbot. (Engadget)
A new section in Google’s My Ad Center will allow users to see if ads on Google Search and YouTube were created with AI. (TechCrunch)

AMERICAN DREAM

TikTok is ready for a good old fashioned American road trip.

TikTok’s U.S. tour will serve as a reminder of its small business impact

The tour: It’s been a full year since we first learned the details of the U.S.-locked version of TikTok—and TikTok USDS Joint Venture is ready to take the show on the road. The app has now been operating long enough to possess a slew of new features, and its representatives are highlighting those products through a nationwide tour.

That initiative, called Discover America, will bring attention to local small businesses while also reminding TikTok creators about the tools they can use to connect with their communities. The six-city swing began in New York on July 7 and will hit Atlanta, Des Moines, Denver, and Las Vegas before concluding in Phoenix on July 19.

Each stop on the tour is a city where thousands of small business owners are active on TikTok. In Atlanta alone, TikTok claims there are 300,000 small businesses with ties to the app.

The context: As TikTok supports the entrepreneurs who capitalize on the potential of the For You Page, the app is also insulating itself against criticism. The last time TikTok faced regulatory pressure from U.S. officials, it defended itself by pointing to its small business impact. Should a similar situation arise in the future, you can bet that TikTok will bring up those talking points.

In the meantime, Discover America doubles as a promotional tool for new products like TikTok’s Local Feed—which shows restaurants, shops, and events close to a user’s precise location—and TikTok GO, the app’s two-month-old travel booking service.

CREATOR COMMOTION

Netflix is stocking up on creator content.

Netflix is adding The Stokes Twins’ YouTube library to its trove of creator content

The deal: Alan and Alex Stokes—aka the identical duo known as The Stokes Twins—have signed a non-exclusive deal that will bring an archive of their YouTube videos to Netflix.

A trailer uploaded to Netflix’s official YouTube channel describes Alan and Alex as “the internet’s most creative agents of chaos.” Now, the 141 million subscribers who consume the duo’s chaotic content on YouTube will also be able to find their signature pranks, challenges, and stunts on Netflix.

Beyond their repositioned YouTube content, The Stokes Twins will work with Netflix on an original series set to premiere in 2027.

“When we were kids, we didn’t always know how to fit in…A camera became the way we connected with people before we fully had the words. We made videos to make other kids laugh, and somehow that turned into a community of hundreds of millions of people around the world. To now bring that journey to Netflix is bigger than a show for us. It feels like a full-circle moment.”

- The Stokes Twins

The context: Since launching their joint channel in 2017, The Stokes Twins have become one of the biggest draws on YouTube and regularly rank among the platform’s most-watched creators. They’ve also proven to be dependable brand partners, with enough reach that even some international Stokes Twins fan channels draw more engagement than most other hubs on the platform.

To turn their channel into a sustainable business, The Stokes Twins hired Mario Joos as their company’s CEO last year. Now, the siblings’ deal with Netflix brings them in line with other major creators who have improved their bottom lines by entering the streaming world. Mark Rober, for example, saw his CrunchLabs sales go up after his content premiered on Netflix, and Alan Chikin Chow and Alix Earle have also cut deals with the streamer.

WATCH THIS 👀

What’s a creator interview without a little adrenaline?

A NASCAR champ is taking creators to the racetrack

The series: 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney is putting creators behind the wheel for a new YouTube series sponsored by BodyArmor Sports Drink.

Produced by NASCAR Studios and Words + Pictures’ Full Speed Entertainment, On The Gas with Ryan Blaney looks to combine “the adrenaline” of racing “with the spontaneity of unscripted interviews” (per NASCAR).

The first season kicked off earlier this month, with the first two episodes featuring guest appearances by YouTube star The Stradman and actor/producer Keegan-Michael Key.

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'Subway Takes' gets an Emmy nom

2026-07-09T21:07:09.704+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and Meta’s Bangkok office faced an unlikely intruder when a squirrel escaped from a delivered package to wreak havoc on unsuspecting staff members.

Today’s News

🏆 Subway Takes gets an Emmy nom
🤝 Zigazoo and Wheelhouse join forces
💪 Netflix bulks up its video catalog
👀 YouTube vies for World Cup rights
⚽ Erling Haaland takes Texas

THAT’S SHOW BIZ

The show that uses MetroCards as mics has earned an Emmy nomination.

Subway Takes just earned an Emmy nom. Is YouTube’s push finally paying off?

The nomination: Subway Takes, the YouTube-hosted series led by Kareem Rahma, has earned a nomination at the 2026 Emmy Awards in the category of Best Short Form Comedy, Drama, or Variety Series.

The three-year-old interview series—which follows Rahma as he invites guests to unleash their hottest takes from a New York City subway car—was one of several creator-led shows that sought Emmy consideration this year. Those efforts came amid a fervent push from YouTube itself, which threw its support behind some of its top stars.

Other YouTube hits, like Dropout, also launched their own FYC campaigns.

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

The takeaway: Despite YouTube’s best efforts and this year’s Subway Takes nomination, the TV Academy’s bias is still showing.

FYC campaigns for creator-led shows date back a decade, when MCNs like Maker Studios pushed for recognition. YouTube revived that strategy in the 2020s, but year after year, the Television Academy has made it clear that it doesn’t see creator content as anything more than a curious afterthought. 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 may finally be giving a YouTube-based show a seat at that table—but first, Rahma had to attract 750 million YouTube views with Subway Takes, throw legendary parties, score massive brand deals, and literally influence U.S. politics.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Zigazoo and Wheelhouse are building a “launchpad for ambitious young talent”

Zizagoo is joining forces with Wheelhouse to launch Zigazoo Studios, a new entertainment venture that “will identify, nurture, and scale the next generation of creator talent.” (Tubefilter)
According to Elon Musk, a new X feature will notify users via DMs if “a post you interacted with is corrected.” (Engadget)
Google has announced the rollout of Video Remix in Google Photos, an AI-powered tool that will allow users to turn their existing videos into “stylized, imaginative memories.” (Ars Technica)
France has given Meta fifteen days to finalize a plan for compensating news organizations that produced content distributed across its platforms. (The Next Web)

MONEY MOVES

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

Netflix is bulking its library with content from BuzzFeed, Tastemade, Condé Nast, and more

The program: In recent months, Netflix has sealed deals with content creators, podcasters, and for live sports licensing. Most of those agreements have revolved around syndication—meaning Netflix will get the benefit of expanding its programming library without actually having to make anything itself.

Now, Netflix is continuing that streak by adding video content to its platform through partnerships with digital publishers like Penske Media, BuzzFeed, Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, People Inc., and Tastemade.

According to The Hollywood Reporter (which is 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 that content will be “discoverable directly from the Netflix homepage” starting August 3, with the “first wave” of videos covering topics like travel, cooking, fashion, celebrity profiles, home and gardening, and viral moments (per Netflix). The platform added that more publisher partnerships will be announced at later dates.

Some of the shows arriving in August 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. (Check out our full article here for more details on the included content and verticals.)

The context: Along with its recent creator signings, podcast push, and emphasis on live sports, Netflix’s new partnerships are all about bulking up its content library to better compete with YouTube. Google’s UGC juggernaut now has a commanding share of connected TV watch time worldwide, and Netflix has not been shy about viewing it as a competitor.

With this latest spate of deals, the streamer likely hopes to improve its position in the market by hiking its own watch time without committing production resources.

GAME ON

YouTube wants in on the World Cup hype.

Can creators like iShowSpeed help YouTube win World Cup broadcast rights?

The bidding war: The fight for World Cup broadcast rights is in full swing, and YouTube is in the mix. According to CNBC, the suitors for World Cup broadcast rights in 2030 and 2034 include Netflix, Disney, and YouTube, with Amazon and Apple rumored to be considering bids as well.

The exact size of those bids is up in the air. While FOX paid $485 million for the rights to this year’s Cup, the next two editions could come at a higher cost since FIFA plans to bundle English- and Spanish-language rights in the U.S.

The leverage: A hefty price tag is unlikely to dissuade YouTube. The platform is eager to land high-profile live sports packages it can pair with related creator content—and when it comes soccer, YouTube’s creator community could serve as serious leverage in a World Cup bidding war.

Soccer-loving creators have already cultivated credibility with global audiences, and fans have embraced creator-led streams throughout this year’s World Cup. 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, meanwhile, has cultivated an international fanbase.

When discussing the global appeal 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 could show FIFA the benefits of selling broadcast rights to YouTube. But regardless of the outcome of the current bidding war, the 2026 World Cup has shown us that creators are at the forefront of soccer discourse.

WATCH THIS 👀

Erling Haaland is giving fans a close-up look at his World Cup adventures.

Fans are loving Erling Haaland’s quirky YouTube vlogs

The vlogs: Digital-native creators aren’t the only ones making waves on YouTube during the World Cup. Players themselves are using the platform to keep fans in the loop as they trek across North America.

Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland is a key example. As World Cup content takes over the YouTube charts, we’re not surprised to see that Haaland’s already lively channel has picked up more than 19 million views since the beginning of July.

After all, who doesn’t want to follow along as their favorite player goes shopping for cowboy hats in Dallas or celebrates a historic win against Brazil?

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TikTok launches a minidrama tool

2026-07-08T21:09:08.748+07:00

It’s Wednesday and Meta’s new Muse image model will allow creators to generate AI likenesses of fellow Instagram users simply by tagging them

Today’s News

🔎 Google debuts “platform properties”
🎮 Creators gamify YouTube
📈 This week on the branded charts…
🎬 TikTok helps brands with microdramas
⭐ State Farm recruits top stars

SEARCH RESULTS

Google is lending its arsenal of data to creators.

Google’s “platform properties” turn search data into an asset for creators

The update: Google is putting its treasure trove of statistical data to work. The tech giant has announced that 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. With the introduction of platform properties, the same approach will be applied to social media channels.

By adding their accounts to their Search Console hubs, creators can measure their overall Google Search traffic, identify the videos that show up most often on results pages, and review impression and click data for that content. 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 context: The arrival of platform properties is the latest step in Google’s mission to turn Search into a creator-friendly hub. As TikTok began 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.

Google ramped up those efforts last month with the introduction of search profiles that give creators a strong presence on the results pages most relevant to their work. Now, the tech giant is taking another step to pass on the benefits of its deep reserve of search data to the creator community.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Mario Kart fans are gamifying YouTube videos. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

A playable version of Rainbow Road has come to YouTube. Thanks to two gaming fans, the Mario Kart level is featured in a video that utilizes YouTube’s 360° format to turn its video player into an interactive experience. (Tubefilter)
A bug in Discord’s AI moderation system resulted in the wrongful banning of over 8,000 users in the last two months. (TechCrunch)
A social media addiction lawsuit brought against Meta by the states of California, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Colorado is seeking a total of $1.4 trillion in damages. (Gizmodo)
X has announced the launch of a “brand new Video Editor and Recorder” that will allow iOS users to add custom backgrounds to videos and overlay captions in multiple languages. (TechCrunch)

GOSPEL STATS 📈

YouTube and FIFA are making the most of creator influence.

TikTok’s new ad product helps brands distribute and scale their microdramas

The microdrama tool: As more advertisers leverage the hype surrounding minidramas, TikTok is unveiling a tool to make 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 explained in a recent post, “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.”

“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.”

- TikTok

The context: TikTok Growth Max arrives amid a pivotal moment for the microdrama community. In addition to generating enough hype to spur the development of dedicated apps, product innovations, and film festivals, microdramas have become a trendy marketing tactic for several major 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 casts a long shadow over the growing success of microdramas. Will the format stay hot, or will it fall victim to the same issues that plagued Vine, Go90, and Quibi?

While that question has yet to be answered, TikTok is doing its part to make microdramas sustainable. A TikTok Minis Center increases the visibility of microdramas by turning the For You Page and search bar into discovery tools, while the TikTok Drama Center adds more monetization into the mix.

WATCH THIS 👀

Is your favorite streamer getting in on the action?

State Farm is back on Twitch with IShowSpeed, Emiru, and Cinna

The creator competition: State Farm’s Gamerhood competition show is back for a fifth season—and this year’s lineup is as star-studded as ever. Alongside the unforgettable Jake from State Farm, a new teaser confirms that IShowSpeed, PlaqueBoyMax, Cinna, Marlon, JasonTheWeen, and Emiru will go head-to-head in Season Five.

A newsroom post from State Farm describes the new season as an “every-player-for-themselves, free-for-all competition” in which “players will face off in popular video games and IRL physical arena challenges — all vying for a massive prize pool of 100,000 gifted subs.”

This year’s edition of Gamerhood kicks off on July 31, with new episodes hitting State Farm’s Twitch and YouTube channels every Friday in August. Check out a trailer for Season Five here.

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Claire's taps Roblox for hype

2026-07-07T21:05:43.057+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday and Obsession’s box office blowout isn’t over just yet. The YouTuber-directed film has now earned $400 million worldwide. Not bad considering its $750,000 budget.

Today’s News

⚽ CazeTV continues to dominate
🥊 Reddit fights AI slop (with more AI)
💸 Claire’s taps into Roblox hype
🤖 AI slop marketing hits YouTube
👀 Hank Green considered buying TED

GLOBAL TOP 50 • SUBS

YouTube channels are winning the World Cup.

CazéTV is dominating the World Cup on YouTube

The chart-topper: When it comes to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, CazéTV is the man of the tournament. For the second week running, the Brazilian creator (aka Casimiro Miguel) topped our ranking of most-subscribed-to YouTube channels by snagging a total of 2.9 million new subscribers.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. At the start of the World Cup, the YouTube live stream with the most concurrent viewers (eight million) was a rocket launch broadcast hosted by the Indian Space Research Organization. Flash forward a few weeks, and CazéTV has now hosted 15 live streams with 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, which achieved a peak concurrent live audience of 21.1 million viewers. That total not only toppled the ISRO’s record; it also more than doubled Ibai’s viewership record on Twitch.

The context: Even if Brazil’s elimination at the World Cup ultimately brings an end to CazéTV’s record-breaking run, it won’t stop Brazilian YouTubers from thriving during the tournament. 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. 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.”

- Sergio Lopes, LiveMode Co-Founder

Brazilian creators like CazéTV and Natan Por Aí aren’t the only soccer-focused brands and channels benefiting from that transformation. FIFA ranked at #7 in this week’s subscribers chart (and #1 in our viewership chart), while U.S. sports creator Jesser (#5) celebrated the Cup by uniting stars from across the world.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Reddit is fighting AI with AI.

Reddit has revealed that its automated AI tools now block 23 million spam views and identify roughly 25,000 posts and comments per day. (Engadget)
Netflix originals have a retention problem. According to recent reports, “nearly every Netflix original with a new season in 2026 has been hemorrhaging viewers.” (Gizmodo)
AI “actress” Tilly Norwood is set to star in a full-length film created by Particle6 Productions. (Engadget)
A U.S. district judge has blocked Elon Musk’s attempt to overturn a jury’s verdict that he defrauded Twitter investors during his purchase of the platform in 2022. (The Next Web)

CREATOR COLLABS

Claire’s is tapping into the Roblox hype.

The Lana’s Life x Claire’s partnership blends a Roblox giveaway with IRL retail

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

Lana’s Life (aka Lana Rae) is known for serving up looks in Dress to Impress, a Roblox game that has been played more than ten billion times. 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 exclusively available at Claire’s. After launch, the first 8,000 customers who purchased a Lana’s Life product at Claire’s received a complimentary Roblox avatar.

The context: The demise of physical malls in the U.S. has encouraged beleaguered retailers to appeal to Gen Z—aka the one demographic still willing to engage in a good shopping spree. That strategy begat numerous partnerships between creators and mall retailers (including Danny Duncan x Zumiez, Karl Jacobs x Journeys, and SypherPK x Pacsun), while Claire’s itself sold JoJo Siwa’s signature bow and even launched a collection alongside Doug the Pug.

Then, as Gen Alpha began to usurp Gen Z, Claire’s pivoted to the world of Roblox by partnering with gamer MeganPlays on a 2022 “phygital” campaign that blended Roblox-inspired designs with brick-and-mortar promotions.

Four years later, Roblox has grown into a goldmine for brands, with content related to the sandbox collecting one trillion YouTube views—and Claire’s is eager to claim its piece of the pie.

GLOBAL TOP 50 • VIEWS

Slopageddon continues.

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

The strategy: It’s no secret that making low-quality videos with AI can increase the speed of production pipelines and keep costs low for creators—but a mysterious channel called Veltovate has found another use for AI slop.

The YouTube hub is turning its bizarre Shorts into a marketing tactic.

Most of the channel’s uploads appear to be AI-generated, and many connect back to the online Veltovate store by advertising products like blenders and dusting brushes with uncanny clips of casual violence and fake babies.

That strategy might not be entirely ethical, but it’s certainly drawing attention. As the calendar turned over to July, Veltovate ranked 14th in our Global Top 50 chart by collecting 648.1 million weekly views.

The trend: It’s impossible to say how many of those views are translating into sales, but Veltovate is definitely benefiting from an audience that loves gadgets. Channels featuring tools—and especially oddly satisfying machinery—have long been favored in the Shorts algorithm, and that trend continued into this month.

During the first week of July, several YouTube hubs reached the Global Top 50 by almost exclusively posting videos featuring machines and tradespeople at work. Daily crafts clocked in at #31, while SnapWorks moved up to #12 despite having zero regular viewership just three months ago.

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

WATCH THIS 👀

Hank Green didn’t buy Ted. But he wants to do something similar.

Hank Green could have been the next TED Talk guy

The revelation: Hank Green once considered buying TED. In a recent video, the Vlogbrother revealed that he weighed the idea of purchasing the org last year, when longtime TED head Chris Anderson “basically Willy Wonka’d” a sale of the company (as Green described it) by encouraging potential buyers to explain why they deserved to run TED.

Green said he thought about throwing his hat in the ring—until he remembered “how miserable it can be to be the public face of an influential media event” (remember who founded VidCon?). The longtime creator ultimately determined that operating TED would add too much to his plate.

But instead of dropping the idea altogether, he decided to “scratch the itch” by putting together a TED Talk-inspired event on a much smaller scale. The result is Something Worth Knowing, a fundraiser for the Greens’ Complexly nonprofit that will unite stars like Mark Rober, Katie Mack, Abigail Thorn, and Simone Giertz in Los Angeles to “share inspiring talks.” The ticketed event is set to take place on September 16.

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Google and Idris Elba pledge $1M

2026-07-06T21:03:05.077+07:00

It’s Monday and YouTube is feeling sporty. To celebrate the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the platform recently replaced the circular icon on its video progress bar with a soccer ball.

Today’s News

💸 Google and Idris Elba pledge $1M
👀 Meta launches a new app
📈 This week on the branded charts…
🐹 4chan feuds with the U.K.
🎬 A YouTube IP goes to Hollywood

MONEY MOVES

Can AI bridge the access gap holding back African creators?

Google and Idris Elba have pledged $1M to bring gen AI to African creators

The initiative: Idris Elba’s media company, Akuna Group, is teaming up with Google for a $1 million program that will bring Akuna’s digital wallet and AI tools like Gemini to Sub-Saharan Africa. According to Business Insider, the initiative will support approximately 100,000 creators in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Sierra Leone.

Google unveiled the program at the Africa Cloud Summit in Johannesburg, where execs also noted that the tech giant has fulfilled its promise to invest $1 billion in African economies.

