Archive for 2025:

RHEI’s creator productivity AI agents go global

This past February, RHEI (the media-tech AI company formerly known as BBTV) beta-launched Made, which it describes as a platform featuring “emotionally intelligent” AI agents that are designed to “unlock creativity” by assisting creators with day-to-day content creation and community management.

Shortly after, it introduced an enterprise version of Made and sent that out into the music industry–a move that has so far been a “tremendous success,” it claims. To date, Made’s enterprise partners (including Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Warner Music) have used Made in “the creation of tens of thousands of high-quality pieces of multi-variate content distributed across multiple channels generating billions of views,” RHEI says.

Now, citing growing burnout among career digital content creators, RHEI is launching Made to global public access.

That means creators anywhere can now pay $29.99/month to access Made’s first three AI “agents”: Milo, Zara, and Amie.

“What if you could get back to being a creator? Imagine a creator who never has to face the blank page alone, who wakes up to new ideas, polished strategies, and ready-to-publish content aligned with their unique voice. Imagine your community growing overnight, nurtured by a partner who engages your fans with your unique voice and empathy,” RHEI says. “Imagine possessing the strategic power of a global studio, yet retaining the soul and freedom of an independent artist. This isn’t the future of creation; it’s the present. RHEI built the dream team to handle everything.”

Once a creator signs on with Made, it reviews their channels and past content, using their data as its foundation. Then the “agents” come in, each of them trained to accomplish different generative tasks.

There’s Milo, aka “the creative director,” which RHEI says “acts as a creative collaborator, helping creators go from initial concept to publish-ready content.” ‘His’ main tasks are generating new video ideas, researching current content trends, and churning out video titles, thumbnails, and metadata “tailored to a creator’s unique voice and audience.”

Then there’s Zara, aka “the community manager,” which “analyzes audience sentiment, drafts authentic comment replies, and identifies superfans,” RHEI says. The goal is to let creators “engage meaningfully [with their audiences] without spending hours in the comments section.”

Last up (for now) is Amie, “the relationship manager.” RHEI describes ‘her’ as “a direct line to the Made platform, providing a seamless experience by handling bug reports and feature requests.” ‘She’ will help RHEI collect information about how creators are doing with Made, and tell it what kinds of tools and capabilities creators want in future updates.

RHEI currently has three more agents “in training”: Enzo, Lila, and Remi.

“We’re standing at the edge of a creative renaissance,” Shahrzad Rafati, founder/CEO of RHEI, said in a statement. “The question isn’t whether AI will replace creativity, it’s how it will expand it. With Made, we’re not automating art, we’re amplifying the human spirit behind it. Technology should serve imagination, not the other way around. This is about restoring the balance between scale and soul, giving every creator the freedom to dream bigger and create without limits.”

To Forbes, she added that modern content creators are “really like visionaries and chiefs, like they’re creator CEOs. What we want to do is we want to finally liberate them from the tyranny of scale and logistics.”

A big part of RHEI’s Made push is citing burnout statistics; it pointed to a 2024 study showing that over half of creators report feeling burnt out, caught in a tide of having to constantly pump out content and be constantly “on” for their fans.

An even more recent study from the Creators 4 Mental Health initiative showed things have worsened: Now, 62% of creators said they experience burnout–specifically burnout driven by things like unhealthy fan relationships and the rise of generative AI. 89% of respondents further said they feel they have no access to specialized mental health resources and benefits, leaving them stuck in a cycle with little support.

RHEI believes Made will lessen creators’ daily production stress, and has structured its marketing to talk down creators’ anxieties about their thoughtful content being drowned out in the slop era. It also plans to continue fleshing out Made, with upcoming agents trained in “skills ranging from production and distribution to rights management and strategic insights.”

 

RHEI is a Tubefilter partner.

Theorist’s staff wants to unionize with the WGA and Motion Picture Editors Guild. It declined to voluntarily recognize them.

When YouTube launched 20 years ago, the first people posting videos didn’t expect that “content creator” would ever become a full-fledged career. But here we are in 2025, where creators and their support staffs have become so impactful that they’re shaping modern culture (and sometimes making big bucks doing it).

But despite all that pop culture punch, creators and the people working on their videos are notoriously underprotected in areas like labor and tax laws.

That could change soon.

