Sponsored by RockWater

I made it through the creator economy version of American Gladiator’s ‘The Eliminator’.

Okay…that both aged me and was way too deep of a cut…but that’s proof that I’m exhausted.

In the last two weeks I participated in some way, shape, or form in seven conferences and summits, along with a killer episode of the Creator Upload Podcast.

Me today:

But one fascinating topic kept coming up: television.

Whether it’s distribution or OTT or premium formats or licensing or how vertical dramas are the new television or social shopping as the new QVC or, my least favorite, “Quibi nailed the future of TV, it was just too early,” everyone seems to have TV on their mind.

I’ll give you five hot takes around the TV-ification of social media and what’s next.

Also in this edition:

✂️ Clipping start ups everywhere!

👮🏽‍♀️ YouTube Unbans Channels

🤝 Netflix and Spotify Join Forces

🥵 X Will Sell Handles Because They’re Totally Not Desperate

💪🏼 Jobs from Concord, The Walt Disney Studios, and OXYENERGY

🎭 …and a dank meme from yours truly!

Let’s get into it.

NEWS:

What Social Media Will Do With TV

TLDR:

• It’s all becoming one thing

• IP is valuable, regardless of platform

• There will always be entertainment investors who will always have a bias for ‘premium’

A huge week of conversations about the future of the internet. So why am I thinking so much about moldy-old television?

Because the internet isn’t a revolution. It’s an evolution.

Here are five hot takes about what’s happening with the internet and TV, and where you should focus your attention.

1. Television-style tune-in is about live co-watching experiences

Move over Kai Cenat’s Mafiathon! Did you know there are already 24/7 entertainment networks, and a lot of them are free?

The kids are calling it ‘television’ and it’s coming back!

I had the pleasure of meeting with the founders of Gaggl, a start up where streamers can co-watch old television shows (Price is Right with Bob Barker, Family Feud, The IT Crowd) and participate in a revenue split.

The result? 7x more engagement than regular streams.

That’s insane!

But when you’re watching a game show or a classic show, there’s a lot to talk about! And without all of the pressure of the creator having to come up with entertaining stuff!

Add this to Nickelodeon sliming NFL players while showing games and it all ladders up to tune-in being social-ified through contextual layering, whether it be through graphics or chat or creators.

If distribution is everything, the programming needs to exist through a creator’s lens, not the other way around.

2. The YouTube and Netflix experiences are reaching a singularity

Now that YouTube is beating Netflix on televisions for watch time, how does Netflix win?

I don’t think it does.

Because there’s a magnetic pull where the two are approaching each other, and I don’t just mean the user experience (which is pretty dang similar).

Netflix programming feels cheaper as the top programming on YouTube feels more premium.

Netflix is licensing podcasts from Spotify (more on that later) most of which use YouTube distribution already.

Heck, the top Netflix shows usually have one or two literal syndicated YouTube shows like Cocomelon or Ms. Rachel.

But YouTube has an endless stream of free content and Netflix has to pay billions per year on these premium lottery ticket, most of which don’t pay out.

And YouTube gets to win on those successes too. K-Pop Demon Hunter was a huge hit for Netflix and caused tons of huge views on YouTube videos, from music videos to fan films to slop for kids.

OTT content start ups are going to be chasing YouTube from here forward, not Netflix.

3. Viewers don’t care where they’re watching

Speaking of K-Pop Demon Hunter, the hit Netflix movie got a singalong theaterical event run and crushed it.

Fans will care about the experience of watching through other mediums, but not of the platform.

Theaters are events where they can experience things with other humans.

TV allows you to enjoy a thing with people close to you and/or alone but in a more immersive way.

Computers are while you’re pretending to be productive.

Phones when you stopped pretending to be productive.

But young viewers aren’t constantly thinking, “I’m loyal to this platform or that platform therefore I will only experience this thing on my preferred platform.”

It’s about the experiences right-sized for different mediums, but broadly accessible wherever they are.

4. Video is driving commerce on all platforms…always has

Commercials suck and we don’t need them anymore.

Because all content has become a commercial.

TikTok Shop is just a series of entertaining (?) commercials.

So are brand deals with creators.

So is WhatNot and LTK and YouTube Shopping and Snaps with shopping bags.