The context: For YouTube specifically, growth in Africa has been a long time coming. While some standouts—including Tanzania’s Jaymondy—have ranked among the platform’s most-watched channels, the average African creator still struggles to gain recognition on the global stage. Those that do manage to climb the charts often aggregate videos from other territories.

As Elba pointed out, that imbalance is largely fueled by limited access to capital and insufficient resources. According to research from Communiqué and TM Global, only 4.2% of surveyed African creators have received institutional investments.

“The barrier is not a lack of vision—it’s a lack of access. Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not.”

- Idris Elba

No silver bullet will immediately solve that lack of access and funding, but Google and Elba are throwing a lot of ideas—and a lot of cash—into the mix.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Meta is launching something new.

Meta appears to have soft-launched a new platform called Pocket that allows users to build mini apps and games (or “gizmos”) with AI. (TechCrunch)
Spotify has removed half a million fake streams of a single song amid rumors of betting fraud related to the tune’s sudden climb up the charts. (Gizmodo)
India’s IT ministry has ordered Meta to take down all Instagram ads and content promoting child sexual abuse material following a recent investigation by BBC Eye. (The Next Web)
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called for the establishment of “a US-led international forum that establishes accepted standards” and “provides expert and impartial analysis of capabilities and risks” of AI tech. (Gizmodo)

GOSPEL STATS 📈

Could your dad rock an unboxing video?

4chan’s feud with the U.K. is a window into the future of social media regulations

The resistance: 4chan’s anti-authoritarian streak is causing chaos in the realm of internet law. For over a year now, Ofcom has demanded that the infamous forum/memeboard accept a hefty fine pursuant to the Online Safety Act, which empowers U.K. lawmakers to fine social platforms that host inappropriate content or fail to implement age verification systems

When 4chan—a platform that has long hosted pornographic images and extreme content—refused to pay up, Ofcom said that it would add £100 to the fine amount every day until it acquiesced. In response, 4chan-affiliated attorney Preston Byrne trolled the U.K. government by posting pictures of AI-generated hamsters and tweeting that “4chan will obey U.K. censorship laws when pigs fly.”

4chan has also launched a legal challenge against Ofcom, arguing that its demands do not apply to a U.S.-based company that has no formal presence in the British Isles. Meanwhile, its fine amount has soared to roughly £568,000.

The context: Onlookers have described the 4chan/Ofcom imbroglio as “the next great internet speech fight” since at least November 2025—but the notorious forum isn’t the only platform objecting to the U.K.’s fines.

A March 2026 report found that Ofcom has received just £55,000 of the £3 million it has demanded from digital rulebreakers. If that defiance continues, the regulator may be forced to escalate with “business disruption measures.” Advertisers could be required to withdraw from offending platforms, and ISPs could be called on to block certain websites entirely.

Those extreme measures could be effective, but they would undermine regulatory efforts in the U.K. If Ofcom can’t even collect its fines without stripping access for millions of users, how can the U.K. be expected to enforce the Australia-style social media ban it aims to enact by 2027?

WATCH THIS 👀

The Mandela Catalogue is making its way to the big screen.

Another YouTube horror series is going to Hollywood

The adaptation: Yet another piece of YouTube IP is headed to the big screen.

After a negotiation that Deadline described as a “highly competitive 11-studio bidding war,” Amazon and Steven Spielberg have won the rights for The Mandela Catalogue, a spooky YouTube hit originally created by Alex Kister.

The digital-native horror series has already snagged more than 100 million views on YouTube. Now, Amazon is hoping it can make a Backrooms-style commotion at the box office.

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TikTok cooks up a series with Food Network

2026-07-02T21:03:51.071+07:00

It’s Thursday and Warner Bros. is hoping to beget the next Backrooms after beating out multiple studios for the rights to a viral horror short film with 240 million YouTube views.

Today’s News

🤝 Mark Rober teams up with YouTube
🖼️ YouTube channels OG Instagram
🍳 TikTok Live recruits culinary creators
🚗 “Driving and streaming” faces backlash
🛋️ An indie project crosses genres

BACK TO SCHOOL

Mark Rober is spending millions to make science accessible.

YouTube is joining Mark Rober’s $55M mission to launch a free STEM curriculum

The curriculum: Last year, Mark Rober revealed plans to spend $55 million on a full grade school STEM curriculum that will be totally free for teachers anywhere to access. After dropping a few vague hints about that project, the creator officially unveiled Class CrunchLabs on Tubefilter’s own Creator Upload podcast, when he confirmed that his team is “doing a full science curriculum from third to eighth grade.”

The creator added that teachers and students can look forward to “videos like the one I did with Ronaldo, MrBeast, cameos from all [kids’] favorite creators. But then I’ll be hiding the vegetables, teaching the actual principles.”

The collaboration: That curriculum (which Rober has been filming between putting out his regular YouTube installments) will include 40 units total—and YouTube itself is officially joining the effort.

The platform said its decision to partner with Rober on Class Crunchlabs is “part of our ongoing effort to make YouTube a go-to resource for high-quality academic content.” It added that Rober’s curriculum was developed in partnership with the National Science Teaching Association, and that, when finished, it’ll include hundreds of hands-on challenges and “more than 1,000 banger videos.”

All of that content will be free, forever, on the dedicated Class CrunchLabs YouTube channel. An initial wave of lessons is already available there now in 34 different languages, with a number of videos featuring cameos from familiar content creators like Emily Zhang, EpicSpaceman, AstroChuie, Astroathens, Sorcerer, ElectroBOOM, and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim. Every unit comes with supplemental materials like teacher guides, student workbooks, handouts, supply lists, and more.

Topics covered so far include gravitational force, electric & magnetic forces, and contact forces, all for grades 6-8.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

YouTube is harkening back to OG Instagram.

A YouTube update will bring snippets of licensed pop music to photo posts. (Tubefilter)
Meta has unveiled “new interactive and multi camera formats” and editing tools on Instagram Stories for creators making “hands-free content” with Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta, and Meta Glasses. (Instagram)
Bluesky has begun requiring Texas users to verify their ages before accessing the app in an effort to comply with a new state law. (Yahoo! News)
The NBA has announced that its PlayStation NBA Creator Cup will “be part of the official NBA Summer League opening day schedule” for the first time. (NBA)

TIKTOK TALK

Jose El Cook will help kick off a partnership between TikTok and the Food Network.

Culinary creators and Food Network stars will chop it up on TikTok LIVE

The series: TV stars and content creators are joining forces to bring cooking tips to TikTok LIVE. A new series will be broadcast across the @foodnetwork, @tiktok, and @tiktoklive_us accounts. Each installment will pair a creator with a Food Network personality for a review of viral recipes and general kitchen etiquette.

The collaboration between TikTok and Food Network will kick off on July 8 with a tomato-themed episode featuring Tournament of Champions winner Antonia Lofaso and creator Jose El Cook. The two culinary stars will discuss a handful of tomato-themed courses, ranging from starters to mains. Viewers will be able to participate by voting in polls, sending their questions to the chefs, and buying food-themed gifts in the chat.

The context: TV stars like Gordon Ramsay have long thrived on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. In recent years, however, digital-native gourmands have come to rival the stable of chefs known for appearances on channels like the Food Network.

Guga, for example, snagged over 3.4 million views with “The Biggest Food Battle in YouTube History,” while the popularity of Nick DiGiovanni‘s social media exploits earned him his own Food Network show. Traditional franchises have begun tapping into that hype, with MasterChef unveiling a special edition of the show centered around creators.

TikTok has gotten in on the culinary creator revolution, too. After hosting a Future of Flavor event earlier this year, the video app is forging more connections between famous foodies from varied walks of life.

For TikTok, there are commercial upsides to courting the culinary community. Viewers love watching their favorite food creators, but they also use TikTok Shop to buy new items for their kitchens and pantries from digital-savvy brands like PepsiCo and Mars.

STREAMING & DRIVING

Creators are calling for more streaming safeguards.

After ExtraEmily’s suspension, some creators want Twitch to ban “streaming and driving”

The backlash: After a high-profile streamer’s temporary ban, members of the Twitch community are calling for a rule change that would curb a dangerous epidemic of distracted driving.

During a recent stream, ExtraEmily (aka Emily Xuechun Zhang) looked down at her phone while driving. Seconds later, she nearly collided with another vehicle while attempting to change lanes. “That was my bad,” she admitted.

Zhang received a suspension from Twitch for her reckless driving—but that decision was reversed one day later. That clemency has resulted in backlash from a number of creators, including top streamers like Asmongold (aka Zack Hoyt).

“They need to just ban streaming and driving entirely. Want to stream yourself going somewhere? Get an Uber or have someone else drive.”

Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt (via X)

“Every single person who streams and drives should be perma banned,” added gamer Jesse Cox. “They keep getting second, third, fourth chances – this isn’t ‘oh I watched a copyright movie on stream’ kind of shit. Cars are dangerous machines and if someone dies, the lawsuit against Twitch will kill the site.”

The obstacles: As of now, Twitch allows streamers to go live in their cars as long as they don’t touch their cameras while driving. That being said, Zhang certainly isn’t the first creator to be punished for streaming while driving. Some rule breakers have endangered themselves and others during broadcasts set in their vehicles, while others—including Adin Ross and Kai Cenat—have been criticized for looking at their phones while driving.

But prohibiting in-vehicle streams entirely is easier said than done. There is, for example, an entire Twitch category dedicated to trucking. If streaming while driving were to be banned, those truckers—along with other creators in similar genres—would lose a valuable source of income.

WATCH THIS 👀

Why stick to one genre when you can have it all?

This creator-made show combines stop motion, anime, and live-action

The indie animation project: What happens when you mix together elements of stop motion, 2D animation, and live-action and throw them into a single show? The team behind This is My Real Life? is ready to find out.

Spearheaded by creator Andybowbandy, music composer Artrix, and voice actors Zyra Bisqueravo, Cameron Cortinas, and Chance Wright, the indie animation project follows a motley crew of “roommates trying to make it in a zany world.” As Andybowbandy describes it, the show combines a “2000s aesthetic” with “Scott Pilgrim, Roger Rabbit, Cartoon Network City, Gumball, all mashed up together.”

Viewers can check out a sneak peek of the show here or head over to Kickstarter to throw some support behind the development of This is My Real Life?

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Tubi hunts for creators

2026-07-01T21:07:59.041+07:00

It’s Wednesday and Netflix’s upcoming Willy Wonka-inspired reality show is skipping past “Pure Imagination” and going straight to AI with a recreation of Gene Wilder’s voice.

Today’s News

🔍 Tubi hunts for creators
📚 A college trains influencers
📈 This week on the branded charts…
📛 WhatsApp shakes up usernames
🏀 Could you beat a pro athlete?

TUBI TIME

Tubi is carving out its space in the streaming world.

Tubi looks to build on momentum by hunting for creators

The data: Tubi is on the rise—and creators are a big reason why. The ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) platform is celebrating its best-ever finish in Nielsen’s The Gauge report, and the data demonstrates a significant surge.

Tubi and Roku, which are united under the Fox banner, combined to post a 5.3% market share in The Gauge. That was a higher total than streaming bigwigs like Disney and Prime Video.

So, how is Tubi pulling off such strong numbers? As Senior Manager of Creator Partnerships Jess Borison explained at VidCon, the platform is putting “fandom at the forefront” of its content strategy.

The strategy: To unite fanbases with its native consumers, Tubi prioritizes partnerships with creators who work within the content categories that draw the most on-platform traffic. Borison noted, for example, that true crime and horror are big on Tubi, which made a revival of Joey Graceffa’s Escape The Night a logical choice. The platform’s emphasis on Black entertainment has also been boosted through pacts with creators like Kinigra Deon.

Tubi’s creator push isn’t limited to its own platform. A partnership with TikTok, for example, spurred the development of the Creatorverse program. That lineup is now headed to Amazon’s Fire TV devices.

Going forward, Fox intends to continue upping its presence among streaming consumers—and Tubi is a key cog in that plan.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

MICA, a school in Ahmedabad, India, is launching an influencer program.

India’s growing class of creators will gain access to a new Content and Creator Economy (CCE) course at MICA, an institution located in Ahmedabad. (Tubefilter)
TikTok is the latest platform to settle a lawsuit brought by a 15-year-old Florida plaintiff who has sued Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap over allegations that they knowingly developed addictive algorithms. (NBC News)
In other court news, a judge has denied Meta’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit that claims the Facebook parent company violated the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. (Fox Business)
Recent data from AMDP Analytics shows that over 65% of Japan’s video-on-demand watch hours are claimed by YouTube, making it the country’s “dominant digital streaming player.” (Deadline)

GOSPEL STATS 📈

MrBeast isn’t the only YouTuber raking in massive view counts.

Are usernames WhatsApp’s path toward becoming a creator hub?

The update: Usernames are coming to WhatsApp. Rather than using phone numbers as their in-app ID, WhatsApp users can now reserve a username that includes an @ sign (similar to handles on platforms like YouTube and TikTok).

In a blog post, Meta positioned the update as a security feature that will allow users to chat without sharing their phone numbers.

“Sometimes you just want to chat without handing over your digits. That’s why we’re introducing usernames for WhatsApp. Starting this week, you can reserve a username to use later this year when we launch this feature.”

- Meta

That rationale is reasonable, especially since WhatsApp’s encrypted messaging service has long made it a top choice for users sensitive about data privacy. But is it the entire story? Or are WhatsApp usernames also meant to bring more creators to the app?

The (potential) motivation: While Meta has turned platforms like Facebook and Instagram into creator hotspots, the story of WhatsApp is not so straightforward. Since acquiring the messaging app in 2014, Meta has imbued it with a few creator-oriented features, including a Snapchat-esque format called Status and a tool for sticker creation.

Those updates admittedly didn’t move the needle much. More recently, however, Meta has brought WhatsApp in line with its other properties by introducing paid subscriptions and including the app in its World Cup activation.

The idea of an encrypted messaging service as a creator locus may sound far-fetched, but if platforms like BeReal and Threads can attract creator content, so can WhatsApp.

After all, the app’s base of over three billion monthly users makes it a logical home for crowdsourced features. Meta could also use a more social version of WhatsApp to recruit creators in India, where approximately 850 million people reportedly use the platform.

WATCH THIS 👀

How hard can it be? You’ll probably regret asking.

An alarming number of men think they could casually land a plane or beat a pro athlete

The humble pie: If you’re craving a good dose of schadenfreude, look no further than How Hard Can It Be?

Hosted by Mean Girls alum Jonathan Bennett, the web series puts the audacity of the everyday man to the test by challenging participants to do exactly what they say they can—whether that means beating a pro female athlete or successfully landing a plane.

So far, the show has taken men into the cockpit, left them at the mercy of master rhythmic gymnast Olha Kotelnikova, and put them on the court opposite pro tennis player Angela Kulikov. You probably already know what happened next, but feel free to tune in anyway.

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IShowSpeed teams up with Expedia

2026-06-30T21:06:30.458+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday and Meta is (allegedly) putting its rivals to the test. The company reportedly recruited hundreds of contractors to pose as kids while asking chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT about high-risk topics.

Today’s News

🤝 IShowSpeeds teams up with Expedia
🎤 An Indian musical icon goes viral
🛠️ Instagram lets users tweak the algo
⚽ AI athletes blow up on Shorts
🎙️ Last week on Creator Upload…

THE BIZ

Speed is going global (and you can too!).

Expedia’s new campaign wants people to travel Speed-style

The globetrotter: IShowSpeed is the star of Expedia’s newest campaign, an ad called Travel Like Speed that was made to tell young, internet-savvy travelers about the platform’s offerings outside of flights and hotels.

This isn’t the start of Speed’s relationship with Expedia—nor, of course, the first time he’s expressed interest in travel. In 2025, he ran Speed Does America and Speed Does Africa, two separate monthlong tours where he streamed 24/7. Then, this past April, Speed kicked things off with Expedia, visiting five Caribbean countries during a single branded 15-hour livestream. That stream resulted in a “sharp surge” in search traffic for places the creator visited, Expedia tells Tubefilter.

The ad: With that in mind, Expedia decided to go bigger. The Travel Like Speed YouTube ad follows Speed on adventures across the U.S. and links out to Exspeedia.com, a dedicated map that shows global destinations and activities Speed’s experienced. Tap on a locale, and you’ll see photos of Speed at the site along with recommendations for travelers who want to follow in his footsteps.

The data: Expedia says it’s seen “a clear shift toward experience-driven travel, particularly among younger travelers.” Its Unpack ’26 report showed that 57% of travelers say they’re likely to attend a local sporting or cultural experience while on a trip. That number jumps to 68% if you’re just looking at Gen Z and Millennials.

Expedia has spent years advertising its hotel and flight booking, but travelers are increasingly looking for ways to buy experiences. TikTok has become a major ‘what to do in X city’ search engine for Gen Zers who take inspiration from others’ videos, and Airbnb is actively partnering with creators to curate bookable experiences.

Having Speed on its side gives Expedia a leg up in the ever-growing travel market—especially when it’s also offering a chance to meet him.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

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In fact, Uscreen is the only video-centric membership platform offering branded apps, a state-of-the-art video experience, community, livestreaming, and built-in payments—all in one place.

Here’s a snapshot of what you could do with Uscreen:

Give your members a place to post, comment, and start conversations right next to your content.
Go live directly from your platform—no extra software needed. Your members get real-time chat, automatic calendar reminders, and can join from any device.
Send emails, run giveaways, offer gift cards, upsell to higher plans, and automatically win back members who try to cancel.
Deliver a binge-worthy video experience with branded apps on iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV.

With Uscreen, you keep what’s yours—your members, your data, and your direct payment relationship—while being backed by a real team of migration experts, account managers, and growth coaches.

To date, Uscreen creators have earned $1B+ from their members. Ready to discover why 25,000+ video creators and 15,000,000+ end users love Uscreen?

Start your free trial →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Kumar Sanu is climbing the YouTube charts.

Kumar Sanu’s decades-long career as a playback singer has made him a Bollywood legend. Now, he’s climbing the YouTube charts—with 650,000 new subscribers added in the last week alone. (Tubefilter)
A recent study from researchers at New York University and Northeastern found that child safety features on platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube failed at least 50% of the time. (Engadget)
Comcast has announced a split that will make NBCUniversal a standalone company encompassing NBC, Peacock, Bravo, Telemundo, the NBCU film and TV studios, Universal theme parks, and Sky. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Amid a crackdown on AI content, music streaming service Tidal says it will no longer “knowingly attribute royalties to music we identify as wholly AI-generated." (Engadget)

TAG, YOU’RE IT

Instagram is breaking out the tags. (Photo illustration by Brandon Bell/Getty Images.)

Instagram is inviting users to tweak the algorithm with categorical tags

The algo controls: Instagram is putting users in the driver’s seat. The platform’s head, Adam Mosseri, has announced new controls for Your Algorithm, the six-month-old product that employs AI to bring more user choice to the Instagram Reels feed.

As Mosseri explained in a recent post, the platform is adding “quick signals” to the Reels UI in order to make the Your Algorithm tool “feel more present and useful.”

Those quick signals take the form of buttons that name content categories like “sports,” “studying hacks,” and “day in the life.” By swiping down on the main Instagram feed, viewers can access the signals and choose the ones they’d like to see more often.

