Hey Creatorverse readers,
Looks like YouTube is sweating over Netflix’s sudden interest in creators after all. Last Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that YouTube has been offering some of its top creators millions of dollars to stay off of other streamers, particularly Netflix.
This comes as Netflix has made deals with some of YouTube’s biggest stars including Nick DiGiovanni, the Stokes Twins and Salish and Jordan Matter, sometimes releasing new shows on Netflix the same day those creators post content on YouTube. YouTube has offered this package to at least 15 creators, according to The Ankler, with the deals ranging from the low seven figures to $10 million. The penalty for not taking one of these big deals? YouTube may not feature those creators during big advertising events like Brandcast.
This panic is new for YouTube, which has previously brushed off concerns about Netflix and other streamers by emphasizing that its creators see YouTube as home.
But for some creators, that home isn’t looking as stable as it once was. That’s because YouTube changed its view count policy starting on Monday and announced new parameters for its YouTube Partner Program earlier this month.
Let’s start with the view counts. Previously, YouTube only counted what it dubbed “engaged views” — when a viewer actively clicks on a video or when they watch past the first few frames. As part of Monday’s changes, YouTube will be primarily reporting total views on videos rather than engaged views (engaged views will still be accessible to creators and relevant for the YouTube Partner Program). This switch up could result in as much as a 30% increase in public view counts, according to the creator advertising company Agentio, which analyzed over 35,000 YouTube videos from creators. Not only are YouTube creators about to see a boost in viewership, but YouTube itself is embracing a viewership model that shortform leaders like Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts have already adopted.
“It’s a positive move for the creator ecosystem because it leads to a level of standardization that both creators and brands generally want,” Arthur Leopold, CEO and co-founder of Agentio, told me.
Sounds good, but it’s made some YouTubers worry that this new system will devalue what a YouTube view means. Adding to creator uncertainty, the platform previously announced stricter standards for new creators eligible for the YouTube Partner Program starting in February. New creators will need to have 8,000 qualified watch hours in the past year rather than 4,000 hours. This is the first major overhaul since 2018, and the over 3 million creators already in the program will not be impacted.
Agentio found that the top 20,000 creators make up about 90% of all views on YouTube in the U.S. Based on this, Leopold thinks these stricter standards make sense. “[It] aligns with YouTube wanting to ensure that creators who are investing the time to be creators — creators who are focused on making great content that audiences want to watch — are the creators that can monetize through the brands that spend on YouTube.”
YouTube’s view count and Partner Program changes definitely feel like growing pains for a company that’s evolved from a niche player to the big dog in town. But between this and the Bloomberg report, there is an uncharacteristic amount of shakiness around what has been the most stable creator platform.
Now onto the rest.
Kayla Cobb
Senior Reporter
kayla.cobb@thewrap.com
What’s New
Meta settles landmark child safety case for $17 billion
Well, that didn’t last long. After starting its trial last Tuesday, Meta has already settled its social media child safety casewith state attorneys general in California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey to the tune of $17 billion paid over 10 years. As part of the settlement, Meta will introduce new rules for underage users, like setting daily limits and stopping notifications during school hours, but will deny any wrongdoing. Smart move considering that some were predicting this trial could cost Meta as much as $1.4 trillion.
As part of its settlement, Meta nobly called for TikTok and YouTube to adopt the same measures it was legally pressured to implement. Blame-passing open letters aside, other social media platforms are also feeling the heat from these child safety cases. On Monday, TikTok agreed to pay $400 million in a settlement to the U.S. Department of Justice. I’ll have more on what this case means for the future of social media and child safety tomorrow.
Chinese video platform Bilibili goes global
Bilibili, essentially China’s alternative to YouTube, relaunched its international app last week and disclosed plans to launch an English-language website. The company is also staffing up in several international markets including Japan, the U.S. and Europe. The platform boasts 376 million monthly active users (for comparison, YouTube reported more than 2.7 billion monthly active users in 2024), and U.S. creators like MrBeast have already started posting on the platform.
