Hey Creatorverse readers,
YouTube is no longer the only major longform player in town. On Monday, Instagram announced Features, a new offering that will let select creators in the U.S. post content that is up to 90 minutes long. It’s a game changer that I dove into this week.
Instagram is making this move for one reason: it sees YouTube’s living room dominance. In August, YouTube accounted for 15.8% of all TV viewing in the U.S., which was more than double the next most watched platform, Netflix. During an interview on “Colin and Samir,” head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said that, as far as the platform can tell, a majority of YouTube’s recent growth has come from its investment in television viewership.
“It’s very much about TV,” Mosseri said. “It’s not about the time spent as much as the cultural relevance. We want to be the most culturally relevant platform, and to do that, we just need to show up where people are.”
More than half of “Creator TV” — the named used by creator growth platform Spotter to describe longer form creator content —is watched through connected TVs. Creator TV also generates approximately 26 billion hours of viewing annually in the U.S., and these longer high quality videos often mean more advertiser attention. A Spotter analysis found that 30-second skippable ads placed within creator content that is 22 minutes or longer averaged a 60% completion rate. Comparatively, ads placed in content that was eight to 12 minutes long saw a 39% completion rate.
These higher ad returns paired with the fact that Meta launched Instagram for TV last December prove thatInstagram is taking longer form content seriously. While Meta declined to give me any concrete numbers, a representative told me that the performance of Instagram on TV has been encouraging.
But optimism aside, embracing longform content is going to be an uphill battle for Instagram.
First, there’s YouTube’s market dominance and Instagram’s own ecosystem to consider. YouTube has been experimenting with TV viewership since 2009, and even then, that division of the platform really only took off about three years ago. It’s also unclear how longform content will fit into Instagram’s flywheel, a platform that’s far more focused on direct interpersonal connections than YouTube.
But the real hurdle comes down to creator payment. Right now, YouTube consistently pays out creators for their content through the YouTube Partner Program. Instagram doesn’t really pay creators directly; creators typically make money on Instagram through brand partnerships. The YouTube Partner Program also offers revenue sharing, and Instagram Features doesn’t. If you’re a creator, it’s clear which platform is the more reliable money maker.
The one thing really working in Instagram’s favor are the increasing restrictions around the YouTube Partner Program, which will be implemented in February. If Instagram can turn Features into a potentially lucrative offering by the time YouTube makes it harder for newer creators to become monetized, Features could have a real shot at scrambling this landscape.But Instagram will need to be serious about making Features work for that to happen.
Now onto the rest.
Kayla Cobb
Senior Reporter
kayla.cobb@thewrap.com
What’s New
Ten longform series from TikTok creators are coming to Tubi
Need more proof of longform’s popularity? Tubi and TikTok announced this week that 10 new longform shows from 12 creators will be coming to the Fox-owned streamer. It’s the latest move from Tubi and TikTok’s Creatorverse Incubator (no relation to yours truly), which was founded in March. These new shows include:
- “Asking for a Friend,” a comedy talk show featuring celebrity guests from Sabrina Brier (880,000 TikTok followers)
- “Jamie Crow,” an adult animated series from Sebastian Krahl (7.8 million followers) about a high school senior with a dangerous obsession with serial killers
- “The Leasing Manager,” a comedy that stars Madison Humphrey (5 million followers) as an apartment complex leasing manager trying to sabotage a rival while navigating a police investigation
- “Never Have I Spent the Winter with the Romano Brothers,” a comedy starring Yasmine Sahid (2.4 million followers), Alex Maystrik and Pablo Hernandez, aka durafest2 (784,000 followers), about a city teen who moves to small-town Alaska after losing her parents and navigates a romance with two brothers
There are also series coming out from Lynnell Jones Jr. (2.2 million followers), Marc Sebastian (2.6 million followers), Kai Cameron (805,000 followers), Kendria Bland (2.2 million followers), Allie Tran (1.2 million followers) and Christopher Kiely (2 million followers). Truth be told, this is one of the first lineups of creator-led shows that makes me genuinely excited to watch.
Live events are in vogue for creators
Over the past couple of years, there’s been an upswing in live events from creators, and there’s reason to believe there are more to come. Why else would Live Nation launch its own creator-focused hub, Creator Nation? I spoke to Bonny Rebecca and Emily Hunt from “Chats and Reacts” and Anas Marwah from “The Anazala Family” about thedifferent ways creators are approaching live eventsand why this option has become an important way to bolster audience relationships and generate revenue.
