đ Creators take over streaming and the Super Bowl
Issue #392
Weâve never known YouTubeâs revenue until this week and it is significant. YouTube brings in US$60bn for parent Alphabet, considerably more than Netflixâs US$45bn. Iâve been talking about YouTube as the most under-appreciated and important channel for a long time. Its success is built on monetising for creators generously and early on in its life. And it is clearly paying off. Creators are rusted onto the channel and the revenue it brings them, that then turns YouTube into an eyeball magnet, even if itâs not the sexiest channel anymore. Happy Thursday, Simon.
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Creators signing streaming deals
âIf you canât beat them, join themâ appears to be Netflixâs attitude. The streaming giant recently inked a deal with YouTube stars Jordan Matter and his 16-year-old daughter, Salish Matter. The partnership isnât just video content either (although the duoâs existing YouTube archive will be available). The deal has a 360 scope covering development and production across scripted, unscripted, and animated series, all starring Salish. It also extends to consumer products and experiential offers - basically whatever the creators can come up with. It appears creators who make their mark on YouTube can use this IP to attract big deals that rival (and exceed) traditional media packages.
Brands want impact from creators
A new report has discovered what we all probably suspected for brands: âmore creators does not guarantee more attentionâ. Brands are moving away from hiring big names and flooding every digital space imaginable with ads. Smarter brands are now using data to track visibility, impact and trust aka VIT. Essentially, theyâre after creators who drive actual engagement and âhigh-intent actionsâ (like saves and shares) over passive views. For creators to take advantage of this they need to focus on retention, building community over reach and understanding what content works best on what platform. A jack of all creator trades.
De-influencing the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is one of the few sporting events where the advertising gets just as much attention (maybe more) than the actual game. From an ad perspective this weekâs event could be the one where relatability beats celebrity. While 59% of this yearâs commercials featured A-listers, seven of the top ten highest-scoring ads (including spots from the NFL and Budweiser) relied on âheartfelt, human storiesâ rather than famous faces. Interestingly the celebs are likely creators, Ishowspeed starred in one spot. People trust people who feel like them. If an advertising juggernaut like the Super Bowl is attracting human stories what does this mean for the industry as a whole?
AI for Creators by Erik Magelssen
I try to stay on top of this stuff but lately it feels like the ground keeps moving. Apparently even the founder of OpenAI admits he feels behind. Weâve gone from chatbots to what people are calling âAgentic Swarmsâ - Kimi 2.5 is coordinating 100 agents at once. Thereâs a network called Multbook that doesnât allow humans at all. The gap between those paying attention and those who arenât is getting wider. 2026 might be the year that gap becomes hard to close. Watch the full video here.
Cool Tools
I wouldn't normally think of a video transmission system as a "creative companion" but the Hollyland Vcore is making me reconsider. It turns your phone into a 4K30 camera monitor via USB-C, which is useful if you've ever tried to frame a shot on a tiny camera screen. It also records proxy files with timecode, transfers RAW and JPEG wirelessly, and can stream to YouTube or Twitch. Built-in 5150mAh battery, works with iOS and Android. At $221, it's doing a lot of jobs for not a lot of money.
Hot Tips
I always pay attention when creators map out what's working in short form right now. One did a good breakdown recently - tutorials, myth busters, educationals, do's vs don'ts, niche quick hacks. Most of these aren't new, but the way they perform shifts over time. If you haven't revisited your content types lately, it's worth a look.
Viral Hits
I've been watching these ChatGPT caricature posts go around. People ask it to draw them "based on everything you know about me" and share the results. They all have that same flattened AI style - technically impressive but weirdly interchangeable, like everyone got the same artist at a theme park. But what I keep getting stuck on is the prompt. You're basically asking a machine to show you how much it's been paying attention. A few years ago, an app knowing that much about you was a red flag. Now it's content.
Stuff from us
I've noticed that relevance and quick turnarounds often go together. For Visa CEMEA's International Fraud Awareness Week piece, we had a few days to get it done - shot Friday, edited by Tuesday, published Thursday. With December being the peak season for online shopping and fraud, the timing couldn't slip. The edit kept things simple: know the risks, protect yourself. Sometimes the tightest deadlines produce the clearest work.
One thing I forgot to add this week was the release of the second AI safety report which seemed to miss my attention last week when it was released. The report, written by 100 AI safety experts, has a bet each way on almost everything. Much as Erik says in his item this week we just don't know where things are headed and it's impossible to keep up. AI capabilities could plateau or keep marching ahead Computer Weekly says in its coverage of the report. The most interesting finding was about how we humans and AI are a mutual appreciation society. AI models exhibit sycophancy, the report says, which I've certainly noticed. ChatGPT gives me the best feedback on me being me that I've ever had in my life. But it turns out we have 'automation' bias and we tend to be overly agreeable back to the AI. Of course we are, we all have one eye on the future!