Users can also combine those signals with text-based inputs that tune the Instagram Reels recommendation algorithm.

“Over time, we want your algorithm to feel like something you talk to rather than something that happens to you.”

- Adam Mosseri, Instagram Head

The context: Instagram’s decision to level up Your Algorithm reflects a larger trend within the industry. Governmental forces, especially in the European Union, have required platforms to include opt-out clauses for users who don’t want personalized recommendations. And as lawsuits accuse social platforms of knowingly developing addictive algorithms, choice-based feeds may soon become a legal necessity.

Those shifting tides have encouraged tech companies to add more choice to algorithmic feeds, resulting in the debut of TikTok’s For You Page topic sliders, YouTube’s promptable feed, and X’s conversational algorithm. With Your Algorithm, Instagram is the latest platform to double down on user agency.

GLOBAL TOP 50 • VIEWS

Pro athletes are getting the AI treatment.

On YouTube, World Cup AI content is just as sloppy as you’d expect

The AI skits: AI spares no man—especially when the man in question is a World Cup athlete.

Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland know that fact all too well. As the star players for two of Europe’s biggest clubs, the leaders of their respective national teams, and the recipients of two of the biggest contracts in soccer history, Mbappé and Haaland are fierce rivals.

That is, unless you happen to see them canoodling on YouTube Shorts. There, deepfaked versions of the two soccer pros share sweets, blow bubbles, and pull pranks on Ronaldo.

By turning the stars of the 2026 World Cup into uncanny AI-generated characters, the channel Mischief Time has merged slop with soccer videos to unite two massive buckets of Shorts content. And, despite YouTube’s ongoing war against deepfakes (including the global rollout of its likeness detection tools), that combination is taking off. Mischief Time finished at #30 in our latest Global Top 50 ranking by bringing in 405.4 million weekly views.

June is proving to be a major month for Mischief Time. Data from Gospel Stats.

The context: That success might be derivative, but it’s not surprising. YouTube routinely turns athletes across the sports world into short-form superstars, and the World Cup has only intensified demand for that content.

Thanks to the ongoing tourney, channels based around the beautiful game are getting more weekly views than they’ve received at any point this year. It was only a matter of time before AI channels began tapping into that hype.

WATCH THIS 👀

Creator Upload is exploring the ins and outs of Cannes Lions.

Last week on the podcast…

The episode: On the latest installment of Creator Upload, hosts Joshua Cohen and Lauren Schnipper headed to Cannes, France, for the 73rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Tune in to learn more about the festival, discover why brands like PepsiCo are shifting resources to influencer management, and find out how Facebook’s reimagined Creator Studio is using AI to separate business and creator tools.

It’s all right here on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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The Knicks scored 15B views

2026-06-29T21:04:26.540+07:00

It’s Monday and Twitch teamed up with SoundCloud late last week to present SoundCloud Sessions, an “all-day DJ party” featuring livestreamed sets and an exclusive emote.

Today’s News

🎬 The age of microseries has dawned
💅 Shorts gets a makeover
👀 Twitch faces backlash
🏀 The Knicks’ victory goes viral
🏃‍♀️ TikTok and Strava team up
🧟 GLITCH promotes its next show

BRING THE DRAMA

Second Rodeo’s Playback microseries is part of the short-form boom.

Are vertical microseries leading a new age of creator-fronted scripted content?

The boom: Six years ago, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s ~$2 billion short-form streaming platform failed within a matter of months. At the time, Quibi’s spectacular demise didn’t come as much of a surprise—but now, microseries studios are thriving. So, what’s changed?

Second Rodeo Founder/CEO Scott Brown has some insight into that question.

The Emmy-nominated director/writer/producer has directed 750+ episodes of Larry King‘s digital series on Hulu, executive-produced The Rock‘s YouTube channel while at Studio71, served as a creative producer for MrBeast, and now leads his own microseries studio. He also witnessed Quibi’s inner workings firsthand when he made a show for it.

So, why are the conditions faced by microseries studios today so different than those that overtook Quibi?

“The #1 difference is these apps and this format are not trying to train audience behavior. When Quibi came out, TikTok was new…Vertical content then was not what it is now.”

- Scott Brown, Second Rodeo Founder/CEO

Brown adds that today’s “vertical microseries moment is also contextualized within the larger scripted boom happening in digital,” whereas “five years ago we didn’t have Dhar Mann, Alan Chikin Chow, Brooklyn Coffee Shop, so many other channels doing narrative content that’s working for what they are.”

The studio: With Second Rodeo, Brown is “building infrastructure that allows us to create formats where creators, brands, and people that facilitate audiences finding this content can meet on common ground.”

Playback is the latest product of that strategy. Starring longtime digital creator Hannah Stocking, America’s Next Top Model winner Sophie Sumner, Amber Laird, Royce Lundquist, and Sarah Sampino, the show follows an aspiring singer who gets her big break when a struggling rockstar invites her onstage with him.

With fast-paced microseries like Playback, Brown says Second Rodeo is “scratching an itch not being addressed in most narrative content.” Check out a trailer for the show here.

SHORTS STUFF

Shorts just got a sleek makeover.

YouTube Shorts has a new look that removes distractions and dislikes

The button swap: Shorts is now over five years old, and YouTube seems to have decided that the format is ready for some quality-of-life upgrades. Among recent updates are the introduction of a few features borrowed from the long-form side of YouTube—including the removal of the “dislike” button.

YouTube’s initial choice to hide dislikes on long-form videos proved controversial, but the platform claimed that it was necessary due to differences in user behavior. While some people used the button to express their personal tastes, others saved dislikes for videos with irrelevant information. (Female creators also received a disproportionate number of thumbs down.)

To account for that inconsistency, YouTube tested a layout for its long-form version that replaced the dislike with a “not interested” button. Now, that look is coming to Shorts, where the “not interested” button will be paired with a heart icon.

“These options give you more control over what you see and allow us to better understand your genuine preferences, especially since you’ve shown us that ‘disliking’ a video could mean anything from ‘poor audio quality’ to simply ‘not my cup of tea.’”

- YouTube

The Clear Screen: YouTube’s big Shorts makeover isn’t limited to hidden dislikes. In addition to offering the same playback speeds enjoyed by long-form users, Shorts is adopting features typically associated with TikTok, including the rival app’s distraction-limiting “clear mode.”

An option titled Clear Screen now brings the same text-free, icon-free look to YouTube Shorts. Third-party tools have offered that experience on YouTube in the past, but Clear Screen figures to be more convenient for most users.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

What’s going on with Twitch ads?

Twitch says its ads aren’t getting longer. Some viewers and creators say otherwise. (Tubefilter)
According to new research from Jellyfish, more than 25% of chatbot prompts are answered with responses that reference content from YouTube creators. (Tubefilter)
The BBC reportedly plans to expand its YouTube presence by making a 24-hour news channel accessible to viewers in some regions outside the U.K. (Deadline)
Australia has increased the maximum penalty for companies that violate its under-16 social media ban from 49.5 million to 99 million AUD (roughly $68.2 million). (Engadget)

ON THE BALL

Finals content has scored 15B social media views. (Photo by Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images.)

The Knicks’ victory lap has scored billions of views. Advertisers should pay attention.

The victory lap: On June 13, the New York Knicks ended a 53-year title drought by defeating the San Antonio Spurs to win the 2026 NBA Finals.

According to the NBA, content from the Finals has since received “15 billion views and counting on social media”—the most social traffic garnered by any NBA Finals series, ever.

That engagement was just the beginning. Videos of Knicks fans’ celebrations have also gone viral, with Sidetalk content leading the wave. Every Knicks fan knew that New York’s favorite man-on-the-street channel would be present at the postgame revelry, and the resulting content did not disappoint. Sidetalk even recruited N.Y.C. Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a correspondent.

The culmination of the Knicks’ social media surge came on June 18, when millions of fans flocked to Lower Manhattan for a celebratory parade. The NBA streamed the festivities, a performance from Alicia Keys received millions of YouTube views, and, in a memorable address, Mamdani drew comparisons between the Knicks and the gritty city it calls home. Then he remembered some guys.

“Let’s Remember Some Guys” is the informal name of a format associated with the sports blog Deadspin and its spiritual successor Defector. In semi-regular posts, Defector writers list unremarkable pros from the past.

The brand angle: Nostalgia from Knicks fans turned this particular edition of the NBA Finals into the kind of social media phenomenon that platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook are trying to sell to brands. Ad products that put buyers at the center of cultural conversations were a major theme at this year’s NewFronts pitchfest.

As the Knicks’ victory shows, the timing of those cultural tentpoles isn’t always predictable. That’s why brands that had already leaned into YouTube and TikTok’s new ad products were in the best position to capitalize on Manhattan’s big moment.

ON YOUR MARKS

TikTok and Strava are sprinting across Europe to find the most exciting run clubs.

TikTok and Strava just launched a six-digit fund for running creators

The fund: TikTok and Strava have unveiled the Pan-European Local Movement Fund, a €100,000 pool that will be split among 20 European running creators. Those so-called “creator-ambassadors” will receive both direct funding and ad credits as they highlight local run clubs and fitness communities.

Some recipients of Local Movement Fund payouts—including Zahra Rose, who will kick things off by hosting a fun run in Brussels—are active on both TikTok and Strava. In a recent Newsroom post, TikTok presented the two platforms as complementary, noting that “for many, this journey naturally spans both platforms: discovery often starts on TikTok, while progress and achievements are celebrated on Strava.” The video hub added that “last year alone, the global Strava community shared 14 billion Kudos."

The safety aspect: As with many other sports, running has attracted much-needed spectators by inviting creators to high-profile races. At the same time, however, some of those appearances have raised questions about how well creators can follow racing rules. The 2024 NYC marathon disqualification of Matthew Choi only fueled that skepticism.

To address those concerns, Dr. Nikki Soo (TikTok’s Safety and Well-being Public Policy Lead for Europe) emphasized TikTok and Stravas’s dedication to safe exercise.

“Inclusive communities on TikTok don’t happen by accident. They are built by creators who turn their own movement into inspiration…By investing directly in these community leaders, we’re helping to ensure that the journey from discovering a new passion online to pursuing it offline is safe, accessible, and sustainable for everyone.”

- Dr. Nikki Soo, TikTok’s Safety and Well-being Public Policy Lead for Europe

That commitment to safety extends beyond an introductory blog post. Strava and TikTok have also commissioned research from Praesidio Safeguarding, which will explore practices platforms can use to promote physical and mental well-being as their communities translate digital passions into real-world activities.

WATCH THIS 👀

Take a stroll through The Gaslight District.

The creator behind The Amazing Digital Circus wants fans to support a new show

The pilot: The Amazing Digital Circus is officially a wrap, but that doesn’t mean the studio behind the show is slowing its roll. In April, GLITCH Productions unveiled a pilot for The Gaslight District, “a gothic crime drama following an undead family who cheat, lie, and steal their way to survival long after the world has ended.”

Now that the grand finale of TADC has finished its theatrical run, its creator (aka Gooseworx) is urging fans to “go support Gaslight District.” Viewers can fulfill that wish by tuning into the pilot on YouTube, or by snapping up some limited-time merch like this big Breadhead plush. Either way, you’re bound to come across a few friendly(ish) zombies along the way.

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Jake Paul's firm announces a $100M fund

2026-06-28T21:04:05.932+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It's Sunday and here’s a handpicked selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

But first, a classic Billy Eichner bit has become a hot new speedrun. Thanks to a viral leaderboard, you can see how fast it takes streamers to name 100 women.

CREATOR COMMOTION

We’re talking big money and big power moves.

Jake Paul’s firm is launching a $100M fund and iShowSpeed is streaming the World Cup

The World Cup streams: Watching the World Cup alongside iShowSpeed just makes sense. While other creators announced World Cup content well in advance, Speed waited until the tournament started to make his biggest move. His alternative broadcasts will be available via the Fox One app and the subscription service’s YouTube channel. Viewers outside of the U.S. will be able to check out the action on Speed’s YouTube channel.

The fund: Jake Paul’s venture firm has announced an oversubscribed Growth I fund totaling $100 million. The Anti Fund, led by Paul and fellow Managing Partner Geoffrey Woo, has built positions in companies like OpenAI and SpaceX. Now, Paul and Woo are hunting for more ambitious founders they can get behind. As Paul put it: “We are not trying to be just another fund.”

The copyright chaos: Syndicate is dealing with 3,000 copyright claims due to a rights issue. When you’re a YouTube OG with a massive back catalog of gaming videos, rights management can be tricky. Syndicate learned that the hard way when the rights to his longtime outro video were sold and summarily claimed. Unfortunately, his Call of Duty skills won’t help him extricate his videos from this mess.

The big claim: A streamer named Snowcone said that Kai Cenat’s Streamer University offers better career prospects than Harvard University. Citation needed.

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POP CULTURE MINUTE

Dead Meat is bringing its indie horror awards show to Los Angeles.

Dead Meat is going IRL and Kidz Bop is bringing the party to YouTube

The awards show: For the first time, the Dead Meat Horror Awards will be an IRL, ticketed experience. Since 2022, James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca‘s Dead Meat channel has celebrated indie horror with an awards show. In 2026, the pomp and circumstance is coming to Pacific Electric in Los Angeles for an IRL show that will stream on July 18.

The performance: Justin Bieber’s transgressive Coachella set has landed on YouTube. By watching YouTube videos in the middle of his performance, Bieber turned the camera back on the audience and forced us to consider the growing unity between pop music and creator culture. On June 25, the pop star made sure the whole world could see his headlining performance when he distributed it on his YouTube channel.

The collab: Kidz Bop is joining forces with one of YouTube’s top kids channels. After collaborating with the residents of Sesame Street, Toys and Colors has teamed up with another legacy brand from the world of children’s entertainment. This time, the popular preschool hub has revived its partnership with Kidz Bop for a collaborative series encompassing music videos, sing-alongs, and dance parties.

THE BIZ

Valkyrae is linking up with CAA.

This week in agency dealings…

The CAA signing: Though Rachell Hofstetter rose to prominence through streams on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, she has since flexed her muscles as a businesswoman. The gamer known as Valkyrae has signed a deal with CAA, and her new agency reps will look to further her reach in fields like branded entertainment, podcasting, and entrepreneurship.

The other CAA signing: Valkyrae isn’t the only creator partnering with CAA. If you don’t think there’s room for a Millennial and Gen Z touchstone to expand into areas like linear TV, film, and live experiences, then the agency is here to tell you, “betch please.” CAA has linked up with Betches and will hunt for new partnerships for the comedy brand and its social-first profile.

The food foray: Alongside partners like Alan Chikin Chow and TheBurntPeanut, Volt Factor launched to supercharge IP from top creators. For its next move, Volt Factor is targeting culinary and lifestyle voices with big social followings. Its new partners include Kimmy’s Kreations, Owen Han, and Ashley Yi, who will team up with Volt Factor to explore product-related opportunities.

WATCH THIS 👀

Look, kids, a new liminal space.

Beware, traveler, lest you fall victim to the terrors of the TikTok Farlands

The sports series: The Backrooms is so last month. The hot new liminal space is the TikTok Farlands, a world that exists beyond algorithmic recommendations.

It’s basically TikTok’s answer to YouTube Poop, and like with that genre, there are clear reasons why these videos aren’t promoted in feeds. If you’re feeling brave, you can check out an example of Farlands-style content here.

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Lowe's wants more creator products

2026-06-25T21:06:38.279+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and Starbucks has already turned its baristas into creators. Now, those coffee-making stars are piloting TikTok’s new custom ad networks.

Today’s News

👀 MrBeast onboards a new team
💪 TheSoul Group builds a content powerhouse
🤝 Lowe’s courts biz-savvy creators
🛠️ Facebook gets a new Creator Studio
🏴‍☠️ One Piece gets animated (again)

THE BIZ

MrBeast is gearing up for something big. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME.)

MrBeast is staffing up his planned brand matchmaking hub

The hiring spree: Since tapping Jeffrey Housenbold to lead Beast Industries, MrBeast has dropped some hefty hints about a planned brand marketing hub. Last year, the creator (aka Jimmy Donaldson) and Housenbold teased their brand/creator matchmaking service during an appearance at the New York Times‘ DealBook Summit.

To bring that rumored service to life, Donaldson will need an innovative team on his side—and he seems to have found it in Pietra, a venture-backed startup that recently launched an agentic AI solution.

According to Business Insider, Pietra Co-Founder and CEO Ronak Trivedi is one of a “significant” number of Pietra employees who have been hired by MrBeast’s company.

Pietra has raised millions by selling itself as a facilitator of creator-led product lines. That pitch appealed to Andreessen Horowitz, which was one of Pietra’s seed-round backers. To date, the startup has raised $36 million of VC funding.

The context: Donaldson’s decision to hire Pietra’s top talent—rather than contracting with the company or pursuing a similar type of partnership—tracks with Beast Industries’ recent power moves.

Donaldson has employed a few different hiring strategies at Beast Industries, but lately, he seems to prefer in-house expansion over external partnerships. Rather than risking a repeat of the MrBeast Burger debacle, Donaldson can port over entire teams that possess expertise in specific fields. His acquisition of Step, for example, seems as if it will form the foundation of a rumored financial services firm. (In Pietra’s case, Beast Industries isn’t acquiring Trivedi’s company. Instead, it will presumably continue on with a new CEO.)

Trivedi and his Pietra cohort will join a growing Beast Industries team that also includes Google alum Shiva Rajaraman. Development related to the brand-creator platform will occur at Beast Industries’ new product and engineering office in San Mateo, California.

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VidSummit has unveiled its 2026 speaker lineup. Here’s a sneak peek:

Every year, VidSummit tickets sell out as top creators and industry pros prepare for a biz dev event like no other.

With a fan-free environment and a speaker lineup dedicated to furthering your career, VidSummit is more than a creator industry conference.

It’s where video creators and digital entrepreneurs discover how to dominate the industry—with exclusive insights from the world’s top experts.

Find out more at vidsummit.com

Meet the speakers behind one of VidSummit’s hottest panels:

Caleb Hammer is the mastermind behind the smash-hit YouTube show Financial Audit and the founder of Hammer Media.
At VidSummit, Caleb and Hammer Media President & Coo Robert Kaliati will pull back the curtain on how they’ve reached 100K+ paid YouTube membership subscribers, 40K+ global Dollarwise app users, and a white-labeled streaming app powered by Uscreen.
Those two Hammer Media powerhouses will be joined onstage by Uscreen CEO Allison Yazdian, whose platform provides the infrastructure creators need to launch apps, membership platforms, and more.

From September 29 to October 1, VidSummit 2026 will unite those digital pioneers and 70+ other expert speakers in Dallas, Texas to share actionable growth strategies you won’t discover anywhere else.

Visit the website to claim your spot at VidSummit:

Reserve your ticket →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

You already know 5-Minute Crafts. Now, meet its owner.

TheSoul Group—aka the owner of viral DIY outlet 5-Minute Crafts—is building a distribution powerhouse across 100+ YouTube channels, streaming, and MSN. (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
In 2023, Linguana launched to help YouTubers reach international audiences by localizing their content. Three years later, the company is working with 1,200+ creators to expand their global distribution. (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
Disney will pay $50 million to YouTube TV and DirecTV’s live TV streaming subscribers to settle a suit that claims it compelled both services to raise costs. (Ars Technica)
TikTok parent company ByteDance is reportedly pursuing an offshore loan of roughly $20 billion in order to finance further expansion into AI. (The Next Web)

CREATOR COLLABS

Lowe’s is tapping into creator innovation. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.)

