Creators
State of Play
Revised Nov 1, 2026The moment. Every platform with a TV screen wants long-form creator video. Tubi and TikTok launched the Creatorverse Incubator, with Tubi investing in 12 creators to develop 10 original series; Instagram is testing videos up to 90 minutes and landing on Apple TV, still with no ad-revenue share; Netflix hired Steve Wilson, a 15-year Apple veteran, to run podcast acquisition on top of more than 60 video podcasts; Banijay struck a partnership with Don’t Tell Comedy and its 14 million followers. Creators are meanwhile organizing like the companies buying from them: Ad Age has top creators restructuring under holding companies with their own CEOs, the SBA gave creator businesses an official classification code, and XR Extreme Reach, which handles over 80% of US commercial talent payments, launched XR Pay for Creators.
The tension. The distribution is being bid up and the business underneath is thinning. Simon Owens flags Business Insider’s report that Netflix may be cooling on video podcasts even as it hired someone to buy them. Digiday has nearly 60% of Americans getting news from social media while news creators call it the hardest category for brand deals. The Ankler’s Natalie Jarvey reports newsletter growth slowing industry-wide, with Taylor Lorenz saying she lost a third of her paid subscribers, and a recipe business with 130,000 email subscribers still lives on unpredictable Google and Facebook traffic. The Verge has Google’s AI Overviews dismantling the bargain where publishers fed the index in exchange for clicks, and Adweek has media buyers warning that Meta blocking links to TikTok cuts into creator campaigns that run across both.
Who’s moving. Tubi and TikTok, incubating 10 creator series. Instagram, at 90 minutes and on Apple TV. Netflix and Steve Wilson, on podcast acquisition. Banijay America, with Don’t Tell Comedy. The SBA, filing creators under NAICS code 5121. XR Extreme Reach, paying creators through Hollywood’s pipes. Beast Industries and Mastercard, on creator finance. Bill Owens, leaving 60 Minutes for Newpress. Meta, blocking links to TikTok. The Ankler’s Natalie Jarvey, on subscriber fatigue. The Daily Mail, running 12 to 15 generative engine optimization tests. Airwave, taking ad sales in-house.
What the desk is watching. Whether Instagram pays creators a share for the 90 minutes it is asking for, and whether Netflix’s podcast hire settles which way its podcast strategy is going.
YouTube and Variety to premiere Ziwe, Brave Wilderness projects at TIFF
Tubefilter’s Sam Gutelle reports that YouTube and Variety will debut new Ziwe and Brave Wilderness projects at TIFF’s Market, with both becoming YouTube exclusives. It’s YouTube’s latest push to plant creators inside Hollywood’s traditional gatekeeping institutions.
Digital Brand Architects buys creator management firm V1sion Ventures
DBA acquired V1sion Ventures, adding founder Alina Benun’s roster including Keith Lee to its creator management stable. The deal continues consolidation among talent management firms racing to build scale as creators push beyond social platforms into standalone businesses.
Athletes are ditching press hits to become their own media brands
eMarketer reports that athletes like Jaylen Brown and WNBA stars are streaming unscripted on Twitch, drawing tens of thousands of viewers and out-engaging typical influencers. Brands must now approve, not script, content and engage live rather than buy authenticity after the fact.
Filmhub teams with UnderCurrent to push YouTube creators onto FAST and AVOD
Variety’s Matt Minton reports that Filmhub will help UnderCurrent creators like Kelsi Davies license YouTube libraries to Roku FAST channels and Tubi. It signals distributors chasing creator IP as ad-supported streamers hunt for cheap, loyal-audience content beyond legacy libraries.
Indian media now doubles US YouTube views per Tubular Labs data
TVREV’s John Cassillo reports that Indian media & entertainment creators now pull 2.1x the YouTube views of their US counterparts, per Tubular Labs, while uploading 32% more videos running 20 minutes or longer.
Jameis Winston builds athlete media brand with Playmaker
Sports Business Journal reports that Winston and Playmaker launch two shows, an off-season travel series and an in-season studio program, already backed by Tommy John and Morgan & Morgan. It shows athlete-led content studios can land sponsors before a single episode airs at scale.
NYT’s Opinion desk builds a shadow newsroom, straining ties with reporters
Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter reports that CJR reports rising friction as NYT Opinion expands original reporting on beats news staff already cover. The tension raises a real question: what happens if Opinion’s influence eventually eclipses the newsroom’s own.
World Cup livestreaming shows creators are eating live sports TV
eMarketer reports that World Cup Group Stage livestreams hit 1.1 billion hours, with YouTube taking 94.3% and Brazil’s CazéTV leading engagement. Sponsor chat mentions for Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Hyundai show brands can now buy premium live sports reach outside traditional broadcast deals.