Jason and Travis Kelce, Theo Von, “Rotten Mango” and “The Breakfast Club” all score podcasting gains
Four of the 10 most-consumed podcasts in the U.S. — “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce,” “This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von,” “Rotten Mango” and “The Breakfast Club” — increased their audiences during the third quarter of the year. All four podcasts were previously on Edison Research’s roundup, but they were the only ones that climbed up the top 10 rankings this quarter. Also, Bunnie XO’s “Dumb Blonde” made its way into the top 20 most-consumed podcasts.
The usual contenders occupied the top 5 spots: “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “Crime Junkie,” “The Daily,” “Call Her Daddy” and “Smartless.”
By the Numbers
Newpress announces $12 million investment round and names “60 Minutes” vet Bill Owens as an executive producer
Newpress, the creator-led media company founded by Johnny and Iz Harris, announced a $12 million investment round this week, which is being led by Emerson Collective and joined by Glick Family Investments. The money will be used to help Newspress develop new shows as well as recruit journalists and creators. One of those new recruits is Bill Owens, the former “60 Minutes” EP who made headlines last April for resigning from the Paramount-owned show over editorial independence concerns. This happened ahead of Paramount’s acquisition by Skydance. Owens will start at Newspress in March.
Speaking of the creator company, Emmy winner Johnny Harris’ new docuseries “The Human Element” will premiere on YouTube Nov. 7. It’s worth checking out if you want to better understand what news legend Owens is joining.
Meta ordered to pay $25 billion tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal
Here’s a blast from the past. Last week, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for misleading Facebook users about its data privacy practices. The sentencing was tied to a lawsuit connected to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which involved the political consulting firm obtaining personal data from up to 87 million Facebook users without consent, and stands as one of the largest penalties ever imposed on a tech company. Considering that Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion in a settlementover several child safety cases, 2026 is turning into an expensive year for the tech giant.
Steven Bartlett’s business is expected to generate $60 million in revenue
Steven Bartlett, the host of the “Diary of a CEO” podcast, forecasted that his broader business is expected to generate $60 million in revenue this year. That impressive number includes money made from brand partnerships, products owned by the business, subscriptions, memberships and events. Though he didn’t name names, Bartlett also revealed he turned down a deal that promised a lot of money in exchange for more ads on the podcast and pulling the show off YouTube.
Movers and Shakers
Amelia Dimoldenberg brings final installment of “Chicken Shop Date” to theaters
Fans of “Chicken Shop Date” will have the chance to watch the final episode before it’s released. All six of the final episodes, including behind-the-scenes footage, will be screened in theaters for one night only as part of a collaboration with YouTube’s Cine Club. The public screenings will take place across the U.K., Ireland and Paris on Nov. 24, three days before the finale is released on YouTube. Special invite-only premieres will also be held on Nov. 16 in London and Nov. 19 in New York.
Alessandro Marfella, DonYé Taylor, Mercedes Benson and more lead Billion Dollar Boy’s 2027 Impact List
The year isn’t even over, and yet the creator agency Billion Dollar Boy is already looking to 2027. The company released its 2027 creator-focused Impact List in collaboration with FiveTwoNine and Companion. Often when these lists are released, they feature the same handful of creators with massive follower counts. This one is a bit different in that it focuses more on the creator voices who are on the cutting edge rather than aggressively established. It’s worth a look.
beehiiv launches new podcast advertising tools
beehiiv, the newsletter hub for creators, is now offering dynamic ad insertion to its users. That means podcasters who use the platform can now replace ads in new and previously published episodes without re-recording or republishing those episodes. Offerings like that help creators make money from their libraries.
Who to Watch
“Fresh Meat”
In the mood for something spooky this Halloween? Horror-focused creator channel Dead Meat (7.1 million YouTube subscribers) has you covered. After sorting through over 550 shorts submissions, the Dead Meat team found 13 of the creepiest, most interesting scary shorts and sewed them into the anthology movie “Fresh Meat.” In order to make sure that each entry was given a fair shot, every short was watched by at least two people, and judges were able to fight for certain shorts even if they weren’t well liked. That clause is especially crucial to horror, a divisive genre where a film like “I Saw the TV Glow” can be life-changing to one person and deeply confusing to another.
“I’m always looking for variety, novelty and something that will surprise me. So we wanted to take a sample that showed how different horror could be,” James A. Janisse, one of the founders of the channel, told me.
“Fresh Meat” is available to rent for $9.99. That’s more than my typical $0.00 recs, but if you want to splurge on some new filmmakers this season, it’s a scream-worthy option.
Bonus Content
- Hooked on YouTube: How Video Slop is Infiltrating Classrooms (via NBC News)
- TikTok Staff Raised Child Safety Alarms. Court Records Show Executives Failed to Act (via NPR)
- Please Let the Internet Die (via Wired)
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This report provides a weekly deep dive into the creator economy. It highlights key trends, political and technological developments, data points and industry leaders all with the goal of making you smarter about this constantly evolving space.
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