Lowe’s wants creators to put their next products on its shelves

The program: Lowe’s is adding another layer to its year-old Creator Network. New and long-term members of that network will now be able to develop their own Lowe’s products through a program called Lowe’s Creator: Into the Blue.

A press release explains that the new program puts creators in contact with Lowe’s product design and development teams. The participating creators will be able to pitch products ranging from existing items to new ideas to collaborations that make use of current Lowe’s products.

“Through Lowe’s Creator Network, we’ve helped creators grow through content and curation, and we took it a step further with MrBeast by expanding the collaboration into creation…Lowe’s Creator: Into the Blue is the next evolution of that strategy, allowing us to help more creators move into creation and turn their ideas into products and scalable businesses.”

- Jen Wilson, Lowe’s SVP and CMO

The context: In recent years, Lowe’s creator partnerships have looked to harness the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the YouTube community. A 2022 team-up with Jenn Im, for example, saw the lifestyle maven produce unique home décor looks inspired by items in Lowe’s Origin 21 line.

As Wilson noted, Lowe’s has also become a close ally of MrBeast. One of the initiatives to emerge out of that partnership is a series of workshops where kids can assemble build kits from MrBeast’s Lab Swarms toy line.

Now, another round of enterprising creators will have a chance to bring their products to Lowe’s shelves. Partners who have ideas for the new Into the Blue program can apply for access via the Lowe’s website.

AI WAVE

Meta is bringing more AI into the picture.

Facebook has a new Creator Studio (with AI included, of course)

The Creator Studio: In 2023, Facebook sunsetted its three-year-old Creator Studio hub, which was absorbed into the Meta Business Suite. Now, Creator Studio is back—with an AI-powered integration.

In addition to crunching numbers and translating complex ideas into simpler terms, Meta’s new AI Assistant leverages personalized elements to draft posts and replies that match each creator’s distinct voice. Continued use will train the tool to better understand each user’s personality.

“Facebook creators miss having a dedicated space where they can easily focus on what matters most. Now, we’re reintroducing Facebook Creator Studio—this time as an AI-powered app that shows you exactly what to do next to succeed on Facebook.”

- Facebook

The middle ground: Skeptics may lament the arrival of yet another AI product, but Meta’s AI Assistant actually represents a more measured approach for the tech giant. Rather than generating creator likenesses to an uncanny degree, Meta is serving the majority of Americans who prefer to use AI as a supplementary service.

In an introductory post, for instance, creator Jen Hamilton lauded the AI Assistant’s utility, noting that “one of my biggest complaints with Facebook analytics or analytics in general has always been that I don’t know what to do with those numbers. So I really appreciate having something that can break it down for me.”

WATCH THIS 👀

“The One Piece” is getting an animated revamp.

The One Piece is getting a Netflix revival

The adaptation: For us old folks, a One Piece anime is nothing new. Toei Animation’s long-running adaptation has been airing since 1999, and doesn’t show any signs of stopping after Season 22.

Now, however, Netflix is getting in on the One Piece anime biz with a new series produced by WIT Studio. The streamer’s live-action take on the iconic manga has proven to be a smashing success. Add in the hype surrounding animated content like KPop Demon Hunters, and it’s no surprise Netflix is trying its hand at an anime revival of One Piece.

Fans new and old can check out a trailer for Netflix’s The One Piece here.

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Amazon wants 500+ creators on Fire TV

2026-06-24T20:03:53.861+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and Meta is hoping the prediction market will fare better than the metaverse. According to recent reports, Mark Zuckerberg has signed off on the development of a Polymarket copycat.

Today’s News

🥇 Forbes names 50 top creators
💌 Tinder and TikTok double date
📺 Amazon gives creators their own hub
🍬 Joyride Day was a sweet success
🛗 How smooth is your elevator game?

MOVERS & SHAKERS

MrBeast topped Forbes’ creator ranking. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME.)

The creators on Forbes’ latest Top 50 list collectively made over $1B in a single year

The Top 50: Forbes has released its annual ranking of the fifty top digital content creators on the internet, with MrBeast sitting squarely at #1. Jimmy Donaldson’s leading position is nothing new—but the collective earnings of all fifty top creators (as estimated by Forbes) represent a significant shift from previous years.

As Forbes described it…

“For the first time in the five-year history of the Top Creators list, the ranking of the 50 most powerful influencers collectively broke the billion-dollar mark, bringing in a total of $1.02 billion.”

- Forbes

That figure is a 20% jump from the $853 million the top 50 creators made in 2025, and an 80% jump from the $570 million they made when Forbes first started publishing the list in 2022. The publication attributed that rise to the fact that our creator industry “is no longer trying to break into show business, but has become it.”

It pointed specifically to the box office success of creator-led films like Backrooms and Obsession, plus creator IP deals with Netflix and Amazon. Creators’ growing entrepreneurialism, the collective expansion into FAST TV streaming, and the prevalence of longer-term, farther-reaching brand partnerships were all cited as contributing factors.

The ranking: Forbes’ creator rankings are based on a combination of “account earning, entrepreneurship, and clout (follower and engagement ratio).” See who made it into the top five below, or check out the full list here.

As mentioned, MrBeast came in at #1 with $300M earnings, 873M followers, and an average 3% engagement.
Dhar Mann took second place with $65M earnings, 171M followers, and avg. 0.09% engagement.
Next up was Steven Bartlett ($52M, 38.7M, 0.22%), followed by…
Markiplier ($38M, 76.8M, 0.21%)
And Rhett & Link ($37M, 45.6M, 0.12%)

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Tinder and TikTok are going on a double date.

Tinder has put out a casting call for the upcoming season of Double Date Island, a Love Island-inspired reality show that will launch exclusively on TikTok. (Tubefilter)
YouTube has settled a lawsuit brought by a Florida teenager, who claimed that the social media giant had purposely designed its platform to be addictive. The plaintiff is also suing Meta, TikTok, and Snap. (BBC)
After being unexpectedly dropped by Amazon MGM, Artificial—a biographical drama about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman—has reportedly been passed on by Netflix, A24, Focus Features, and Warner Bros. (The Verge)
Amid a creator horror boom in Hollywood, Netflix is adding an interactive horror experience called Unhinged to its gaming library. (The Verge)

THE BIZ

Welcome to the Creator Hub. ((Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images.)

Amazon’s new Fire TV hub offers “another way for creators to get in front of customers”

The Creator Hub: Streaming services are hungry for creator programming—and Amazon is jumping into the arms race. During a yacht-set presentation at Cannes Lions, the tech giant unveiled a new Creator Hub that will make it easier for Fire TV users to discover content from YouTube and TikTok standouts.

According to VP of Devices Content and Advertising Charlotte Maines, channels like MrBeast, Topper Guild, Celine Dept, and 5-Minute Crafts will be on full display when the Creator Hub launches this summer.

The context: As die-hard fans probably know, content from those top creators is already available on Fire TV devices. So, why is Amazon increasing visibility now?

The tech giant is likely responding to plays from rivals like FOX, which has tackled both FAST (free ad-supported TV) and AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) by pairing a deep reservoir of creator content on Tubi with its recent acquisition of the streaming company Roku. YouTube’s growing dominance on TV screens is nothing to sneeze at, either.

“What we’re trying to do is take an experience that today you’d need to go to YouTube for, and leverage what we know about the logged-in customer to create another way for creators to get in front of customers with the tools that we have.”

- Charlotte Maines, Amazon VP of Devices Content and Advertising

YouTube was a launch partner for Fire TV, but its app hasn’t always been easy to find on those devices. Now, as Amazon looks to siphon creator traffic from Google’s video platform, Maines says the company is leaning on “the fact that we manage device operating systems.”

By next year, Amazon plans to support more than 500 creators on Fire TV.

SWEET SUCCESS

Ryan Trahan turned fans into promoters for “Joyride Day.”

On “Joyride Day,” Ryan Trahan unlocked a new form of creator product marketing

The promotion: From his iconic Penny Series to more recent video adventures, Ryan Trahan has become known for his cross-country jaunts. Now, the creator has successfully leveraged that format to create a viral marketing stunt.

In true Trahan fashion, the latest promotional event for his Joyride candy brand was a 50-state affair filled with spectacle, celebrity cameos, and a record-breaking level of attention. As the creator searched for sweet-toothed fans across the country, a live leaderboard kept track of the states that were engaging the most with Joyride products. (Idaho ultimately snagged the #1 spot, leading to the release of potato wedge-shaped candies flavored with its official state fruit, huckleberries.)

After traveling from coast to coast, Trahan capped off his journey by hosting a 24-hour “Joyride Day” live stream that ultimately pulled in 2.4 million views, with a peak concurrent viewership of over 24,000. MrBeast and Airrack both made appearances, and Trahan even snagged a Guinness World Record when 11,495 Instagram users uploaded photos of themselves holding candy over the course of just 24 hours.

The strategy: For Trahan, who raised millions during a 30-day journey in 2022 (and then did it again three years later), the ballyhooed nature of Joyride Day is nothing new.

What does feel innovative about this year’s trek, however, is the way Trahan turned fans into business associates, building a network of affiliates who will not only buy and promote his product, but actually create content to support it.

Consider, for example, the Joyride Day “captains” who supported the initiative in specific states. Accounts tied to locales like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona helped Trahan spread the word about his event—and produced plenty of ideas for new flavors, should he choose to expand his brand in the future.

WATCH THIS 👀

Are you smooth enough for the Nonchalant Elevator Challenge?

60+ animators just took on a single TikTok challenge

The challenge: If you haven’t heard of the Nonchalant Elevator Challenge, you probably didn’t spend much time scrolling on TikTok last year. The long-lived video format rates participants on how smoothly they can slip through closing elevator doors (which, more often than not, is not very smoothly at all).

Creators across social media have already produced some wild results by putting their own spin on that challenge—but add in 64 animators, and the nonchalance reaches a whole new level.

Hosted by YouTube animator GarrettTheCarrott, The Nonchalant Elevator Collab united dozens of animation creators (‪including @BluntBrothersProductions‬, @Jim_EdLee‬, @Tokarev_‬, @IsometricPixel‬, @Loft_Studios‬, and @NavillusStudio‬) for a 12-minute saga of (mostly) 2-D elevator entrances.

Check it out here to see which artists managed the coolest—and most chaotic—animated cameos.

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'Hot Ones' spinoff heads to Netflix

2026-06-23T21:06:19.070+07:00

It’s Tuesday and Instagram is taking aim at YouTube’s TV dominance with an expansion to Samsung smart TVs that will bring Stories to living room screens.

Today’s News

🔥 Hot Ones heads to Netflix
💪 MrBeast tops the charts
👀 Gymshark faces a lawsuit
🃏 Fanatics launches originals
⚽ The World Cup hits YouTube

SOME LIKE IT HOT

Sean Evans is getting a little Extra Heat.

Netflix is getting its own taste of Hot Ones

The spinoff: As its latest pluck from the YouTube farm league, Netflix has slated a spinoff of First We Feast‘s popular celebrity suffering/talk show.

Called Hot Ones: Extra Heat, it’s specifically designed to tie into Netflix’s live events—an area the streamer has been pushing, both with IRL activations related to its IPs, with real-time programming like radio shows and daily podcasts, and with live sports.

Like the original, Extra Heat will be hosted by Sean Evans, and will still feature him grilling celebs while they choke down increasingly spicy chicken wings. The core difference is filming location at Netflix live events.

“As a student of the late-night genre, I’m obsessed with the art of the interview and believe that these conversations warrant a level of scale and spectacle that sometimes can’t be contained by a studio. It’s exciting to partner with Netflix to continue to break new ground with the format, while keeping the core of what fans love about Hot Ones firmly intact.”

- Sean Evans

The first guests: Extra Heat’s inaugural guests include Will Ferrell, Fortune Feimster, and Jimmy Tatro, all of whom star in Netflix’s upcoming golf comedy series The Hawk.

Episode #1 drops July 13, after the MLB‘s annual Home Run Derby. As you may have guessed, Netflix is the Derby’s official host for 2026, its first time in that position.

The context: With YouTube as the unchallenged king of watch time in the U.S. (and, increasingly, around the world), Netflix has tapped talent like Salish Matter, Ms. Rachel, and Mark Rober in hopes of boosting its own viewership. With Hot Ones--which counts over 400 episodes--it’s taking things even further by clipping itself an exclusive branch of a top YouTube IP.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

MrBeast may lead the charts, but farming channels are rising fast.

MrBeast led our latest ranking of Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels by picking up 1.34 billion views in the week preceding June 21. Also on the upswing: agricultural channels like FarmQuick. (Tubefilter)
Google is investing $75 million in A24 as part of a partnership that “aims to expand what is possible in the future of entertainment" through the development of AI tools for filmmaking. (Engadget)
Getty Images has announced a deal with OpenAI that will see its library of "high‑quality, licensed visual content” integrated into ChatGPT results. (Engadget)
After a tenure of nearly seven years, Will Cathcart is stepping down as the head of WhatsApp—and entrepreneur Kunal Shah is stepping in. (TechCrunch)

A SHARK SUIT

Gymshark is accused of encouraging creators not to disclose ads.

A new suit says Gymshark didn’t want creators to disclose sponcon—or promote rival products

The case: Gymshark is facing a class-action lawsuit from a Florida resident who claims that not only did the activewear company pay creators to post undisclosed sponcon, but it signed those same creators into non-compete deals where they weren’t allowed to promote rival brands.

“In short, Gymshark’s core marketing strategy is based on deception: it deliberately works to create the illusion that everyday people and fitness professionals genuinely prefer Gymshark products—and prefer it so much that they wear nothing else—when in reality, they are paid to do so,” the suit claims.

The context: For years, the Federal Trade Commission has put pressure on digital content creators to properly disclose when they’re being paid to advertise a product. But despite clear, stringent guidelines and a $50,000-per-incident fine for brands if their partnered creators don’t mark paid content as ads, disclosures remain spotty across social platforms.

If Gymshark truly has a systemic practice of nondisclosure, that puts both itself and creators at risk of FTC sanction.

The suit seeks compensation for all customers in the U.S. and Canada who purchased something from Gymshark after seeing creator content that wasn’t marked as an ad. Of course, it’ll be up to a court to decide if the plaintiff’s claims have merit, but this suit (and similar previous cases against Revolve and Alo Yoga) simply being filed is another reason for brands and creators to both make sure ads are disclosed.

And though some companies may feel like disclosures push viewers away from videos, we’ve seen enough high performers on our Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Reports to know if the content is good, thousands or even millions of people will watch—whether it’s sponsored or not.

IN THE CARDS

Fanatics Collect is becoming a hub for original content.

Fanatics is launching a slate of originals to engage with big spenders

The originals: Since 2024, Fanatics Collect has given hobbyists a dedicated platform to buy, sell, and grade trading cards. Now, to keep pace with rivals like Whatnot, the app is pushing into the original programming space, too. Beginning this week, a mix of streaming and pre-recorded shows will shine a light on the charismatic collectors who have emerged within the trading card community.

Some of those originals are hosted by the sellers behind the most-hyped auctions on the Fanatics Collect app. KingoftheKards’ Keeping Up with the Kards, for instance, will borrow the format of Antiques Roadshow and apply it to live, high-stakes appraisals of trading card value.

Fanatics is also forging partnerships with celebrities like Chris Costa, whose interview series One of One will feature conversations with notable guests and card collectors like MLB All-Star Bobby Witt, Jr. Then there’s Raw Recap: WWE Now, a co-production between Fanatics and the WWE that will move outside of the trading card space altogether to highlight professional wrestlers.

The context: As for why Fanatics is focusing on original programming now, when it already has a prime position in the ten-digit collectibles market, look no further than Whatnot. By turning sellers into entertainers through a mix of live streams and product auctions, Whatnot has processed over one billion total orders and achieved an $11.5 billion valuation. In 2025, it generated $8 billion of gross merchandise value from live sales alone.

Trading cards are the platform’s most prevalent and lucrative sales items, putting Whatnot in direct competition with Fanatics—and capturing the attention of platforms like TikTok, which recently teamed up with Panini to roll out a digital set of limited-edition World Cup trading cards.

Now, with the help of its 24 creator partners, Fanatics is building its own version of a vending-streaming hybrid to keep up with the Joneses.

WATCH THIS 👀

Meet the creator broadcasting the World Cup.

In YouTube’s World Cup, CazéTV leads the pack

The World Cup champ: We’re smack dab in the middle of the 2026 World Cup’s Group Stage, and while some frontrunners have emerged (hello again, Argentina), there are still plenty of surprises in store on the pitch.

Head over to YouTube, however, and the picture is much clearer. Soccer channels are all over the Global Sub Top 50, and the biggest winners have reached high heights thanks to official partnerships with the sport’s governing body.

One creator in particular is climbing the charts thanks to his status as an official World Cup broadcaster. Beloved Brazilian soccer fan CazéTV broke new ground when he announced that he would be broadcasting creator-led streams of all World Cup matches in 2026. That activity—plus collabs with famous footballers like Vinicius Junior—has brought in attention from all over the world. In fact, CazéTV is now attracting more weekly subscribers than MrBeast.

Check out one of his latest top-performing Shorts here to find out why.

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Microdramas come to Albertons

2026-06-22T21:05:52.608+07:00

It's Monday and Spotify is giving music superfans a chance to skip the line with a feature called “Reserve by Spotify.”

Today’s News

🚀 Fox signs more creators
💡 Snap starts a new company
📈 This week on the branded charts…
🎬 P&G brings the drama to stores
🎙️ Next up on Creator Upload

THE BIZ

Fox Creator Studios’ head Billy Parks has an eye on the future. (Photo by Maegan Gindi for Deadline.)

Fox’s new digital IP division is giving creators cash, ads, and distribution

The signings: In January 2025, Fox Entertainment launched Fox Creator Studios, a digital-first division dedicated to working with established content creators.

A year later, it unveiled deals with a handful of food-focused creators, including Rosanna Pansino, Theorist, Little Remy Food, Jolly, and Sorted Food. Now, Fox Creator Studios has announced another fleet of signings, including (but not limited to)…

TikToker Josh Richards, for seasons 2 and 3 of his sketch comedy series Read the Room
Speeed Co, the channel from former Donut Media faces James Pumphrey, Jesse Wood, and Zach Redpath, for an educational series called Then vs. Now
Culinary enthusiast MyHealthyDish (aka My Nguyen), for a family cooking series called My Daughters: Cooked starring Nguyen and her twin teenage daughter
Comedian Tom Segura, whose multi-project deal was announced in May

The process: To get an inside look at how the division works, Tubefilter’s very own Joshua Cohen and his Creator Upload co-host Lauren Schnipper sat down with Fox Creator Studios’ head Billy Parks. So, what is Fox looking to accomplish with its latest wave of signings?

According to Parks, “the long and short of it is…We want to partner on those great ideas creators have and then help with our ad sales team and our distribution team to get things monetized.”

When it comes to creative direction, Fox is relatively hands-off. As Parks put it, “it’s like, here’s the capital. Go make it.” (As for whether Fox Creator Studios provides production support, not so much. Parks said the company is “looking for creators that want to execute their vision on their platforms and generally they know how to do it.”)