Commerce is a thin veil that lives over all of social media.

The comparison to QVC isn’t quite right. There are people literally hard selling on TikTok Shop, but that’s not the dominant experience driving commerce on social.

It’s a fan watching a Poppies Studios dating video and wondering where that confident dude got that jacket.

And the platforms + AI are making that more accessible. Soon, that will extend beyond the internet and into everything we experience through a mix of AR, location-based services, and cheesy QR codes.

5. IP is everything to Hollywood, and will be soon for the internet

Hollywood has been overencumbered by sequels, remakes, and franchises for a few decades. Why? Because it creates a slight marketing advantage, as people already have an association with the brand.

Social media has always dealt with their slight marketing advantage through the algorithm: clickbait the thumbnail, clickbait the title, be loud at the beginning to get people hanging on, have lots of crap happening to keep them hanging on.

But now that so many YouTubers ‘know the game’ and AI is helping creators all ‘Beastify’ their metadata, that unfair advantage will continue to diminish.

So how will the internet creators stand out?

They’ll follow Hollywood. And focus on IP.

Banijay, who owns some of the top global television formats including Supermarket Sweep and Minute to Win It, is now tapping YouTubers to revive those formats.

This is a win-win-win-win. Creators get an unfair advantage for clicks, IP holders get to advance their old IP, platforms get more premium sheen for advertisers, and audiences get formats that have withstood the test of time with their favorite creators.

SPONSORED BY ROCKWATER

How to prep your creator business for a sale.

RockWater advises owners in the creator economy on the sale of their business. We have the largest buyer network, and negotiate the best deals possible for our clients. We’re proud to be the industry’s top M&A advisor.

We recently advised Lionize, an influencer marketing platform, on their sale to gen.video. We’ve also advised Long Haul Mgmt (sold to Wasserman), Bottle Rocket Mgmt (sold to Night), Bounty (sold to gen.video), and have many more deals yet to be announced.

If you want a POV on your company’s valuation and readiness for a sale, reach out to to [email protected] to setup an intro call.FAME & FORTUNE

FAME & FORTUNE

What creators, brands, governments, and platforms are making waves this week in the name of fortune, fame, and fun?

✂️ MrBeast launched Vyro, a clipping start up to help longform creators get more reach through their shortform cut-downs through networks of editors, meme pages, and growth hackers. This joins the OG platform Whop, and new entrants Dubble and AI clipping like Opus Clip on the new front-line of the attention economy.

👮🏽‍♀️ YouTube put up a blog post announcing ‘Second Chance’ where creators who have been banned have the opportunity to start a new channel. They don’t get to keep their subscribers, but they can re-upload their old videos that did abide by platform guidelines. It’s a start!

🤝 Netflix and Spotify have cut a deal to put libraries of video podcasts on Netflix, including some of their biggest shows like Bill Simmons and Conspiracy Theories. Another paid membership with the exact same stuff as my previous paid membership?! Sign me up!

🥵 Twitter (X) announced a new Handle Marketplace where premium subscribers can pay for rare handles, also known as ‘OG handles’, for up to seven-figures. Co-opting black market internet platforms as a feature? Yikes…

JOB BOARD

Director of Creator Partnerships / Viral Marketing (STEM), Concord

I always have a soft spot for indy music labels, especially ones with programs like STEM that take internet distribution and analytics seriously. This role will not only give you a chance to understand how musicians grow careers in this noisy environment, but ride and impact new trends in the ecosystem.

Influencer Creative Strategy Manager, The Walt Disney Studios

Disney’s business model illustration has been in so many digital company decks in the past two decades I can practically draw it by heart. But there’s a reason for that. They invented the playbook of IP development and expansion. This role will not only let you touch a lot of IP from one of the most historic entertainment companies of all time, but find new ways for Disney to re-think how their model fits into a creator ecosystem (and they learned that hard way that doesn’t involve buying Maker Studios).

TikTok Creator BD & Community Manager, OXYENERGY

Want to know how to build a brand through social media? You should start by trying to build a brand through social media. And companies like OXYENERGY are great, because they’re a supplements brand (very crowded market) but has some heat behind them (they can be scrappy without being sloppy).