In April, SAG-AFTRA‘s national board members voted unanimously to create an influencer and digital creator committee. In August, during its board election cycle, the Writers Guild of America West had several candidates make creator inclusion a part of their platforms (alongside support from incumbents like Adam Conover, who worked at CollegeHumor–aka Dropout–and created the webseries Adam Ruins Everything).

These efforts have not yet resulted in a single, unified industry-wide bargaining group for creators, but now WGA West is reportedly organizing with the Motion Picture Editors Guild to establish a single-company group within Theorist, the YouTube production outfit founded by MatPat and Stephanie Patrick.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, WGA West and the MPEG are aiming to include over two dozen Theorist employees, all of whom either edit, write, produce, or do things like thumbnail and sound design for the company’s various channels. Those include The Game Theorists, The Food Theorists, The Film Theorists, Style Theory, and GTLive.

Nicole Cepeda, who does graphics work for Theorist, told THR, “For more than 20 years, we’ve watched terrific creators and their content shape YouTube into one of the most powerful platforms on Earth. Now it’s time for Theorist and other production companies to take it to the next level.”

She added, “By unionizing, our goal is to help raise professional standards and bring them in line with the broader entertainment industry. The work we do is real, and it deserves real protection.”

Writer Daniel Zemke explained that the union wants to negotiate wages, working conditions, and their “voice on the job,” as THR phrased it. He said that a union at Theorist would “[help] bring the labor movement to YouTube.” Whether that’s accurate would remain to be seen, but Theorist is a prominent YouTube production company, even with MatPat retired off camera and organizing elsewhere.

Theorist, which sold to London-based Lunar X in 2022, has apparently declined to voluntarily recognize the union, but didn’t issue a statement about its decision. Tubefilter reached out to ask why it would decline.

If Theorist continues to decline to voluntarily recognize a union, WGA West and MPEG could file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent staffers anyway.

Top 50 Most Subscribed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 11/16/2025

[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like; a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]

Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart. 👇


Thanks to the rounding strategies YouTube employs on its subscriber counts, ties are becoming more common in our Global Sub Top 50 chart. This week, three channels shared the spotlight, with KIMPRO, Zhong, and MrBeast all adding about one million new subscribers.

One of those channels is the most-watched hub on YouTube right now, and another is the platform’s most-subscribed channel of all-time. The third co-habitant of the #1 spot comes with a more interesting story, but you have to consider the entire YouTube community in order to tell it.

Welcome to the YouTube Cinematic Universe

The MCU may be a bit passé these days, but that cultural drift is stopping Zhong from constructing his own interconnected universe on YouTube. The multiformat creator, whose real name is Zhongni Zhu, couldn’t have earned his joint #1 finish in the Global Sub Top 50 without getting a little help from his friends.

Let’s start with the basics: Zhong puts up strong numbers week after week, making him a regular entrant in our Top 50 charts. His latest uptick, however, represents the biggest week-over-week subscriber gain we’ve seen from him thus far. By bringing in one million new fans during the second full week of November, Zhong brought his lifetime total up to 62.7 million subs. His lifetime viewership is nothing to sniff at, either. That tally recently topped 21 billion.

Zhong hasn’t achieved those high heights alone. While he is the star in many of his top videos, he also uploads frequent collabs with his partner Kat Buno, who commands a significant social media presence of her own. Buno appears in many of Zhong’s most popular YouTube Shorts clips, with her personality often juxtaposed against Zhong’s.

A look at Zhong’s long-form library shows that he doesn’t exhaust his collaborative instincts for his Kat Buno videos. He has also teamed up with some of the biggest names on YouTube, like the time he “stole a brainrot” in real life alongside Topper Guild and MrBeast.

Speaking of Topper Guild, he’s ranked #9 in this week’s Global Sub Top 50. By adding 500,000 new subscribers, the short-form star moved up 36 places in our weekly ranking.

Just like Zhong, Topper Guild highlights his friendship with MrBeast by putting it front and center on his channel’s homepage. In an era of YouTube defined by widespread adherence to trends, associations with trendy creators are paramount. It’s the same reason Zhong and Topper Guild have invoked Cristiano Ronaldo and KPop Demon Hunters in recent videos.

As nakedly pandering as that strategy may be, it works. That’s why the second half of Topper Guild’s 2025 has been one of the more productive periods in the channel’s history.

Data via Gospel Stats

These days, the YouTube community isn’t as close-knit as it was back in the day, but the latest Top 50 returns show that there is still a convivial spirit among the platform’s biggest draws. Some of those stars have become memes themselves, and that transformation is bringing the whole creator world closer together.