From there, Fox and the creator “split the IP together,” Parks said. The shows then go out for distribution on social platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, and/or on the growing number of microdrama platforms.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Snap has announced that it will spin off an internal AI video team into a new company focused on developing AI models for interactive gaming experiences. (TechCrunch)
A new Instagram feature will allow creators to add a unique caption to each slide in a carousel post. (Engadget)
OpenAI has tapped Google DeepMind vet Noam Shazeer and former White House AI policy official Dean Ball to come aboard in preparation for its IPO. (TechCrunch)
As summer kicks off, researchers are warning viewers about the rising volume of sunscreen-related misinformation on TikTok. (Washington Post)

GOSPEL STATS 📈

Another week, another wave of AI brand deals.

Standing in line at the Albertsons deli? P&G might show you a microdrama.

The ad campaign: From Crocs to JCPenney, brands across the retail industry have left their mark on the microseries boom. Now, Albertsons and Procter & Gamble are bringing the drama directly to grocery stores.

Earlier this year, P&G launched The Golden Pear Affair, a 55-episode romance that pays homage to one of microseries’ top genres. That show spotlighted the company’s personal care brand Native and aired on a dedicated website where viewers had to unlock episodes by watching ads or outright paying.

Its new series, Rico’s Tacos, advertises a variety of P&G products throughout different parts of Albertsons’ supermarkets. 15-second teasers of the show—which follows a small family as they run a taco stand—are played within high-traffic and long-wait areas like entrances, deli counters, checkouts, and gas stations (per The Wall Street Journal).

The goal: According to P&G VP of User Growth Acceleration Lela Coffey, the goal of showing short clips (plus a QR code for further exploration) is to get shoppers to go to the Albertsons app, where they’ll “theoretically watch the [full] episode and do their shopping.” That’s the point where consumers will have to choose Rico’s Tacos over the smorgasbord of other content in their phones.

Brian Monahan, SVP of Albertsons Media Collective, told WSJ the concept of a “retail media network” isn’t novel, but that existing networks (launched by brands like Walmart and Dollar Tree) have been limited to the usual search and digital display ads.

With the launch of Rico’s Tacos, Albertsons aims to do development work on bigger productions that serve as both entertainment and ad (per Monahan).

LISTEN UP 🎙️

Cannes Lions Chief Growth Officer Ed Davidson offers a closer look at the festival’s creator programming.

This week on the podcast…

The episode: As we mentioned earlier, Fox Creator Studios Head Billy Parks hit the latest episode of Creator Upload to offer an inside look at Fox’s recent wave of creator signings—but he wasn’t the only industry expert to make an appearance.

Hosts Joshua Cohen and Lauren Schnipper also headed to France for a sit-down with Cannes Lions Chief Growth Officer Ed Davidson, who provided insights into the festival’s treatment of creators as serious business professionals.

Tune into the full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to explore Cannes Creator Beach, Secret Suppers, and more.

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Fortnite devs earn $1B

2026-06-18T21:05:55.998+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and after blowing up on Netflix, dominating the Billboard charts, and winning two Oscars, KPop Demon Hunters is getting its very own Lego set.

Today’s News

💸 Fortnite creators get paid $1B+
🛍️ Pinterest drops a shopping app
📹 The British Film Institute preserves videos
🎾 Pickleball comes to VidCon
🐾 The Backstreet Boys join PAW Patrol

THE BIZ

That’s a whole lot of dough.

Epic Games has now paid over $1B to the creators of Fortnite’s “Islands”

The payouts: Three years after the launch of Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), Epic Games Director of Fortnite Developer Relations Hannah Lowry has confirmed that creator payouts associated with the product have reached $1 billion.

UEFN allows users to seamlessly upload their creations as Fortnite “Islands,” which are then inhabited by millions of players. By handing over 40% of Island revenue to developers, Epic Games has built a strong base of Fortnite creators.

Within a year of UEFN’s launch, payouts associated with it reached $320 million and top earners began launching studios to develop custom Islands. Typical Gamer, for instance, has invested millions in Fortnite development through his studio JOGO.

The context: Since its launch, Epic Games has positioned UEFN as a viable alternative to Roblox. But as meteoric as the Fortnite product’s rise has been, its rival’s revenue has soared even higher. Payouts to creators who build Roblox experiences topped $1 billion in 2025 alone.

Epic Games’ plan to close that gap involves in-game item sales, which have become a significant source of income for Island creators. At Unreal Fest in Chicago, Lowry revealed that, for about 3,000 Islands, in-game transactions actually generate more revenue than the preexisting UEFN payout model.

It’s worth keeping in mind that a 1:1 comparison between Fortnite creator revenue and Roblox creator revenue is somewhat misleading. While the main Fortnite battle royale game still eats up a big chunk of the community’s play time, the vast majority of Roblox playtime comes via creator experiences. Therefore, Epic Games’ archipelago of Islands is in a good place—even if layoffs are taking a toll on Fortnite’s parent company.

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Need an escape from editing? Your Made content producer has it covered.

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And that’s just what one Made agent can do.

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The result: you’ll be able to reclaim the joy of creating while Milo handles brand strategy, Zara turns community management into meaningful connection, Lila tackles distribution rights, and Remi eliminates tedious hours of editing

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Pinterest is dipping its toes into AI shopping.

Pinterest has announced the launch of Ask Pinterest, “a limited access app” designed to help the company “experiment with the next generation of AI-powered shopping experiences.” (Pinterest Newsroom)
A recent report from Pew Research Center found that only 16% of U.S. respondents believe AI will have a positive impact on society. (Gizmodo)
Decentralized social media network Mastodon has announced a new newsletter-style feature that will allow creators to send their posts to subscribers’ inboxes. (TechCrunch)
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has confirmed that Italy does not plan to ban teens from social media, in part because that “type of ban can be easily circumvented.” (TheNextWeb)

GAME ON

An upcoming event will treat VidCon attendees to some serious dinking.

A pickleball competition is bringing more visibility to creator sports tours

The tournament: A cadre of athletic creators will have a chance to flex their pickleball skills at VidCon 2026. Creator TV—the streaming network and content studio that operates under the umbrella of Sabio Holdings—has assembled a 16-player lineup for the Creator Pickleball Tour, which will feature some of YouTube and TikTok’s biggest names.

Participating creators like NichLmao, Peet Montzingo, Merrick Hanna, DangMattSmith, AnythingAlexia, Nevaaadaa, and Yoangelolo will duke it out on the main expo floor at the Anaheim Convention Center, where VidCon’s expected audience of 50,000+ attendees will be able to witness four-player pickleball matches.

Harry Cicma, who has produced pickleball content for ESPN, will be on hand to produce the 16-creator showdown. The footage will then be distributed as an episodic series across Creator TV’s network of FAST channels.

The context: The Creator Pickleball Tour is the latest in a string of competitive events hosted by Creator TV. Through its sports division, the platform has broadcast the World Tag Championships and teamed with King Bach for poker content. Some Creator TV Sports projects have also made it to TV; the studio’s Creator Poker Championship, for example, premiered on the CBS Sports Network this past May.

The success of those events fits into a larger trend within digital media. Creator sports competitions have become so popular that soccer and football tournaments are now sharing airtime with massive global events like the World Cup and Super Bowl. Later this month, the action at VidCon will determine how much excitement can be generated when the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. meets the rising tide of creator activations.

DIGITAL HISTORY

“Badgers” is being preserved alongside other memorable viral videos.

The British Film Institute’s video archive will preserve the weird side of web culture

The archive: With the establishment of a 430-video archive, the British Film Institute is committing itself to the preservation of internet history—no matter how silly that history may be.

The content of the Institute’s video collection is a mixed bag spanning over three decades of web history. Entries include iconic clips like “Charlie Bit My Finger” and “Badgers,” cooking videos from Great British Bake Off contestant Chetna Makan, a video essay about queerbaiting from Rowan Ellis, a tabloid video making fun of former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, and the unforgettable “I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This.”

By serving as a time capsule for those memorable clips, the archive provides a layer of protection that isn’t offered by the internet’s biggest video hosting platforms. British Film Institute Curator Will Swinburne told The New York Times that companies like YouTube “make no promise to preserve and save the work” they distribute. The presence of an established archive ensures that notable videos will not be lost to history if the platforms hosting them shut down.

The context: That threat is more palpable than it may seem. There was a chance, for example, that “Charlie Bit My Finger” would disappear from the public internet after the video was sold as an NFT in 2021. And an unknowable number of short-form treasures were lost when Twitter shut down Vine in early 2017.

The British Film Institute isn’t the only organization taking action to prevent additional losses. A fellow British institution, the Victoria and Albert Museum, recently acquired the video file for the first-ever YouTube video—Jawed Karim’s “me at the zoo”—as part of an exhibit showcasing the history of design. VidCon’s Hall of Fame is another initiative that aims to enshrine individuals who played important roles in the development of creator culture.

WATCH THIS 👀

This is the crossover we’ve been waiting for.

The Boys are back in town (for the new PAW Patrol movie)

The music video: The Backstreet Boys’ latest music video is likely to thrill YouTube’s youngest viewers just as much as the band’s longtime fans. In place of all-white clothing and branded airplanes, the musical group performed their new song against a backdrop featuring cartoon dinosaurs and the animated cast of PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie.

“Bottle Up”—which is featured in the new PAW Patrol movie—might not be the Backstreet Boys’ edgiest tune, but it’s nevertheless a catchy addition to the band’s discography.

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Twitch wants creators to get certified

2026-06-17T21:07:32.075+07:00

It’s Wednesday and according to CEO Evan Spiegel, Snap Specs aren’t AI glasses—they’re “a see-through computer." (In the shape and style of glasses.)

Today’s News

✅ Twitch creators get certified
💪 Uscreen helps creators make bank
🇬🇧 The U.K. talks up its social media ban
👀 AI slops dominate TikTok recs
📚 Quinta Brunson subs in

THE BIZ

Twitch has a new label for brand-friendly creators.

Twitch creators can now get certified to earn more trust from potential brand partners

The badge: A new badge will tell advertisers which Twitch creators are “certified” for brand partnerships on the popular streaming platform. The Creator Certification, as the new credential is known, was unveiled at the 2026 TwitchCon Europe gathering in Rotterdam, and offers perks that are not available to other Partners and Affiliates.

To cash in on those benefits, creators must complete a certification program. Those lessons are presented in the form of a new Creator Camp course and cover “Sponsorships 101” best practices before moving on to share some tips for “Creating Brand Suitable Content.” The course, which takes about 15 minutes to finish, can be found within Twitch’s Sponsorship Portal.

Streamers who complete the course are rewarded with a profile badge that displays their certified status, plus 12 hours of early access to Open Invite campaigns and training that will help them maximize long-term sponsorship opportunities.

The context: The certification program’s arrival coincides with the launch of several exciting sponsorship opportunities on Twitch. A Minecraft Tiny Takeover, for instance, broke new ground by opening sponsored campaigns to Affiliate-level partners. And in the world of esports, Riot Games is hosting summertime streaming events for games like 2XKO, Valorant, and League of Legends.

Creators who complete their certification courses will be best equipped to take advantage of those opportunities.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Uscreen works with 4,000+ creators in diverse niches.

Uscreen has helped creators earn over $1 billion. Now, the membership platform is bringing Caleb Hammer‘s Hammer Elite, Theorist‘s TheoryVerse, and Keke Palmer‘s Practice by Palmer into the fold. (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
According to an announcement from Meta, Threads now reaches 500 million monthly active users. (TechCrunch)
A lawsuit filed against TikTok by the state of Florida claims that the platform has violated child safety laws and consumer protection laws by “actively deceiving” parents. (The Verge)
After rolling out age-gated accounts in the U.S. last month, Roblox is giving the child safety feature a global launch. (Engadget)

GLOBAL UPDATES

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced sweeping social media restrictions. (Photo by Carlos Jasso - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The U.K. plans to go “further than any country in the world” to keep teens off social media

The ban: U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a bold piece of legislation that will bar children under 16 from most major social platforms.

Ten platforms—TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, Snapchat, Threads, Twitch, Kick, and Reddit—are expected to be covered by the incoming ban. Starmer indicated that regulations could pass as soon as Christmas, with enforcement set to start in 2027.

The objections: Australia set the tone for the rest of the world when it passed a law barring under-18s from major platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Despite widespread criticisms of that ban, other countries soon indicated that they planned to follow Australia’s lead. The U.K. is the latest to add its name to that list, and Starmer said it will go “further than any country in the world” to protect young citizens from online harm.

That measure is unlikely to garner a warm reception. A Livity report conducted in the U.K. found that 95% of local teens believe that watching videos helps them with their schoolwork. Now, they could lose access to that resource.

Representatives for companies like YouTube and Meta have also been quick to claim that the planned U.K. regulations would not make kids feel safer. YouTube’s rep, for instance, said that “blanket bans push kids out of curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less safe services.”

Encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal will be excluded from the U.K. ban, so teens will still have a few apps available for safe interactions. If the U.K. truly hopes to make a positive impact, however, it will need to figure out how to stop kids from sidestepping enforcement with VPNs—preferably before the ban goes into effect.

STUDY SAYS

TikTok is facing a slopocalypse. (Photo via Getty Images.)

Report: Nearly 60% of videos recommended to new TikTok accounts are AI slop

The report: According to Kapwing, “TikTok has a slop problem.” That was the main takeaway of the video editing service’s latest report, which found that new TikTok accounts receive a high volume of AI-generated recommendations.

To conduct its study, Kapwing built a list of popular categories and manually analyzed tags within those categories. Any AI slop videos with those tags were noted. Then, Kapwing registered new TikTok accounts and recorded the number of slop videos served on the For You Page.

The results were troubling. 59% of the TikToks served to new accounts were categorized as AI slop, and the frequency of those recommendations appeared to increase deeper into the For You Page. For the tag #CartoonKids, a whopping 97% of videos were categorized as AI slop. For kids’ videos in general, 57% of the studied videos qualified as AI slop.

The context: Given these findings, TikTok could soon face the same child safety watchdogs that went after YouTube and its library of AI slop.

It’s hard to argue that you’re cracking down on slop when you also invest heavily in generative AI, but Google’s video platform has nevertheless taken steps to reduce the volume of AI slop on its platform. That solution has involved crackdowns on slop channels and tools that let users limit their exposure to low-effort, AI-generated content.

Kapwing noted those efforts in a previous report. Now, its latest release claims that TikTok accounts get three times as many AI recs as YouTube accounts do—meaning it’s time for TikTok to take its turn in the AI hot seat.

WATCH THIS 👀

School is in session.

Quinta Brunson’s teaching chops go beyond Abbot Elementary

The TV teacher: From Tom Holland to Katseye, Season 3 of Celebrity Substitute is shaping up to be a star-studded affair. And who better to take over the classroom than Quinta Brunson?

The Emmy-winning producer and actress tapped into the psyche of her beloved Abbott Elementary character, Janine Teagues, to teach actual second graders the ins and outs of TV writing. By the end of Brunson’s lesson, her pupils end up in a real writer’s room, where they “pitch ideas, debate storylines, and work together to create an original episode from scratch.”

Check out Brunson’s full Celebrity Substitute appearance here.

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Fox is buying Roku for $22B

2026-06-16T20:41:45.946+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday, and even LinkedIn has made its impact on the World Cup. A player at this year’s tourney, Roberto Lopes, was initially scouted for Cape Verde’s team through a LinkedIn message—one he almost deleted after mistaking it for spam.

Today’s News

💸 Fox acquires Roku
🤝 NAB welcomes creators year-round
✈️ Pete Buttigieg is coming to VidCon
🎤 YouTube debuts “Music Nights”
⚽ TikTok launches trading cards

MONEY MOVES

Fox is becoming a streaming titan. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Fox’s $22B Roku acquisition makes it the king of the FAST lane

The $22B purchase: During a recent call with investors, Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch revealed that his company will acquire Roku in a cash-and-stock transaction that places its value at $22 billion.

In addition to branded apps like Fox Nation and Fox One, Fox Corporation also controls Tubi, a top app among cost-conscious consumers. By adding Roku to that portfolio, Fox is creating an empire that excels across SVOD, AVOD, and FAST formats.

Unpacking those acronyms is key to understanding the differences between Tubi and Roku, which Fox plans to keep separate. Tubi describes itself as an ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) hub, which is distinct from the cable-style model known as free, ad-supported television (FAST). While the Roku Channel utilizes a similar AVOD model, Roku has also become a discovery engine for FAST channels.

Add in the limited overlap between the Tubi and Roku user bases, and their continued separation makes strategic sense. During the investor call, Murdoch noted that “bringing the two of them together…effectively, triples the reach of the combined service.”

The context: The differences between AVOD and FAST are often subtle, but both models differ significantly from subscription video-on-demand. SVOD platforms like Netflix and HBO Max have struggled under the weight of big-budget originals, while the economics of AVOD platforms encourage companies to place smaller, safer bets.

That’s why, when Fox brought a slate of creator-led programs to Tubi, it cast a wide net by working with a diverse array of partners. The continuation of the Tubi for Creators program shows that Fox’s dealmaking has unlocked palpable opportunities for social media standouts.

Other Tubi experiments have included social shopping programs and lower-cost Super Bowl ads. Now, with the acquisition of Roku, Fox can bring new dimensions to its streaming strategy.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

Over 200 top creators are coming to Cannes Lions. Find out who’s on the list:

Every year, the world’s top brands, agencies, and creators unite at Cannes Lions for five days of insider insights, exclusive programming, and in-person networking.

The best way to network at Cannes? Knowing who will be there—and how to get in touch.

That’s where The Creators List comes in.

Curated by Tubefilter in partnership with Gospel Stats, Comscore, and Whalar Group, The Creators List is an independent directory of over 200 top creators expected to attend the festival later this month.

The Creators List crosses entertainment, lifestyle, sports, culture, business, and more, giving industry leaders a clear understanding of which creators will be at Cannes and how to connect with talent ranging from Alex Cooper to Brittany Broski and Keith Lee.

“The Creator’s List is important because it helps brands move from curiosity to action by identifying the creators who matter at Cannes and creates a foundation for smarter, more measurable collaboration.”

- Steve Bagdasarian, Comscore Chief Commercial Officer

Built for the agencies and brands looking to connect on the Croisette, there’s no better way to reach the creators defining today’s digital ecosystem.

Visit The Creators List website to learn more and gain access:

View the list →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

NAB Show has unveiled a Content Creator VIP Program.

After three years of welcoming creators to NAB Show, the National Association of Broadcasters is launching a year-round creator VIP program. (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
Facebook has unveiled a new AI Mode that provides users with AI-generated responses drawn from content publicly posted across Meta’s platforms. (The Verge)
Beginning in early 2027, the U.K. plans to ban children under the age of 16 from social media. (Gizmodo)
An internal post by Meta exec Andrew Bosworth reportedly acknowledged the company’s “atrocious” AI reorganization and promised workers more stability (and snacks) going forward. (Wired)

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Politicians are embracing the creator economy. (Photo by Kayla Wolf/Getty Images.)

Pete Buttigieg is coming to VidCon (Exclusive)

The speaker: Despite creators’ rising influence in the political sphere, many politicians are painfully unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the digital economy. Theorist founders MatPat and Stephanie Patrick sought to tackle that issue head-on last year, when they joined the Congressional Creators Caucus, a bipartisan effort to educate less-than-tech-savvy politicians.