Kevin Langue partners with Netflix, and Dhar Mann partners with Disney
Speaking of YouTubers moving to other streamers, Kevin Langue (5.4 million YouTube subscribers) is coming to Netflix. As part of the deal, a collection of older episodes from two of the creator’s shows — “The Kevin Langue Show” and “Kevin Langue 2” — will be coming to the streamer starting Sept. 5. After that, new episodes will premiere on Netflix the same day Langue posts them on YouTube. The creator-driven Almost Friday Media is also bringing “On Campus” — a new weekly video series about college students preparing for the football game of the week — to Netflix.
As for Dhar Mann Studios (27.5 million YouTube subscribers), the production company signed a content deal with Disney this week that involves the studio making new original content for kids, tweens, teens and families. The first project is a 20-episode TV series. For those keeping track at home, this is the second major media deal Mann has under his belt after his Fox Entertainment microseries deal earlier this year.
By the Numbers
Felicia Day’s “The Guild” breaks a Kickstarter record
Ready for a blast from the past? “The Guild,” Felicia Day’s comedy webseries about players in a MMORPG video game, raised over $6.8 million on Kickstarter for a reunion movie. The channel’s 20th anniversary movie has been backed by over 45,000 people, and “The Guild: Ren Faire’d” is now the highest crowdfunded movie in Kickstarter history. The 2014 campaign for a “Veronica Mars” held the prior record of $5.7 million.
More than 11,000 Twitch creators have participated in Creator Sponsorship campaigns this year
Twitch is expanding its Creator Sponsorships program to eligible affiliates globally, giving a broader group of streamers access to brand partnerships and simplifying the sponsorship process. So far this year, more than 11,000 creators have participated in a Twitch Creator Sponsorship campaign.
That’s the good news. The bad is that Twitch and its parent company Amazon are part of a class action lawsuitafter Twitch let Amazon’s AI models train off of streamers’ content. The program was opt out instead of opt in, which meant streamers were participating by default, and now the lawsuit claims that Twitch and Amazon were in breach of contract.
Patreon launches 30 new features for creators
Creator subscription hub Patreon is making it easier for its creators to clip and share their content. Patreon’s Clips, which turns a creator’s videos into bite-sized posts that can be shared on platforms like TikTok, is just one of the 30 new features the platform unveiled last Thursday. Other tools include suggested video previews, which pulls out the most engaging parts of creators’ paid videos, and a feature that lets creators quote passages from their longer written posts.
Movers and Shakers
Mattel will stream the UNO Championship Series on Twitch
You read that right; there’s going to be an UNO Championship Series, and you’ll be able to watch it live. The tournament will take place in Los Angeles and end on Nov. 11 with the winner taking home $50,000.
CAA launches gaming development initiative FRAME1GAMES
Creative Artists Agency is investing more in the gaming space with FRAME1GAMES, a program designed to fund, accelerate and market independent games. The offering will connect independent developers and game creators with industry veterans and CAA executives and help give creators access to the partners and vendors they need to bring a game to market. Considering how many game developers found their start by being a creator on Fortnite or Roblox, it’s an initiative that makes sense.
Creator Camp backs the Spirit Awards’ first-ever Digital Creator Award
A new creator-focused award is coming to the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The Digital Creator Award is for artists on digital-first platforms and comes with a $25,000 unrestricted grant. The new category was developed in partnership with Max Reisinger, the CEO and co-founder of Creator Camp, a creator-focused media company. Creator Camp will collaborate with the Spirit Awards on rolling out the prize.
Who to Watch
NEWSGIRLS
Helmed by former “60 Minutes” producers and Emmy-nominated journalists Mabel Kabani and Wren Woodson, NEWSGIRLS (286,000 Instagram followers) is one of the coolest examples of how traditional journalists are adapting to the digital era. Kabani and Woodson’s work is clearly well-researched and professional, yet their channel does a great job of being voicey enough to be attention grabbing in this modern era. It’s always difficult to find a balance between the AP and a buzzy TikTok, but Kabani and Woodson are doing a great job navigating those tricky waters.
Bonus Content
- Inside the Creator AI Reckoning: Backlash, Heated Debates and So Much Slop (via TheWrap)
- Reel-ing it in: Meta is Paying Influencers to Promote Teen Accounts (via The Guardian)
- Comedians Are Trolling AI, and the Jokes Are Landing (via Vanity Fair)
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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.
