Creators
State of Play
Revised Sep 18, 2026The moment. Three buyers spent the week acquiring podcast catalogs and the rights around them. Amazon closed its Wondery acquisition, with founder Hernan Lopez out and COO Jen Sargent running the business, bought podcast ad and hosting company Art19, and agreed to pay more than $100 million to Exactly Right Media for distribution and ad sales on a slate led by My Favorite Murder. SiriusXM won Giggly Squad after three suitors pushed offers to $150 million, and took exclusive global ad sales for Crooked Media’s podcasts, video, social and live events. Audacy became exclusive sales and distribution partner for Smosh from October 1, bringing more than 75 million followers and 20 billion YouTube views. Forbes put Charlamagne Tha God tenth among podcasters at about $27 million.
The tension. Nine-figure prices are being paid for creator inventory in the same week the IAB convened its first Creatorfronts specifically because nobody can measure it — president James Douglas unveiled a Trusted Creator Brand Deal Initiative built around a survey mapping where creator deals break down. The valuation problem is being admitted from the other end too: Evan Shapiro’s Affinity 100 ranks creators by an Affinity Quotient rather than follower count, because follower count stopped meaning anything. Buyers are pricing these catalogs off distribution and habit, not off proof, and the platforms underneath them keep moving — Spotify passed Apple as the most-used US podcast app at 24% to 21%, and in Canada YouTube passed Spotify at 35%.
Who’s moving. Amazon, buying Wondery, Art19 and Exactly Right in the same week. SiriusXM, taking Giggly Squad and Crooked Media. Audacy, taking Smosh. Wondery and Amazon Music, taking a one-week exclusive window on Morbid. Steven Bartlett and Authentic Brands, launching OBSN with up to $400 million against more than 50 IP holdings. Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, launching Machine Gods twice weekly with NPR on distribution and ad sales. Meta, merging its Creator Marketplace and Partnership Ads Hub into one hub and opening Instagram live video ads on September 29. Avail, launching creatorAPI so brands can generate ad variations inside limits a creator sets. Old Navy, whose first single-creator campaign with MrBeast lifted kids’ assortment traffic more than 22%.
What the desk is watching. Whether the Trusted Creator Brand Deal Initiative produces a number a buyer can hold a seller to, and what a $150 million podcast is worth once the app share underneath it moves again.
YouTube terminates 20 ‘ghost creator’ channels after Semafor exposé
YouTube removed 20 channels tied to a network of AI-scripted “ghost creators,” days after Semafor exposed the operation.
Crooked Media’s nonprofit launches political creator drive for 2028
Crooked Ideas is launching video programming and brands to reach young, politically skeptical voters ahead of 2028, hiring digital strategist Kyle Tharp to lead it.
Mixcloud lets DJs sell channel subscriptions, splits fees with them
Mixcloud is launching “Select” plans at $2.99 a month for individual DJ channels, giving subscribers unlimited access to a DJ’s mixes. After music royalties are paid, DJs keep more than half of the remaining subscription revenue.
Gemini Spark gains control over Google Photos libraries
Google is rolling out Gemini Spark capabilities that let the AI agent edit images, curate and share albums, and turn photos like concert flyers into calendar events.
Don Lemon launches 24/7 channel with FAST operator Swerve TV
Don Lemon is launching a 24/7 television network, the Don Lemon Channel, through his Lemon Media Network in partnership with FAST operator Swerve TV.
Brands start briefing creators to win over AI chatbots, not just audiences
Marketers now weigh two things when spending on creators: whether they move human audiences and whether they move algorithms inside AI platforms. That second factor hasn’t hit pricing yet, but it is already shaping creator briefs.
Patreon buys live-ticketing platform Moment to bundle events with memberships
Patreon has acquired Moment, the ticketing platform behind livestream events for podcasts like Pod Save America and artists like Justin Bieber, with plans to merge the two platforms.
Google locks in MrBeast for multiyear Gemini, Fitbit push
Google signed Jimmy Donaldson to a multiyear deal promoting Gemini, Google Health, and Fitbit, starting with a survival-themed video Sept. 5.