Some political figures, however, do know how important creators are—and one of them is coming to VidCon 2026.

Pete Buttigieg, former South Bend, Indiana mayor and Secretary of Transportation under the Biden Administration, will join yoga YouTuber Adriene Mishler for a fireside chat exploring “the growing overlap between the political world and the creator economy and how creators and public leaders can foster meaningful connections and inspire action,” VidCon tells Tubefilter.

The politician has already dipped into our space with appearances on podcasts like Flagrant, and recently sat down for an hour-and-a-half-long chat with YouTuber Doctor Mike.

Buttigieg tells Tubefilter that he decided to join VidCon because “[m]y approach to politics has always been guided by the belief that you can’t blame someone for not agreeing with you if you haven’t gone to the trouble of reaching them in the first place.”

The convention: VidCon has welcomed political speakers in the past, including figures like U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna and Christian Tom, former Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Digital Strategy.

For its 2026 Anaheim convention, VidCon says it selected Buttigieg because he “brings a rare combination of policy depth and digital fluency to the VidCon stage.”

Buttigieg and Mishler’s talk will be part of VidCon’s Industry Track, alongside programming from nearly 140 other speakers and panelists. VidCon 2026 is set to run from June 25-27 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

THE MUSIC BIZ

YouTube wants to be the go-to platform for popheads.

YouTube is looking to upstage rivals with “Music Nights” headlined by A-list artists

The concert series: YouTube is topping off its massive music video archive and extensive festival coverage with a new slate of live events.

A blog post describes YouTube Music Nights as “a series of exclusive live concerts designed for dedicated fans.” By linking up a mix of established and rising artists for tour stops, release parties, and one-off shows, YouTube is highlighting exciting venues and providing free coverage of in-demand acts.

The blog post refers to concerts that take place in “unique destinations with a special meaning to artists.” So far, New Jersey-bred band Bleachers has performed at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park, while country star Kacey Musgraves celebrated the release of her album Middle of Nowhere in New Braunfels, Texas.

The series’ third concert featured a less widely known star. Jazz musician Isaiah Rashad doesn’t have as large a following as Musgraves or Bleachers do, but he nevertheless got his own Music Night in L.A.

The context: Rashad’s lifetime total of 234 million YouTube views helps explain why YouTube is putting on its Music Night events. As some of its rivals tout their value as promotional tools for rising artists, Google’s video platform is looking to underscore its own recording industry cred.

For TikTok, efforts to support A-list and up-and-coming artists are part of the In The Mix brand, which has evolved from a concert series into a podcast co-hosted by artists. Spotify, meanwhile, has sought to expand its festival coverage as it highlights deals with pop royalty like Le Sserafim.

Now, Music Nights will remind viewers of YouTube’s own powerful position in the world of music distribution and marketing.

WATCH THIS 👀

Creators are spreading the word about TikTok’s World Cup cards.

TikTok is launching World Cup trading cards

The card collection: As sports creator MomoFifaHD pointed out in a recent sponsored Short, “football fans cannot genuinely resist collecting things.” That’s what TikTok is counting on as it releases its very own set of World Cup trading cards.

Launched in partnership with 65-year-old trading card company Panini, the platform’s card collection will feature the nations, players, and legends who define the culture of international soccer. The set includes three cards for each of the 48 World Cup participants and will live within the “Fan Experience Hub” that serves as the epicenter of TikTok’s World Cup coverage.

Users can unlock those cards by checking off certain in-app actions (like following specific accounts or commenting on posts). And according to TikTok, “the more cards fans collect, the more rewards they will unlock.”

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MLB is making its own creators

2026-06-15T21:04:24.113+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It's Monday and Meta is giving away free AI shades. According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, all legally blind US veterans can claim a complimentary pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

Today’s News

⚾ MLB launches “Players Studio”
🛑 Spotify removes 57K AI episodes
🤝 LinkedIn debuts a Creator Marketplace
🏋️‍♀️ A bodybuilder drops a cookie line
🎙️ This week on the podcast…

PLAY BALL

Major League Baseball wants in on creator content.

The MLB’s “Players Studio” will turn sluggers into content creators

The launch: With its lengthy 162-game schedule, Major League Baseball often struggles to generate as much buzz as other sporting events—and the all-encompassing hype surrounding the World Cup, NBA Finals, French Open, and Stanley Cup Finals isn’t helping.

To fix that problem, the MLB Players Association is leveling up its presence in the creator economy. As the 2026 season got underway, a deal between the league and TikTok foreshadowed an increased amount of creator-led baseball content. Now, in an effort to turn its biggest stars into recognizable celebrities, the labor union representing professional Major and Minor League players is using its business arm MLB Players Inc. to launch MLB Players Studio, a new content company focused on talent incubation, brand partnerships, and original programming.

The content: MLB Players Inc. has enlisted content studio Portal A to produce four original series set on the diamond. Catching Up will turn games of catch into interviews, Set Up Man will spotlight MLB pranksters, 6th Tool Sessions will explore players’ off-field passions, and Lore Drop will bring notable moments from baseball history to TikTok.

To go along with those originals, the baseball organization is also creating opportunities for current and former players by working with sports representation and marketing agency Athletes First. After forging connections between brands and NFL players, Athletes First is now rounding the bases.

One program that exemplifies the MLB Players Studio strategy is Werth Talking About, a video podcast hosted by Jayson Werth. The former Philadelphia Phillies fan favorite will bring frank conversations to the MLB’s All-Star Game. When fans and players gather in Philly next month for the Midsummer Classic, Werth and his microphone will be there with bells on.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Artlist is partnering with Insidious producer Steven Schneider to develop an AI-hybrid feature film

Paranormal Activity and Insidious producer Steven Schneider is joining forces with AI production platform Artlist and AI studio Secret Level to develop a fully union-compliant AI-powered feature film.

Terrarium is an AI-hybrid horror feature written and directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Jason Zada and produced by Christina Lee Storm (Nate Parker’s Newborn, Jurassic Punk) for Secret Level.

Artlist will serve as financier and Executive Producer on the film, marking its official entry into feature filmmaking.

Terrarium is the latest step in Artlist’s mission to fuel creative innovation.

Artlist’s AI platform empowers individual creators and global brands like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon by providing all of the latest AI tools and leading models for AI video, image, voiceover and music. The platform combines AI with intuitive workflows to scale confidently and achieve high-end production through a secure, professional-grade AI ecosystem.

Submit your story for a chance to be featured on Artlist TV

The cinematic capabilities of Artlist’s AI tools are on full display through Artlist TV, a content hub featuring original entertainment, short films, and series produced by Artlist and independent creators.

Now, Artlist TV is opening submissions to visionary creators with a story to tell. Are you ready to create your own Artlist TV original?

Submit your story →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Spotify is giving drug-promoting episodes the boot.

Following a Senate investigation, Spotify has taken down over 57,000 AI-generated podcast episodes and banned 3,500 accounts for promoting illegal drugs. (The Next Web)
The U.S. Department of Justice has signaled its approval of Paramount’s $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition after determining that “the transaction is not likely to result in harm to competition.” (Gizmodo)
42 U.S. state attorneys general have joined forces to launch an investigation into OpenAI following the company’s confidential IPO filing. (The Next Web)
An internal announcement of a companywide AI hackathon has reportedly sparked backlash among Meta employees. (Wired)

ON THE MARKET

LinkedIn wants to connect brands and creators.

LinkedIn is leveling up its influencer push with the launch of its own Creator Marketplace

The context: Since launching a native video player in 2017, LinkedIn has spent the better part of a decade chasing creator partnerships and implementing the necessary infrastructure to realize those deals.

In 2021, the platform introduced a $25 million accelerator and a Creator Mode designed for influencers. Soon after, LinkedIn started onboarding big names like MrBeast while simultaneously supporting homegrown creators.

Fast forward to 2026, and LinkedIn’s revenue-sharing program is turning attention into dollars. There are now entire companies—such as Creator Authority—that are primarily focused on the business of LinkedIn influencer marketing.

The marketplace: Those companies will be pleased to hear about the launch of the Creator Marketplace, an in-platform hub that connects brands with the LinkedIn influencers who can best meet advertisers’ campaign goals.

“As a LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Partner with alpha access, we’ve tested this against live client briefs. We’re excited to see it come to fruition and it’s a big signal of LinkedIn investing in the creator ecosystem.”

- Brendan Gahan, Creator Authority

Marketers can find vetted creators through the Marketplace by searching for specific topics. They can also amplify and monetize relevant creator discussions by employing LinkedIn’s Thought Leader Ads. Creators, meanwhile, can put their profiles into the Marketplace to receive attention from top brands.

For LinkedIn, the Creator Marketplace follows the prevailing trends of the hub’s namesake industry. According to a Pressroom post, 83% of surveyed B2B marketers are looking for credibility in their brand messaging, while 70% of marketers are turning to peer voices and experts in lieu of brand-produced content.

Both of those data points show that brands need an easy way to connect with LinkedIn users. In theory, that’s exactly what the Creator Marketplace will provide.

CREATOR COMMOTION

It’s not every day you get flexed on by a grandma.

Marlene Flowers is a 69-year-old champion bodybuilder. Here’s how she got swole:

The creator: Marlene Flowers was 65 when she entered her very first bodybuilding competition. More than a decade earlier, she’d founded an auto repair shop alongside her second husband and, after their separation, became its sole proprietor. Over the next several years, Flowers did everything from running the front office and managing employees to diagnosing cars herself.

All that work eventually caught up with her—and her body. So, she began exercising; first at home and then, at the suggestion of her son Ryan, by lifting weights at the gym.

It wasn’t long before Flowers “started bulking up.” That progress attracted the notice of other gym-goers, who encouraged her to enter competitions. At age 65, she followed their advice, competing in the Women’s Classic Physique division in spring and enrolling for another competition in the fall.

Somewhere in between, Ryan set up accounts across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram (all under the name “Granny Guns“) to document Flowers’ impressive accomplishments and continued #gains.

These days, the bodybuilder-turned-creator has over 2 million followers on both TikTok and Instagram, and another ~120K on YouTube. With support from the team at Viral Nation, she films, edits, and posts all her own content, much of which is aimed at inspiring people to keep their bodies healthy.

The brand: Flowers also recently released her own product, Granny’s Protein Cookies. The brand officially launched last week with five flavors: chocolate chip, white chocolate, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, and s’mores.

For now, the cookies are available for purchase on Flowers’ Granny Guns website, and some local gyms have also agreed to stock them.

So, what’s next for Flowers? The bodybuilder plans to return to competitions later this year and also has a memoir kicking around, which she says needs a polish before going out on submission.

FYI: Viral Nation is a Tubefilter partner.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

Is YouTube finally a true social network?

This week on the podcast…

The episode: On the latest installment of Creator Upload, hosts Joshua Cohen and Laurn Schnipper dive into YouTube’s decision to bring back DMs—and how the move could completely rewrite the way the algorithm pushes creator content.

Also on the discussion board is Accenture's massive acquisition of the Whalar influencer agency, plus CAA's newly formed $250M creator business fund and Hollywood's sudden embrace of TikTok-style short-form series.

Tune into the full episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to find out more.

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MrBeast just hit 500M (and dropped a board game)

2026-06-14T21:11:28.456+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It's Sunday and here’s a handpicked selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

But first, Airrack is auctioning off stuff he stole from other creators. After completing a string of five-finger discounts from top stars like Jake Paul, FaZe Rug, and Salish Matter, the YouTuber is now selling the contraband at a ten-lot sale with Goldin.

CREATOR COMMOTION

Joyride is hitting all fifty states.

Creators are going on cross-country joyrides and bringing late-night to YouTube

The cross-country jaunt: Ryan Trahan loves a coast-to-coast challenge, so he’s giving a boost to his candy company Joyride by visiting all 50 states in search of confection-crazed fans. The stunt will conclude with Joyride Day, a live-streamed celebration that will include Guinness World Record attempts and a whole lot of sour candy.

The late-night show: Julian Shapiro-Barnum is going Outside Tonight to bring late-night TV to YouTube. Through shows like Recess Therapy and Celebrity Substitute, Shapiro-Barnum has proven that he’s an expert when it comes to kid interviews. Now, with his take on the late-night format, he will show that he has some adult interview skills, too.

The gauntlet: Ben Azelart gave it the ol’ college try on American Ninja Warrior. In his YouTube Shorts videos, Azelart sometimes draws on his extreme sports background to help him through challenges. That experience was helpful for him when he took on the Ninja Warrior gauntlet, but after conquering a few obstacles, he sank faster than a video that has been deranked in the algorithm.

The Twitch archive: Obsession has made creator-turned-director Curry Barker into a hot commodity, but he’s not the only one benefiting from the film’s success. Lead actress Inde Navarrete streamed on Twitch for years before breaking out in Obsession. Now that she’s a household name, her old The Last of Us playthroughs are getting thousands of fresh views.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

Will you join the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs at VidSummit 2026?

As the creator economy grows and evolves, one thing remains the same: tickets to VidSummit sell out every year.

Since 2014, VidSummit has brought creators, editors, brands, managers, agencies, and production teams together to learn actionable strategies, build relationships, and grow sustainable creator businesses.

Learn more about VidSummit

At VidSummit 2026, an expert lineup of 70+ speakers will focus on practical, data-backed insights from the people actually building creator-led brands and channels. Panels, workshops, and sessions will cover everything from practical creator growth and audience development to brand partnerships—all in a space reserved entirely for industry pros.

Because VidSummit isn’t a fan convention. It’s a high-signal industry event built by creators for creators.

VidSummit 2026 will take place September 29 to October 1 in Dallas, Texas. Check out the website for more details on speakers, expert programming, and more. Tickets are on sale now:

Register for VidSummit →

MONEY MOVES

Jimmy Donaldson is collecting career milestones.

MrBeast just hit 500M subscribers and debuted his own board game

The milestones: MrBeast’s main YouTube channel is the first to reach 500 million subscribers. If you thought such a major milestone would slow Jimmy Donaldson down, then you don’t know MrBeast. His latest venture is a board game published alongside Moose Games, which also worked with Donaldson on his toy line.

The slime line: Speaking of creators who are finding their way to retail shelves, Just Ameerah has teamed up with WeCool Toys. The partnership will beget the Compound Kings range, which will bring Ameerah’s slime-making adventures to the masses. On YouTube, her primary channel reaches more than 5.5 million subscribers.

The Pit Stop: Kareem Rahma is bringing interviewees into The Pit Stop for a Toyota-branded series. Fresh off YouTube hits like Subway Takes and Keep The Meter Running, Rahma is now bringing his conversational skills to the world of branded content. His Toyota team-up takes interviews with race car drivers like Bubba Wallace and filters them through the cringe comedy lens pioneered by the likes of Eric Andre and Zach Galifianakis.

The streaming deal: KevOnStage is doubling down on Tubi with a multi-year deal. Kevin Fredricks was one of the people Tubi turned to when the Fox-owned service wanted to increase its library of creator content. The man known as KevOnStage liked working with Tubi so much that he’s now committing to multiple new projects that will be released on the platform. That allotment includes two upcoming feature films set to drop in 2027 and 2028.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

A wearables whisperer is moving to Meta.

This week in industry hires…

The wearables whisperer: While at Snap, Jim Shepherd negotiated relationships with celebrities and other high-profile partners. Now, he’ll occupy a similar role at Meta, with a specific eye toward wearable products. If you start seeing more cool and fashionable people clad in Meta Ray-Bans or other similar products, you can credit Shepherd with that development.

The pivot: YouTube vet Nadine Zylstra is jumping from Pinterest to NPR. After serving as YouTube’s Global Head of Originals, Zylstra occupied a similar role at Pinterest. Her next move will put her in charge of a team of 600 journalists and storytellers. As NPR’s Chief Content Officer, Zylstra will cook up content initiatives that are capable of thrilling well-to-do liberal boomers wherever they listen.

The hiring spree: Underscore Talent is going full speed ahead with 20 new hires. Across categories like comedy, sports, and fashion, the management company is deepening its Partner roster while also breaking into new territory. For example, an “experts” category will align Underscore with influencers who possess specialized knowledge in particular areas.

WATCH THIS 👀

Lyrical Lemonade is adding six original shows to its lineup.

Lyrical Lemonade and Whalar Group’s Lighthouse have new shows on deck

The sports series: For years, Lyrical Lemonade’s social channels have been dependable channels for music fans. To up the ante, the company’s programming arm is now working with Whalar Group.

Six new original shows are on the Lyrical Lemonade docket, and viewers can expect to explore categories like comedy, music, interviews, and internet culture.

Check out a trailer for that upcoming content slate here.

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YouTube DMs are so back

2026-06-12T21:04:35.013+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Friday and the FIFA World Cup has officially kicked off. If you want to follow the action without paying for a streaming subscription, FOX Sports’ always-on YouTube stream will offer a mix of studio analysis and live match look-ins.

Today’s News

💬 YouTube launches its new DMs in the U.S.
🕍 TikTok becomes part of history
🦁 Our preview for Cannes Lions 2026
🍳 Nick DiGiovanni brings the Food Network to YouTube

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS

YouTube has announced a global rollout for its new DMs

YouTube’s DMs were gone for six years. Now they’re back.

The announcement: YouTube users in the United States can now slide into each other’s DMs. By tapping a “new messaging icon” on the YouTube app, users can send and receive direct messages.

Recipients will need to accept the relevant chat request before a sender can share a viral video or reaction with them. YouTube’s DMs are also limited to users over the age of 18.

The history: If this announcement gives you a feeling of deja vu, that’s understandable. After all, this isn’t the first time YouTube has announced the launch of a direct messaging feature.

The first iteration of that product arrived in 2017. Back then, DMs were flourishing on apps like Instagram and Twitter (now X), and YouTube was looking for a way to keep some of those chats on-platform. It developed a mobile-centric DM hub for that express purpose.

Two years later, that hub was already on its way out. YouTube discontinued its original DMs in 2019 to focus on more public forms of conversation. So what’s changed since then?

The return: In 2026, some social media companies are in love with the “share” button. Instagram, for example, is making “sends per reach” a key metric in its algorithm (according to Adam Mosseri), so it has souped up its DMs to facilitate those shares.

DMs have become such a prominent focal point that Instagram rivals like Snap, TikTok, and Spotify have all embraced the format. After responding to a “top feature request” from its users, YouTube is now following suit.

Will YouTube’s DMs become popular enough to compete with Instagram’s take on the format? That’s going to be an uphill battle, but if you need a space to share that video that made you ROTFLOL, now you have it.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

Your dream community manager is waiting for you on Made

Made is on a mission to help creators amplify their creativity and scale their production.

That’s why its AI platform gives every creator a personalized team of AI agents who can learn from their content, adapt to their voice, and support their full creative workflow.

Now, with a brand-new update, those agents are better equipped than ever to help creators create, engage, and grow with less effort and more clarity.

Meet the full Made team on the website—or keep reading to get to know your new community manager, Zara.

Get to know Zara on Made

As your resident social media expert, Zara manages comments and fan engagement at scale, drafts every response for review, and never posts without your express go-ahead.