YouTube’s Shorts squeeze is a bet on TV, not vertical video
YouTube doubled Partner Program thresholds for Shorts, pushing creators toward long-form video where TV viewing and blue-chip ad dollars live. The move signals Shorts is meant as a marketing funnel, not a standalone payout, unlike rivals TikTok and Instagram.
YouTube doubles watch-hour bar for creator monetization
Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter reports that YouTube is raising Partner Program thresholds to 8,000 watch hours or 20M Shorts views, up from 4,000 and 10M. The move aims to choke off spammy, MFA-style channels before they can monetize and drag down ad quality platform-wide.
Variety and YouTube launch creator festival at TIFF
Variety and YouTube will debut a creator showcase at TIFF on Sept. 10, premiering new shows from Mark Vins and Ziwe. It signals film festivals now treat top YouTube creators as legitimate premiere talent, not just digital sideshow acts.
A four-person friend-group account books 30 brand deals in four months
Ad Age’s Gillian Follett reports that The 4 in the 5 grew to 430,000 followers since April and has already worked with Walmart, DoorDash, Poppi and Coach.
Alex Cooper’s Unwell lands $500M valuation in first outside investment
The Hollywood Reporter’s Caitlin Huston reports that WTSL, the Silver Lake-backed firm run by Patrick Whitesell, has taken a stake in Cooper’s Unwell, valuing the profitable creator company at $500 million.
Agency execs pitch creators as always-on marketing infrastructure, not viral bets
Adweek reports that Dentsu and Creo leaders argue creator content should be treated as durable, full-funnel infrastructure, not one-off viral hits, measured against sales lift and ROAS.
FAST channels emerge as a new distribution layer for creators
Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter reports that Simon Owens argues free ad-supported streaming channels give creators a TV-like distribution outlet beyond YouTube and social platforms. The bigger point: FAST is becoming infrastructure for the creator economy, not just a home for old cable reruns.
OnlyFans’ new investor talks financials, IPO plans in rare interview
The Information reports that a new OnlyFans investor gave a rare interview disclosing financial details and IPO ambitions for the creator platform. Any move toward going public would force new transparency on a business that has stayed deliberately opaque despite its scale.
Microdramas are booming, but ad loads may cap their upside
Next in Media’s Mike Shields reports that Microdrama viewing is surging, but the format’s tiny episode length makes heavy ad breaks feel absurd to viewers. That mismatch could keep the category reliant on subscriptions and in-app purchases rather than becoming a real ad vehicle.
LLMs’ hunger for video could turn creators and planners into data suppliers
AI models need vast troves of video to train on, and creators plus media planners may end up licensing content and expertise to feed them. That opens a new, murky revenue stream — and a new dependency on AI platforms.
Ex-Twitter exec’s Spill hits positive cash flow on brand deals
Fast Company’s Kc Ifeanyi reports that Spill, built by former Twitter exec Alphonzo Terrell for Black and queer communities, is cash-flow positive with brand deals from Netflix, Paramount+, and Gilead. Signups and revenue are on pace to double year over year.
Naver says AI search summaries doubled blogger earnings
en.sedaily.com’s Kim Tae-Yeong reports that Naver says creator earnings roughly doubled since its AI Briefing search-summary tool launched, crediting referral traffic and new subsidy programs. It’s a rare data point on AI answer engines boosting, not gutting, publisher and creator revenue.
Ex-IPG India chief Shashi Sinha backs creator-tech platform Qoruz
Storyboard18 reports that Shashi Sinha, fresh off exiting Omnicom Media India, has made a personal investment in creator-tech firm Qoruz. It signals veteran ad leaders betting creator platforms will scale beyond campaign management into tech and commerce infrastructure.
Creators now optimize videos for LLMs, not just algorithms
Collective’s Natalie Silverstein says creators are structuring scripts and captions as clear Q&As so AI models cite their videos as authoritative answers. It’s a new optimization layer brands and agencies need to plan for, alongside platform-specific ROI metrics.
Marvel leaves Hulk social buzz to creators, missing Spider-Man tie-in
The Measure’s John Cassillo reports that Tubular data shows just 37% of Hulk social video since July mentioned Spider-Man, with creators driving 99% of YouTube views. Marvel posted only 22 Hulk videos itself, leaving a UGC-fueled conversation Sony’s box-office hit hasn’t tapped.
Spider-Man’s social buzz translated into box office, ditching TV ads
The Measure reports that Tubular Labs data shows 158K+ videos and 11B+ views for “Brand New Day” since July 1, coinciding with a record opening. It’s another data point that social video hype can substitute for traditional TV marketing spend on tentpole releases.