Channel Distribution

Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:

  • India: 13
  • United States: 9
  • Indonesia and Mexico: 3
  • Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Spain: 2
  • Argentina, Brazil, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan: 1

This week, 40 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.

As always, keep up to speed with the latest Tubefilter Charts and all our news by subscribing to our newsletter. You’re going to love it. 👉  Newsletter.Tubefilter.com.

Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: Search on Amazon

Welcome to our rundown of the most-watched branded YouTube videos of the week.

We’re publishing this snippet of a larger Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report in order to analyze sponsorship trends in the creator economy. Any video launched in tandem with an official brand partner is eligible for the ranking.

And – as the name up above would imply – all the data comes from Gospel Stats. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here. You can also download our YouTube 2025 Sponsorship Landscape Report here.


Sorry MrBeast–no threepeat for you this week. Instead you ‘only’ get two slots in the top 5 of our Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report.

But what’s interesting is those videos are not right next to each other. Usually if MrBeast posts videos across any of his channels, they pop up at the very top of our list with the most views. This week, though, he’s in spots #1 and #3, interrupted by Anna Twinsies at #2. This MomTuber has not one, but two sets of twins, and has amassed 10 million subscribers with her family life vlogs. This week’s video is something a little different…We’ll get into that more below.

Check it all out right here:

#1 100 People Vs World’s Biggest Trap!
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Slack
Views: 66,424,323

It’s nearly Thanksgiving, and we’re not sure what’s happening at your house, but up here in the Northern California mountains, we still don’t have snow. Used to be that snow would come dependably every single November. But even if we can’t depend on the four seasons continuing to exist, you know what we can depend on? MrBeast getting a clickbait number of people to compete in nonlethal Squid Game for an absurd amount of money.

This week’s video is much like many of his other videos: 100 people face down a massive trap room, racing against time to solve clues as menacing (foam) spikes slowly lower down on them. A few other competitions are scattered throughout this 30-minute video, but back in the trap room, everyone’s eyeing the $100,000 grand prize.

Meanwhile the video sponsor, coworking software/chat room Slack, is eyeing the ~66 million views this video brought for its company. Not too bad–although we’re curious about the demographic Slack is hoping to reach here. Are preteens really going to hop in the #hustlegrind channel and network with their cubicle neighbor?

#2 The Levoit cordless vacuum is the ultimate modern witch’s broom, search “levoit vacuum” on Amazon
Channel: Anna Twinsies
Brand: Levoit
Views: 18,637,156

Anna Brown, aka Anna Twinsies, lives her life on camera. And so do her four kids. That, in our modern era of everyone’s a seller, means lots  of opportunities for Brown to partner up with a paying brand.

In this case, it’s Levoit, which makes vacuums, humidifiers, and more. Brown’s going for relatable here: her four kids left a big mess after their Halloween bash, so while they’re at school, she’s scrubbing up bat-shaped confetti and candy wrappers. Her weapon of choice is, of course, a Levoit vac.

This video is an interesting one. Unlike many sponsored Shorts, it’s not just about Levoit; instead, Brown works Levoit’s product into a full morning vlog–but that actually works in the brand’s favor. According to Brown, by using her Levoit vac, she’s done cleaning that disaster by 9 a.m. After that it’s all straightening bedclothes, fiddling with laundry, and making an Instagrammable mug of matcha. While the entire video isn’t about Levoit, its title is, and even directs viewers to buy Levoit on Amazon. Clearly that approach worked, considering Brown’s 18 million views. (We’re curious to know sales numbers…👀) Is this the new ‘thing’ in Shorts marketing?

#3 The Perfect Caramel Brownie
Channel: MrBeast 2
Brand: Feastables
Views: 11,748,950

The Feastables propaganda sweep continues…And so does the brand expansion. This video features yet another new Feastables product: the caramel bar, which MrBeast urges viewers to go buy from their local Walmart, Target, or Albertsons. But it’s not MrBeast in this video; it’s collaborator Nolan hosting alongside foodie YouTuber Nick DiGiovanni.

With this vid, it’s clear MrBeast et al are trying to say (in time for the holidays) that Feastables aren’t just for cracking open and biting into, Charlie Bucket-style. No no, they’re versatile. For example, you can shove one inside a brownie and it’ll probably turn out pretty good. Take that, Thanksgiving dessert table!