Here’s a quick look at the tasks Zara can take off your plate:

Reply to comments with personalized responses drafted in your voice
Check the vibe by running sentiment analysis on a video's comment section
Sort comments into 11 categories (Questions, Praise, Suggestions, Criticism, etc.)
Measure your engagement by like and comment rates, and identify superfans

Zara works in the background to keep your community healthy—so you can focus on creating. Visit the website to meet the rest of the team:

Try Made for free →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

The completion of the Sagrada Familia is streaming on TikTok.

After nearly 150 years of construction, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia is nearing completion. To celebrate, Pope Leo XIV showed up for a mass, and TikTok offered live-streaming coverage of the event. Imagine trying to explain TikTok to Antoni Gaudí in 1883. (Tubefilter)
Disney+ has already won the rights to kid-friendly hits like Bluey and CoComelon. Now, it’s adding another YouTube family favorite to its lineup. Gracie’s Corner, the award-winning channel filled with nursery rhymes and sing-alongs, will arrive on Disney+ on June 15. (Media Play News)
Bumble is making a beeline for YouTube. As the dating app looks to appeal to jaded users, it is launching a call-in talk program that will offer advice to the lovelorn. Bee Line is set to premiere on YouTube on June 16. (Marketing Dive)
Julie Nolke, who you may remember from the viral sketches she uploaded during the peak COVID era, is taking the lead in a new political satire. Red Imp Films is developing Gov, which stars Nolke as an influencer who receives a political appointment. That may be satire now, but it will be reality before too long. (C21 Media)

COMING TO CANNES?

We’ll be there.

Your guide to Tubefilter @ Cannes

The festival: Cannes Lions is just over a week away, and not only is Tubefilter returning for its third year as official media partner for the festival’s content creator track, LIONS Creators, but we’ll also be on the ground with a number of top industry companies and activations.

Want to join us? Here’s where we’ll be…

Epidemic Sound x Teachable’s Creator Villa

We’re joining up with both Epidemic Sound and Teachable to host an exclusive villa in Mougins that’ll bring together creators, media leaders, and industry professionals for an afternoon of discussion, networking, and good eats.

Our very own CEO Drew Baldwin will be there, along with Olivia Owens, Teachable’s Head of Product Marketing & Partnerships; Gracie Schram, Global Head of Creator Partnerships and Strategy at Epidemic Sound; Kelly Song, Partnerships Marketing Manager at Teachable; and Marcus Bernette, Partner Development Manager at Epidemic Sound.

Comscore x Tubefilter Creator TV Roundtable

Join us and global media measurement/analytics company Comscore for a roundtable focused on the current creator entertainment landscape and the value of reaching audiences outside the norm. Comscore’s Chief Commercial Officer Steve Bagdasarian will moderate!

Billion Dollar Boy’s The Great Unlearn

We’re the official media partner for Billion Dollar Boy and FiveTwoNine‘s rooftop session, The Great Unlearn, where BDB will present its new report Creator Instinct: Unlocking the Social Code.

This gathering is aimed at encouraging other agencies and brands to “unlearn comfort” and “unlock growth in a creator-led world.” It promises discussions with brand leaders and platforms, plus the opportunity to meet creators sponsored by Billion Dollar Boy’s Creator Fund–a grant that helps up-and-coming content-makers afford events like Cannes.

The Creators List

Last but certainly not least, we’ve partnered with the Whalar Group, Comscore, and Gospel Stats to curate The Creators List, an expansive directory of every top creator expected to attend Cannes Lions. The List was specifically designed as a one-stop resource for brands that want to connect with content-makers on the ground during one of the world’s largest industry events.

We have hundreds of creators, their reps, and their contact info, and we continue to add names as more creators book travel. If you want face time with creators in Cannes, The List tells you exactly who’ll be there and how to get in touch.

Request it here.

See you in France!

WATCH THIS 👀

Nick DiGiovanni has gone from cooking show contestant to cooking show judge.

Nick DiGiovanni keeps it 100 with Food Network judging gig

The premiere: The new show 100 Cooks, airing on the Food Network and HBO Max, has a star-studded cast. Terry Crews hosts, and cooking show stalwart Alex Guarnaschelli is one of the judges. To balance out Guarnaschelli’s pointed critiques, she has been paired with an upbeat partner: YouTube and TikTok favorite Nick DiGiovanni.

DiGiovanni got his star as a contestant on MasterChef. Now, as he brings his cooking career full circle, he is celebrating with his fans. The first episode of 100 Cooks is available in full on DiGiovanni’s More Nick YouTube channel. To watch beyond that point, you’ll need a streaming or cable subscription.

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1450 2nd Street, Ste 275
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YouTube unveils its World Cup lineup

2026-06-11T21:10:06.574+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and Instagram is putting users in the driver’s seat with a feed-tweaking feature called “Your Algorithm.”

Today’s News

💸 CAA & TPG launch a $250M war chest
📈 Spawnpoint Media is on the rise
⚽ YouTube drops its Creator Cup lineup
🏅 Creators in Action honors Colin & Samir
👀 The Social Reckoning gets a trailer

THE BIZ

CAA and TPG want in on the creator economy spending spree. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.)

CAA and TPG’s new holding company plans to spend $250M on creator companies

The $250M war chest: Talent agency CAA and private equity firm TPG are joining forces to launch Compound Creative Holdings, a new company equipped with a $250 million war chest to invest in and acquire creator businesses.

TPG, the former majority owner of CAA, is reteaming with its one-time subsidiary through Integrated Media Company, one of TPG’s current holdings. Through Compound, CAA and IMC will “acquire, operate and grow a portfolio of leading Creator Economy businesses,” according to a press release.

CAA’s roster provides good examples of the kind of brands that may be on Compound’s radar. The agency reps YouTube stars like Amelia Dimoldenberg, Rhett & Link, and Dhar Mann, all of whom are breaking into fields like content production and talent incubation through their respective companies.

The context: Those stars aren’t the only ones making waves across multiple verticals. The launch of Compound comes amid a boom time for content creators, who have harnessed their cultural cachet by forming multiplatform media companies. Those money moves have, in turn, attracted substantial attention from private equity firms.

Blackstone-backed Candle Media arguably kicked off the gold rush with its 2021 acquisition of CoComelon producer Moonbug. Deep-pocketed firm Lunar X followed close behind with its 2022 acquisition of MatPat’s Theorist brand, while Electrify has spent its millions on stakes in channels like Veritasium and Simple History.

Tucker Brown, a CAA Evolution Partner with I-banking experience, has taken part in similarly impactful creator economy transactions, including a nine-figure investment in Dude Perfect. Now, he’ll lead Compound as its Managing Partner. In that role, he’ll be supported by an executive committee that will consist of leaders from both CAA and IMC.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

VidSummit is the premier conference designed for creators, by creators. Will you be there?

Every year, VidSummit tickets sell out as creator economy professionals and their teams prepare for a business development event like no other.

With a fan-free environment and a speaker lineup dedicated to furthering your career, VidSummit is the premier industry conference focused exclusively on video creators and digital entrepreneurs. This year, the biz dev event of the year is headed to Dallas.

Be in the room where the industry’s biggest deals take shape.

From September 29 to October 1, VidSummit 2026 will unite the world’s top experts in Dallas, Texas to share actionable growth strategies and industry secrets you won’t hear anywhere else.

Those three days will be chock-full of expert-led sessions, practical insights, and hands-on education from 70+ industry-leading speakers—plus opportunities to connect with the top 1% of video influencers and marketers.

Visit the website to learn more and register for VidSummit 2026:

Reserve your ticket →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

EYstreem’s Spawnpoint Media is building global brands on YouTube.

After going global on YouTube and syndicating content across Roku, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Spotify, EYstreem’s Spawnpoint Media is “looking ahead at things like Netflix and Netflix kids.” (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
Netflix plans to expand access to its revamped mobile app, which includes a vertical video feed, to South Korea and Japan next month. (TechCrunch)
Following civil unrest in Belfast, U.K. regulator Ofcom has published an open letter reminding social platforms of their responsibility to “mitigate the risks of illegal activity” by regulating “violence provoking” content. (Engadget)
Bluesky Head of Product Alex Benzer has announced the upcoming arrival of a subreddit-style “communities” feature. (Gizmodo)

GAME ON

Who will take home the Creator Cup?

YouTube has unveiled its creator lineup for the World Cup

The creator lineup: YouTube has revealed the two dozen top channels that will serve as its official correspondents during the 2026 FIFA World Cup—plus an additional cadre of stars who will participate in a “Creator Cup” set to kick off June 12.

YouTube announced earlier this year that it had secured the coveted “preferred platform” designation ahead of the soccer world’s quadrennial gathering. Another one of those preferred platforms, TikTok, recently announced a global lineup of so-called “creator correspondents.” Now, YouTube is following suit with a creator roster spanning 11 different countries across four continents.

Like TikTok, YouTube understands that its connections to global culture represent one of its biggest strengths, so viewers will be able to watch Max the Meat Guy‘s stadium food reviews, Ashley Alexander‘s match-day outfits, Jeenie Weenie‘s “chaotic itinerary,” and much more.

Other aspects of YouTube’s World Cup playbook feel more distinct, including its stable of creator pundits who have participated in previous live sports broadcasts. Some of those voices—including Deestroying, Haley Kalil, and Jesser—will be part of YouTube’s soccer-watching crew. YouTube will also represent the massive soccer community on Shorts by supporting creators like Celine Dept.

The Creator Cup: The YouTube FIFA Creator Cup, meanwhile, will give featured YouTubers the chance to compete in a creator-on-creator game in the same vein as the annual soccer matches hosted by The Sidemen (who are also included in the platform’s World Cup lineup).

YouTube, like TikTok, is also set to offer live look-ins on the action during the World Cup. While neither platform will air full match streams, participating partners can broadcast the first ten minutes of matches. As for fans who want to hear creator commentary for all 90 minutes, Twitch will be the place to go. That’s where stars like iShowSpeed and Jynxzi will host watch parties for millions of fans.

CREATORS IN ACTION

Colin and Samir will be in the spotlight at Creators In Action (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Spotter.)

The 2026 Creators In Action gala will honor Colin and Samir, Whalar Group Co-Founders

The event: On September 14, creator economy professionals will gather in Venice, California for the upcoming edition of the Creators In Action event, which is being put on in partnership with the Saban Community Clinic.

Creators In Action is both a celebration of digital excellence and a benefit gala. Funds raised at the event support the Saban Community Clinic, which provides health services to underserved communities throughout the greater Los Angeles area.

The September gathering will be the fourth annual edition of Creators in Action, and is being spearheaded by CAA Partner Brent Weinstein and Mythical Entertainment President Brian Flanagan.

The honorees: In previous years, Creators In Action has honored stars like Valkyrae and Jay Shetty, as well as executives like Chris M. Williams of pocket.watch and Malik Ducard of Pinterest.

This time around, the creators in the spotlight will be Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry. The creator economy experts—whose content empire extends across YouTube videos, podcast episodes, and IRL events—will be recognized for their help distributing the $3 million relief fund spearheaded by YouTube in the wake of the 2025 Pacific Palisades fires.

Whalar Group co-founders Neil Waller and James Street will also be feted at Creators In Action. The two execs built their company into one of the most prominent creator marketing firms, and Accenture’s recent acquisition of the Whalar agency shows that some of the world’s largest corporations are paying attention to that rise.

Whalar Group continues to operate several creator-facing businesses, including IRL locations that will be part of the Creators In Action ceremony. The 2026 event will take place at The Lighthouse, Whalar Group’s bi-coastal hub for creator gatherings.

More details about Creators In Action can be found on the event’s website.

WATCH THIS 👀

Welcome to The Social Reckoning.

So…Mark Zuckerberg definitely isn’t the hero of The Social Reckoning

The teaser: Mark Zuckerberg famously treated his staff to a screening of The Social Network, the 2010 film that chronicled the tumultuous founding of Facebook. The Meta CEO’s depiction in that movie was already relatively unflattering—but based on a new teaser for the sequel, we’re guessing Zuckerberg won’t be taking employees to see The Social Reckoning.

“Based on the events that gave rise to the Wall Street Journal’s shocking exposé The Facebook Files,” The Social Reckoning stars Mikey Madison as whistleblower Frances Haugen and Jeremy Strong as Zuckerberg. As far as we can tell from the movie’s two-and-a-half-minute trailer, Strong’s take on the tech exec is more than a tad unhinged. Check it out here.

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Kai Cenat is back (at the University)

2026-06-10T20:08:51.054+07:00

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and Netflix has a treat for fans of the Mystery Incorporated gang. The streaming service has dropped a first look at the real-life pup who will embody Scooby Doo in its new live-action series.

Today’s News

🤝 Accenture acquires Whalar
👀 Paramount claps back at Netflix
🏫 Kai Cenat returns
🏡 Mister Rogers comes to YouTube
🕺 Boy Throb snags a celeb collab

THE BIZ

Left to right: Whalar Co-CEO Emma Harman, Accenture Song CEO Ndidi Oteh, Whalar Co-CEO Jo Cronk.

Accenture has acquired Whalar in the “largest creator economy transaction” to date

The acquisition: After reporting $18 billion of quarterly revenue during Q2 2026, global consulting firm Accenture has acquired the creator and social agency Whalar.

Accenture’s entry into the creator economy will allow it to unite its tech and measurement solutions with an expert firm that has executed thousands of multiplatform influencer campaigns. The deal is for the eponymous agency under the umbrella of Whalar Group, the creator company that reached a $400 million valuation after securing a strategic investment last year.

Whalar co-CEOs Emma Harman and Jo Cronk will retain their roles post-acquisition, while Whalar’s 170+ person team will be incorporated into the Accenture Song marketing division.

Whalar Group, the previous parent company of Whalar, will continue to work with its former subsidiary thanks to a three-year strategic partnership with Accenture Song. It will continue to operate other businesses as well, including, presumably, its Lighthouse brand and the management firm Sixteenth.

The context: Accenture paid an undisclosed—but apparently hefty—sum to acquire Whalar. Whalar Group Co-Founder Neil Waller told Adweek that the deal is the “largest creator economy transaction” to date. It’s worth noting Publicis Groupe sparked a feeding frenzy with its $500 million acquisition of influencer agency Influential in 2024.

As legacy brands sought pieces of an industry that attracted $37 billion of annual ad spend in 2025, buyers like Skybound and gen.video paid millions for digital-native firms. In total, that M&A spree encompassed over 50 deals.

Now, the agency that once served as the Whalar Group flagship is set up for a new era of innovation. In a joint statement, Harman and Cronk alluded to “the next chapter in the creator revolution,” which they plan to author as part of the Accenture Song team.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

Will you be part of the creator economy conversations defining Cannes Lions?

On Wednesday June 24, the industry’s most influential creators and brands will gather on a rooftop in Cannes.

That exclusive meeting place will serve as the setting for The Great Unlearn, a curated rooftop session presented by Billion Dollar Boy in partnership with Cannes Lions.

Since 2014, Billion Dollar Boy has been the global creator marketing agency behind the world’s most iconic social-first advertising, including award-winning campaigns for leading brands like Heineken, Nike, Unilever, PepsiCo, and L’Oréal.

Now—after gaining recognition by Cannes Lions, Adweek, Ad Age, The Drum, Webby Awards, Shorty Awards, and more—BDB is hosting The Great Unlearn to unite the creator economy’s leading talent and brands at Cannes Lions.

At The Great Unlearn, creators and brands will discover how to…

Unlearn comfort: Why the safest partnerships are now the riskiest
Unlearn entertainment: How winning formats—including micro-dramas—are built with audiences, not for them
Unlearn systems: Why the strategies that built your brand are now capping it

Then comes the Patreon x FiveTwoNine Happy Hour.

Following The Great Unlearn, attendees will indulge in drinks, canapés, and rooftop conversations with brand leaders, global platforms, and top creators—including the 20 winners of BDB and FiveTwoNine’s 2026 Creator Fund.

Reserve your spot on the rooftop:

Register now →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Netflix isn’t bowing to Paramount’s accusations.

Paramount chief legal officer Makan Delrahim has accused Netflix of carrying out a “scorched-earth campaign to try and poison regulators and other stakeholders” against its Warner Bros. Discovery deal. (Ars Technica)
Meta has announced that it is expanding its use of “information that businesses already send to us” to further personalize users’ experience across its social platforms. (The Verge)
OpenAI has joined Anthropic in advocating for the creation of an international organization that would allow “the world to take coordinated action” to oversee and even slow AI development as necessary. (Gizmodo)
Data shared by TikTok suggests that promotions for fast-moving consumer goods campaigns conducted through its app deliver “improved offline sales impact compared to social media platform benchmarks.” (Social Media Today)

BACK TO SCHOOL

Kai Cenat is taking creators back to school.

After eight quiet months, Kai Cenat is back with a trailer for Streamer University

The triumphant return: For eight months, Kai Cenat’s 20 million Twitch followers have been waiting with bated breath for the streamer’s next move. Now, for the first time since his month-long Mafiathon 3 event last October, Cenat is stepping back into the spotlight.

The creator is returning to Twitch for a second edition of one of his most ambitious projects. Streamer University 2—the sequel to a 2025 event featuring over 150 digital luminaries—is on the horizon.

As with the first edition of the event, Cenat dropped the news of Streamer University 2 by starring in a teaser video with serious Hogwarts vibes. This time, however, the castle has been overrun with owls.

A streamer school filled with strigine students would be a hoot, but Cenat invited human creators to apply instead. The Streamer University trailer also notes that “selected alumni will return” for the 2026 school year.

The future: The wide breadth of talent featured during the inaugural Streamer University semester helped turn the event into an unqualified success. With Cenat starring as headmaster and his AMP brethren like Duke Dennis and Agent 00 serving as professors, Streamer University’s star-studded sessions at the University of Akron pulled in 27 million hours of watch time.

Will the event’s second season score equally high marks? Cenat’s long break from Twitch has certainly lowered his profile, but the massive viewership on the Streamer U 2026 trailer—which scored 2.5 million Instagram likes in less than two days—shows that Cenat still has a certain je ne sais quoi.

BACK IN TOWN

"A Visit With Officer Clemmons" is an early offering on the 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' YouTube channel.

On a new channel, Mister Rogers is now YouTube’s neighbor

The neighborhood hub: It’s a beautiful day on YouTube, because Mister Rogers has taken up residence on the platform. A mix of full episodes and clips from the original 33-year run of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood can now be accessed through an official channel.

Run by Fred Rogers Productions and Little Dot Studios, the YouTube channel’s initial offerings include several classic episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, including its debut and the groundbreaking 1969 installment “A Visit with Officer Clemmons.” There are also short-form clips that impart Rogers’ wisdom and grace, as well as compilations depicting the show’s evolution across its decades-long run.

Select Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood episodes are available on local PBS stations and the PBS Kids app. According to Fred Rogers Productions Co-Executive Producer Kristin DiQuollo, however, the new YouTube channel will allow Fred Rogers Productions to reach deeper into its 900-episode archive.

By offering a rotating ten-episode selection of full episodes, the YouTube channel will broadcast installments that are “rarely seen or not seen in a long time,” DiQuollo said. Additional compilations on the channel will be limited to 30 minutes, encouraging kids to put down their screens and explore the outside world.

The context: Rising trends have demonstrated a widespread demand for children’s programming that is empathetic, slower-paced, and developmentally beneficial. Ms. Rachel, for example, has leveraged her knowledge of early childhood educational philosophies to become one of the biggest family-friendly creators in the world. Some of the biggest producers of kids’ YouTube content, including CoComelon parent Moonbug, have inked partnerships that bring clearer developmental goals into videos.