Texans top NFL teams in offseason Instagram video views
Tubular Labs data shows the Houston Texans led all NFL teams in offseason Instagram video views, powered by mascot Toro’s prank clip topping 77 million views in a single day. Half the league cleared 100 million views this offseason.
Usage rights, not fees, are the real friction in creator deals
Marketers and agents tell Digiday that inconsistent usage-rights terms, not base fees, are driving up creator partnership costs. Brands increasingly seek perpetual usage, while pricing for paid usage, organic usage and exclusivity varies wildly with no shared standard.
Why AI-generated restaurant menus all look eerily the same
Restaurants are turning to generative AI for menu images, but the illustrations share an oddly smooth, symmetrical look. Reality Defender’s CTO says the models drew on a narrow “pleasing” corpus, so results resemble a Chili’s menu from 2015.
How a meme page built a 95-million-follower content empire
Doing Things CEO Reid Hailey traces the company’s path from the anonymous Instagram meme account Shithead Steve to a 75-plus-employee studio behind Recess Therapy, Bob Does Sports, and Breezy Golf.
Creators own 91% of lawn care video uploads while media sits out
Lawn and yard care videos drew 3.3 billion U.S. YouTube views this year, but Tubular Labs data shows creators claimed 85% of views and 91% of uploads, leaving media companies with just 45 uploads total.
Why Netflix vs. YouTube isn’t the creator war it looks like
Netflix has signed more than 20 top YouTube creators in two years while YouTube quietly offers incentives to keep talent from leaving.
CreatorFi raises $45 million to fund creators against platform revenue
CreatorFi raised $45 million in equity and debt to advance capital to creators against earnings from Roblox, Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube, up from a $12 million credit facility in 2025.
Ex-UTA chief Jeremy Zimmer resurfaces as a Twitch talk-show host
Jeremy Zimmer, who stepped down as UTA’s CEO in March 2025 after nearly five decades in the agency business, now co-hosts a live career-advice talk show on Twitch called 877unmplyd.
Pangram’s CEO on why AI detection beats simple ‘real or fake’ labels
Pangram co-founder Max Spero joined TechCrunch’s Equity podcast to discuss AI content detection, weeks after the startup raised $9 million and struck a partnership with Substack to flag newsletters written with AI.
Vertical dramas turn a 47-year-old career auditioner into a working actor
TJ Wilk, a former waiter, trainer and manny who logged 729 auditions over two decades, has filmed more than 30 mobile-first microdramas since 2023. His debut vertical, a 56-episode werewolf series, drew 28.8 million views on ReelShort.
MrBeast signs multi-year deal to promote Gemini and Google Health
Google inked a multi-year partnership with Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson to feature Gemini, Google Health, and the Fitbit Air in upcoming videos.
Podium signs four creator-led podcasts weeks after Roost rebrand
Podium, the Night-owned network formerly known as The Roost, has signed Bite Back with Abbey Sharp, Commander at Home, Stan Wars and Love, Lex P, adding to a roster with over 50 million monthly impressions.
Netflix adds another YouTube creator as cross-posting deals multiply
Travel vlogger Drew Binsky will bring select videos to Netflix starting September 19th, joining Kevin Langue, Nick DiGiovanni, and Mythical Entertainment in similar cross-posting arrangements. YouTube has reportedly offered creators millions of dollars not to strike such deals.
Creator marketing may be nearing its own programmatic-style correction
Digiday’s Future of TV Briefing argues influencer marketing is following ad tech’s path, as companies like Dentsu, L’Oreal and LTK automate deals between brands and creators.
Mansa Studios launches microdramas directly on TikTok Minis
David Oyelowo and Nate Parker’s Mansa Studios is releasing three vertical microdramas straight through TikTok Minis, its first shows on the platform after months of talks with TikTok’s team.
MrBeast’s biggest business risk is MrBeast himself
A Business Insider review of court documents and interviews finds investors in Beast Industries, valued above $5 billion, have raised “key man” concerns about Jimmy Donaldson’s outsize role.
Workweek raises funding to open its creator platform beyond core network
Workweek, a B2B creator platform with a Puck-like model, raised new funding to offer its publishing tools to creators outside its vetted core network.