#4 Grilling Gingerbread Ribs On The Jobsite #sponsored @5hourenergyshot
Channel: Haus Plans
Brand: 5-Hour Energy
Views: 9,553,481

If there’s one thing we learned from COVID-time internet, it’s that people love to watch other people work–especially skilled tradespeople whose jobs–and jobsites–aren’t super accessible for the average person.

That’s part of what’s so appealing about Haus Plans‘ content. This husband-and-wife duo of contractors and content creators give their 1.5 million subscribers an inside look at construction sites and the complicated work that goes into building. In this video, however, it’s not exactly their constructing skills they’re showing off.

You know that feeling you get when you shotgun an energy drink too fast and suddenly have to do something? Yeah, that’s the vibe we get here: Haus Plans (sponsored by 5-Hour Energy) decides to use their equipment to carve a 10-foot trench, fill it with charcoal, and get the grillin’ goin’…including dumping gingerbread-flavored 5-Hour Energies on their roasting ribs. Questionable? Sure. But honestly? We’re kind of thrilled to get confirmation that whimsy still exists.

BONUS #29 I Paid Dress Makers $5000 To Recreate AI Dresses
Channel: Mia Maples
Brand: ThredUp
Views: 2,020,574

In a world where AI continues to encroach on basically every aspect of our lives, Mia Maples is paying real people to turn generated hallucinations into actual works of art. She, like many people, has realized that Pinterest is now a cesspool of slop–but sometimes the slop contains a kernel of visual appeal. Such was the case when she looked up fantasy dresses.

Lord of the Rings showed us even the most fantastical of dresses can be real (everyone else wanted to be Arwen and/or Galadriel, right? Right?), so Maples–sponsored by online thrift store ThredUp–gathered $5K and found incredible outfitters to turn fever dreams into fitted gowns. Now that’s what we call innovation.


…and there’s a lot more data where that came from. If you like our Weekly Top 5, you’ll love everything else Gospel has to offer. Start with our newly released YouTube 2025 Sponsorship Landscape Report, which you can download right here.

 

Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 11/16/2025

[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like; a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]

Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart. 👇


South Korea is in the midst of yet another outsized cultural moment (thanks, KPop Demon Hunters), and the country’s most-watched YouTube channel is reaping the rewards of that focused attention. KIMPRO is #1 in the Global Top 50 with 1.6 billion weekly views. That sum represented a 17% week-over-week viewership increase.

Some channels are feeling lucky because of their home countries or chosen niches, but others make it into the Top 50 through snappy presentation. On the short-form side of YouTube, style matters, and upstarts are borrowing from some of the creators who first figured this stuff out.

Ever wonder why so many children’s YouTube channels look the way they do?

Close your eyes and think about what a typical “family-friendly learning video” looks like. If your little ones spend a lot of time on YouTube, you’re probably imagining a specific aesthetic: A loud color scheme, wacky sound effects, and intensely smiling hosts who connect to young viewers through the universal language of emotion.

That vibe is all over this week’s Global Top 50. It shows up on channels like MEOWJI (#5 in the ranking), Toys and Colors (#26), and Kidshire (#33). And lest you think that the “bright colors, big faces” approach is limited to individuals, think again. The #31 channel in the Global Top 50, KIDZOKI, is affiliated with TheSoul Publishing, a Cyprus-based outfit that has long been active in the YouTube space.

Many of TheSoul’s channels feature that same ebullient vibe that defines most of the top kid-friendly YouTube hubs. When you look at KIDZOKI’s performance, it’s easy to see why TheSoul has favored its current production style. All of those sunshine and rainbows powered KIDZOKI as it moved up two spots and raised its viewership by 9% week-over-week. In total, it collected 512.4 million weekly views.

KIDZOKI is not to be confused with Kidzuko, the Sony-owned channel that features a different style of all-ages programming. The similarity between those names — and many monikers you can find on YouTube Kids — harkens back to popular channels like Dominoki Kids Songs and Filaretiki.

Those hubs hail from Russia and nearby nations, and the bright style I describe is, in a sense, a “Russian”-inspired form of early education content. Dominoki and its contemporaries showed that electric colors and agreeable emotions could haul in millions of viewers.

Now, the rest of world is following suit, so much so that there’s only one Russian representative in this week’s Global Top 50. That channel, La La Learn, exemplifies the style I’m talking about. Its current upward trajectory shows that this formula for children’s entertainment isn’t growing stale. If anything, it’s only becoming more popular.