Similar initiatives have paired iconic kids’ shows with TikTokers (Reading Rainbow) and kidfluencers (Sesame Street). Now, the eventual arrival of original content on the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood YouTube channel will give the hub’s producers more chances to cut through the clutter.

WATCH THIS 👀

Boy Throb gets a boost from Kesha.

Boy Throb is still trying to secure a U.S. visa. Now, Kesha is on board to help.

The celeb collab: Boy Throb is bringing back the boy band bops of the early ‘00s—and, hopefully, bringing the fourth member of their band, Darshan, to the U.S.

As longtime fans know, that quest hasn’t been an easy one. Most recently, Darshan’s O1 visa application was rejected on the basis that he hadn’t provided enough evidence of his extraordinary ability.

That’s where Kesha comes in. After all, is there any stronger evidence of Boy Throb’s visa-worthy talents than a collab with a pop icon?

Having listened to the band’s new song, which was released by Kesha Records, we’re not surprised that Boy Throb is feeling more confident about Darshan’s resubmitted application. You can listen to “DJ Turn it Down” here.

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Which creators are at Cannes

2026-06-09T20:03:27.722+07:00

It’s Tuesday and OpenAI is going public. The ChatGPT developer confidentially submitted a S-1 form—and then went ahead with “just announcing it” anyway in case of potential leaks.

Today’s News

🎤 Spotify leans into live music
📱 Instagram switches up grids
📋 Who’s who at Cannes Lions?
🏎️ Creators take a Pit Stop

STREAMING BIG

Spotify wants in on the festival circuit. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for YouTube.)

Spotify reportedly wants to nail down streaming rights for music festivals

The live music push: Last month, Spotify sealed a deal to air Charlamagne tha God, DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, and Loren LoRosa’s long-running morning show, The Breakfast Club, in real time. Now the platform is reportedly looking to lock down more externally produced live content—this time in the music space.

According to Bloomberg, Spotify has approached concert promoters about licensing rights to livestream stage performances from music festivals. That’s a bold move, and one that could put Spotify in direct competition with YouTube.

Google’s video platform has had the exclusive livestreaming rights for Coachella since 2011, and it’s recently been expanding its own live events coverage (most notably with a deal to begin streaming the Oscars in 2029). If Spotify aims to pursue similar streaming rights, the two could wind up as challengers.

The context: Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time Spotify dipped its toes into livestreamed shows. The platform experimented with exclusive live concerts during COVID lockdowns, when many artists had to cancel major tours and sold-out shows. Those events were typically intimate and low-key, with artists performing from their homes.

Spotify’s latest approach to live music would be different—at least, in terms of content. This time around, the platform is tapping into a market of people who don’t attend music festivals IRL, but would still like to watch similarly high-production performances from the comfort of their own couches.

Regardless of that change, Spotify’s motivation here is essentially the same. The platform’s COVID concerts let it be the linchpin that connected artists and fans. That’s what it wants to do here, while also (presumably) finding a way to profit from that connection.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

The great grid reordering has begun.

One year after announcing the capability as an upcoming feature, Instagram now officially allows users to reorganize their post grids. (Engadget)
TikTok’s 2026 Community Fest is set to kick off June 11 and will encompass “educational workshops, in-app competitions, and community-building celebrations of LIVE creators and the fandoms they’ve built.” (TikTok)
A notice filed by Meta reveals that over 20,000 Instagram accounts were affected by a recent data breach that occurred when hackers exploited the platform’s AI support chatbot. (Gizmodo)
Obsession and Backrooms have each earned more than $200 million at the box office, an impressive milestone for both their respective studios and YouTuber-led films as a whole. (Gizmodo)

CREATORS LIST

Welcome to The Creators List, a directory of every top creator expected at Cannes Lions.

Want to connect with creators at Cannes? Here’s a list of who’s going—and how to get in touch:

The big event: Later this month, thousands of people from across the advertising industry will visit Cannes, France, for the 73rd annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

And for the third year running, content creators will have a sizable presence at the festival.

Cannes Lions’ creator population has grown steadily since it introduced its dedicated content-maker track, LIONS Creators, in 2024. Tubefilter has been the official LIONS Creators media partner since the program’s inception.

This year, the festival will greet creators with a slate of talks and workshops, an exclusive beach space with a dedicated stage, content studio, editing suite, and meeting areas, and networking events like a kick-off breakfast, Microsoft Creators Night, Billion Dollar Boy’s rooftop gathering The Great Unlearn, and a Creators & Marketers Mixer.

Hundreds of creators will be there—so we’ve put together a resource for brands that want to connect with them.

The Creators List: In partnership with Comscore, the Whalar Group, and Gospel Stats, Tubefilter has curated The Creators List, an expansive directory of every top creator expected to attend Cannes Lions. The List—which includes direct contact information for creators and their representatives—was specifically designed as a one-stop resource for brands looking to connect with content-makers on the ground during Cannes Lions.

The List encompasses notable creators from every niche, including…

Alix Earle
Brittany Broski
Colin & Samir
David Dobrik
Dhar Mann
Drew Talbert
Hannah Stocking
Jordan Matter
Keith Lee
Logan Moffitt
Nick DiGiovanni
Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Rebecca Zamolo
Steven Bartlett
Veritasium
and Vivian Tu

Folks interested in accessing the List can request their copy at its dedicated landing page. Creators who want to get on the list can get in touch with us at that same link.

We’ll continue to update with more creator names as Cannes Lions grows closer. The festival takes place June 22-26 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.

WATCH THIS 👀

Racing stars, hot takes, and “questionable sushi”? We’re in.

Kareem Rahma is the host of a new racing talk show on YouTube

The pit stop: Buckle up for “the racing talk show where you never know what’s coming around the next turn.” That’s the apparent tagline for Pit Stop Tonight, a new YouTube series created by Portal A in collaboration with Toyota Racing and SubwayTakes star Kareem Rahma.

According to Portal A co-founder Zach Blume, Pit Stop Tonight is “the first talk show with a live pit crew”—and that’s not its only selling point. The series’ late-night-inspired format will treat viewers to “comedy bits,” “hot takes,” and interviews with racing icons like Team Toyota driver Bubba Wallace.

Check out the first episode here.

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TikTok teams up with Sundance

2026-06-08T20:03:55.655+07:00

It's Monday and yet another creator-led production is making bank in theaters. The theatrical finale of Amazing Digital Circus pulled in almost $20 million at the box office its opening weekend.

Today’s News

🤝 TikTok and Sundance team up
🧑‍⚖️ U.S. states prep to sue Paramore
🏆 Tribeca X honors digital content
🗓️ Everything you missed last week
🎙️ This week on the podcast…

THE BIZ

TikTok is going all in on microseries.

TikTok and Sundance are joining forces to launch a microseries writing program

The program: The king of UGC short-form video is planting itself firmly in the world of scripted microseries. Following a partnership earlier this year that focused on film fandom, TikTok and Sundance Institute have announced the launch of a microseries writing program.

Titled “From Script to Screens: Writing Your Micro-Series,” the program is a four-week, live online writing course designed for TikTok creators and other creatives. The course comes through Sundance Collab, the Institute’s digital learning and community platform, and zeroes in on scriptwriting essentials and development for episodic installments of 60 to 120 seconds.

Per TikTok, creatives who attend will be equipped with “the tools, frameworks, and industry guidance to develop serialized, story-driven content.”

A landing page for the application process offers more information on what participants will learn, including how to “decode the micro-series landscape, formatting rules, and emerging industry opportunities” and “develop, write, and refine a high-impact first episode designed to capture immediate attention.”

The context: The launch of “From Script to Screens” comes shortly after the announcement of TikTok’s collaboration with Issa Rae‘s production company HOORAE. The duo is teaming up to co-produce a number of free-to-watch microseries, which will debut on TikTok and the microdrama app PineDrama. The first microseries from HOORAE, Screen Time, premiered last month and snagged 75 million views in its first week.

TikTok isn’t taking that strong start for granted. According to Dawn Yang, TikTok’s Head of Entertainment Partnerships, “TikTok has become a home for serialized storytelling, where original micro-series find audiences faster and more authentically than ever before. Following the success of Screen Time, produced by HOORAE Digital, we’ve seen how powerful community-driven discovery can be in helping stories break through, and we’re excited to partner with Sundance Collab in continuing to champion original voices.”

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Warner Bros. is facing a multistate lawsuit.

Multiple U.S. states, including California and New York, are joining forces on a lawsuit to block Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. (Engadget)
OpenAI is reportedly preparing to overhaul ChatGPT in the coming weeks in an effort to transform the bot into a “superapp.” (Gizmodo)
A now “deprecated” test feature on the Meta AI app compiled AI-generated stories into a daily feed of “tips, content, and recommendations tailored to your interests.” (The Verge)
Google has sunsetted Pixel Studio, an AI-powered image generation app launched less than two years ago. (Engadget)

FESTIVAL CIRCUIT

Tribeca X has returned for 2026.

Tribeca X’s 2026 programming celebrates the age of digital content

The summit: New York City’s iconic Tribeca Festival returns this month for its 25th anniversary—and with it comes the 10th anniversary of Tribeca X. The special slate of programming, which centers on the creative advertising and digital content industries, kicks off today at Spring Studios in NYC’s Tribeca neighborhood.

Launched in 2016 as a single award honoring the year’s best filmmaker-brand collaboration, Tribeca X has since grown into a year-round platform encompassing multiple arms, including…

A two-day flagship summit during the Tribeca Festival
The Tribeca X Awards, which celebrate excellence in brand-supported storytelling across film, TV series, audio, commercials, and creator-led content
Year-round programming at cultural events like the Toronto International Film Festival, the Emmys, and London Book Fair
An Advisory Council comprised of leading voices from the entertainment and marketing industries

The programming: From June 8-9, Tribeca X will serve as an educational and networking space with a lineup of 27 main stage panels, six conversation lounge sessions, screenings, networking, and industry gatherings exploring the increasing convergence between entertainment and marketing.

A formal conversation lounge set at Spring Studios’ Spring Place Restaurant is a new addition for 2026. It will host hourlong conversations with Tribeca Festival partners like Tribeca Studios, Amazon Web Services, m ss ng p eces, InStyle Magazine, MGX Creative and Coachella, Pod Digital Media, Pod People, Crooked Media, and the American Association of Advertising Agencies.

Meanwhile, across 27 main stage panels, attendees will hear expert perspectives from creators like Dhar Mann, Michelle Khare, and Vivian Tu, and executives at companies like McDonald’s, American Express, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Microsoft, the WNBA, and Planned Parenthood.

All this programming will close out on the evening of June 9 with the Tribeca X Awards, which will be hosted by Dhar Mann. During the awards, Tribeca X will introduce a new nod by crowning its inaugural Tribeca X Filmmaker of the Year.

FYI: Tribeca X is a Tubefilter partner.

HAVE YOU HEARD?

June is shaping up to be a big month for creators.

Here’s a rundown of the creator economy news you may have missed last week:

The rundown: Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of the trends, business moves, and platform updates shaping the creator industry. Read on to find out what you may have missed from the first seven days of June.

The new frontier: Caleb Hammer’s wildly popular YouTube channel—where he dissects guests’ naughty spending habits and helps them build budgets for better financial stability—has expanded to Uscreen. Financial Audit’s presence on the video hosting/membership platform will give subscribers ad-free viewing, exclusive content, and “a deeper look at the team and personalities” behind the show.

The creator AI: It’s not just big tech companies pouring resources to ride the gen AI wave. PewDiePie has dropped Odysseus, which (according to its official description) is “a self-hosted interface for talking to language models-chat, autonomous agents, tools, model serving, email, research, and more.”

The World Cup call: IShowSpeed is giving fans a new anthem to celebrate the 2026 World Cup. The track, called “Champions,” shouts out every team participating in soccer’s biggest moment, and the vibe is very brainrot era.

The U.K. initiative: YouTube has launched the European Creator Consultation, a survey group that will gather data from creators across the European Union. The ultimate goal is to figure out what those creators need and present the insights to E.U. policymakers, “giving creators a single, unified voice in guiding policies that will shape the future of Europe’s creator economy” (per Pedro Pina, VP of YouTube in MENA).

The next generation: Fourteen young adults from South Africa have been selected as the first cohort in the ScreenCraft Pathways training program, which Netflix co-runs alongside the Gauteng Film Commission and the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism and Film Authority. Each participant will have a 12-month work placement somewhere in the pre-production, production, and/or post-production sectors of local South African companies working with Netflix.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

Hammer Media President Robert Kaliati has the scoop on Hammer Elite’s big launch.

This week on the podcast…

The episode: On the latest installment of Creator Upload, hosts Joshua Cohen and Laurn Schnipper welcome Hammer Media President Robert Kaliati onto the show to chat about the highly successful launch of Hammer Elite on Uscreen.

Tune in to learn about the mechanics of moving massive audiences off YouTube, the incredible difference in revenue splits (from YouTube's 30% cut to Uscreen's 5-7%), and why user retention is the ultimate metric for creator businesses.

It’s all right here on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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วิเคราะห์ผลงานกรแข่งขัน VNL2026 ทีมสาวไทย สัปดาห์แรก ให้ AI ไปเจาะลึกสถิติและวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลมาฝาก FC กันครับ!

2026-06-08T15:04:42.313+07:00

สวัสดีครับ FC วอลเลย์บอลชาวไทย! วันนี้ผมขอนำข้อมูลสถิติและผลงานของทัพนักตบลูกยางสาวไทยในศึก VNL 2026 สัปดาห์แรก ที่เมืองหนานจิง ประเทศจีน มาเจาะลึกและวิเคราะห์กันแบบเน้นๆ ตามประเด็นที่คุณต้องการเลยครับ

📊 สรุปผลงานสัปดาห์แรก (เมืองหนานจิง ประเทศจีน)

ไทย แพ้ เซอร์เบีย 0-3 เซต
ไทย แพ้ จีน 2-3 เซต (14-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-23, 7-15)
ไทย แพ้ เบลเยียม 2-3 เซต (นำก่อน 2-0 เซต)
ไทย แพ้ เช็กเกีย 0-3 เซต (14-25, 19-25, 11-25)
สถานการณ์ปัจจุบัน: แข่ง 4 นัด แพ้ 4 นัด มี 2 คะแนน รั้งอันดับ 17 ของตาราง

1️⃣ จุดแข็งที่เห็นได้ชัดจากข้อมูล

เกมรุกที่หลากหลายและใจสู้ (Fighting Spirit): แม้จะเป็นรอง แต่ทีมไทยแสดงให้เห็นถึงความมุ่งมั่น โดยเฉพาะในแมตช์ที่เจอกับทีมแกร่งอย่าง "จีน" (เจ้าภาพ) และ "เบลเยียม" ที่สาวไทยสามารถต่อกรได้ถึง 5 เซต การเล่นบอลเร็วและเกมรับที่เหนียวแน่นยังคงเป็นอาวุธสำคัญที่สร้างความลำบากให้คู่แข่ง
การกระจายการทำแต้ม: จากสถิติในนัดที่พบกับจีน จะเห็นได้ว่ามีผู้เล่นหลายคนที่ทำแต้มได้เป็นกอบเป็นกำ นำโดย ทัดดาว นึกแจ้ง (16 แต้ม), ศศิภาพร จันทวิสูตร (14 แต้ม) และ พิมพิชยา ก๊กรัมย์ (11 แต้ม) บ่งบอกถึงระบบทีมเวิร์คที่ไม่ได้พึ่งพาเอซหลักเพียงคนเดียว
สายเลือดใหม่เริ่มฉายแวว: มีการให้โอกาสผู้เล่นหน้าใหม่ได้ลงสนามและสัมผัสเกมระดับโลก ทำให้ทีมมีตัวเลือกในการหมุนเวียนมากขึ้นในระยะยาว

2️⃣ จุดที่ต้องแก้เกมในนัดต่อไป

การปิดแมตช์และความนิ่งในจังหวะสำคัญ: บทเรียนที่เห็นได้ชัดเจนที่สุดคือแมตช์ที่พบกับ "เบลเยียม" ซึ่งสาวไทยขึ้นนำไปก่อนถึง 2-0 เซต แต่ไม่สามารถรักษาโมเมนตัมและปิดเกมได้ แสดงให้เห็นถึงปัญหาเรื่องความยืนระยะและการคุมสติภายใต้ความกดดัน
ความสม่ำเสมอของฟอร์มการเล่น: ฟอร์มของทีมยังมีจังหวะแกว่ง สามารถเล่นได้สูสีกับทีมระดับท็อป แต่กลับมาหลุดฟอร์มแพ้ขาดลอยให้กับเช็กเกีย 0-3 เซตในนัดส่งท้ายสัปดาห์แรก
ระบบป้องกันและบอลแรก: อ้างอิงจากบทสัมภาษณ์ของ "โค้ชอ๊อต" ทีมยังต้องเร่งปรับปรุงประสิทธิภาพของการเสิร์ฟเพื่อทำลายเกมรุกคู่แข่ง รวมถึงความเสถียรในการรับบอลแรก ซึ่งเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นสำคัญในการเซตบอลบุกตามสไตล์ของทีมไทย

3️⃣ ความเป็นไปได้ตามทฤษฎี

แม้สัปดาห์แรกจะจบลงด้วยการไร้ชัยชนะ แต่ใน สัปดาห์ที่ 2 (17-21 มิถุนายน 2569) ทีมชาติไทยจะได้กลับมาเล่นในบ้านที่ อินดอร์ สเตเดียม หัวหมาก ซึ่งจะเป็นตัวแปรที่สำคัญมากครับ

ความได้เปรียบในบ้าน (Home Advantage): เสียงเชียร์จากแฟนวอลเลย์บอลชาวไทยในสเตเดียม จะเป็นพลังแฝงที่ช่วยปลุกโมเมนตัมและความมั่นใจให้ผู้เล่นกลับมาฮึกเหิมได้อีกครั้ง
คู่แข่งที่อยู่ในระดับสู้ได้: ในสัปดาห์ที่ 2 ทีมไทยจะต้องพบกับ ยูเครน, บัลแกเรีย, แคนาดา และ เนเธอร์แลนด์ ซึ่งถือเป็นกลุ่มคู่แข่งที่ทัพสาวไทยมีศักยภาพพอที่จะต่อกรและเก็บชัยชนะได้ หากสามารถแก้ปัญหาเรื่องบอลแรกและความนิ่งในปลายเซตได้สำเร็จ
โอกาสในการขยับอันดับ: ในทางทฤษฎี การแข่งขันเพิ่งผ่านไปเพียงสัปดาห์เดียว หากทีมไทยสามารถเก็บชัยชนะได้ 2-3 นัดในบ้าน โอกาสที่จะขยับอันดับหนีจากที่ 17 และเก็บคะแนนสะสมอันดับโลก (World Ranking Points) เพื่อลุ้นโควตารายการสำคัญอื่นๆ ในอนาคตก็ยังคงเปิดกว้างอย่างเต็มที่ครับ

ถึงเวลาที่ FC ชาวไทยต้องเตรียมส่งเสียงเชียร์ให้ทะลุจอและสเตเดียม เพื่อเป็นกำลังใจให้สาวไทยกลับมาท็อปฟอร์มในสัปดาห์หน้าครับ! 🇹🇭✌️

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