Data via Gospel Stats

Is it time for a new aesthetic in the always-changing world of YouTube Shorts? Maybe, but if someone is trying to apply a new style to their family-friendly content, they should keep one thing in mind: The videos that work the best across the globe will also work the best in any individual part of the globe.

Channel Distribution

Here’s a breakdown of the Top 50 Most Viewed channels this week in terms of their countries of origin:

  • India: 20
  • United States: 10
  • Australia, Canada, Japan, and Pakistan: 2
  • Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Türkiye, and Vietnam: 1

This week, 42 channels in the Top 50 are primarily active on YouTube Shorts.

As always, keep up to speed with the latest Tubefilter Charts and all our news by subscribing to our newsletter. You’re going to love it. 👉  Newsletter.Tubefilter.com.

Your sneak peek at BRIDGE Summit’s 400 speakers: Gary Vaynerchuk, Alexis Ohanian, Idris Elba, Michelle Khare

Next month, over 60,000 attendees will gather at the ADNEC Centre in Abu Dhabi for the first ever BRIDGE Summit–a three-day conference it says will have “the future of media, entertainment, culture, and technology meet[ing] power, policy, and capital on one bridge.”

In partnership with major platforms and brands like Meta, X, LinkedIn, Sony, Canva, Time, and Forbes, BRIDGE Summit will offer panels, roundtables, and masterclasses from over 400 speakers across multiple industries, including the creator economy, technology, marketing, media, gaming, picture/film, and music.

Each of the gathering’s three days will have one core theme. Day 1 is Landscape, asking What is the state of media and entertainment?, Day 2 is Vision, asking How is the ecosystem being reimagined?, and Day 3 is Blueprint, asking What strategies and steps will take us into media’s next era?

While all of BRIDGE Summit’s hundreds of speakers are accomplished professionals, creatives, and/or policymakers, many with multiple areas of expertise, we wanted to highlight a few that could be particularly interesting for potential attendees (who, by the way, can apply for registration right here).

Those speakers include…

Again, those interested in attending BRIDGE Summit 2025 can apply here, and those interested in exhibiting can apply here.

We’ll see you there!

 

BRIDGE Summit is a Tubefilter partner.

Have you heard? Jake Paul seeks his next fight, Twitch donates to Emiru, and Jennifer Lawrence trolls TikTok.

Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

This week, the biggest star in the world of influencer boxing is putting the gloves back on, Twitch is looking to atone for past security lapses, and an Oscar-winning actress is outing herself as a troll.

Creator commotion

Will Jake Paul’s fight against Anthony Joshua come together? If the rumored December 19 Netflix bout comes to fruition, Paul will face one of his toughest opponents yet. For now, Joshua’s promoter has said the negotiations are not yet done, so this could still end up as yet another cancelled Jake Paul bout.

WhistlinDiesel has been released on a $2 million bond after tax evasion charge. The YouTube star could face jail time after being charged with a single count of tax evasion. I know creators sometimes pay too much in taxes, but the man born Cody Detwiler seems to have pushed it too far in the other direction.

TikToker Brenay Kennard to pay $1.75 million after “destroying manager’s marriage.” After Kennard allegedly shacked up with manager Tim Montague, she found herself in the midst of a court battle thanks to Montague’s ex-wife Akira. This story is the reason the phrase “don’t shit where you eat” was coined (unless you happen to have $1.75 million lying around.)

Platform headlines

Twitch pledges $100,000 to “Violence Protection Charity” to make nice with Emiru. The streaming platform failed to protect Emiru from an assailant during a meet-and-greet at this year’s TwitchCon. As part of its apology, Twitch is making a six-figure contribution — a gesture that shows it is serious about protecting the safety of its star streamers.

Meta is turning Facebook Marketplace into the hot new social network. By adding comment threads and other social features to its virtual secondhand store, Facebook is catering to the Millennial and Gen Z users who see Marketplace as a cultural touchstone. Also, this is Meta we’re talking about, so AI-powered features are coming to Marketplace, too.

Pornhub’s ‘Shorties’ are officially here. Last month, the leading porn site announced that it would launch a feed that will resemble TikTok’s For You Page. Now, that collection of so-called Shorties has arrived, serving users who want to consume their adult entertainment a few seconds at a time.

The biz

MrBeast’s Saudi Arabian theme park has opened its doors. Beast Land won’t be a permanent fixture in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, but it will be open until the end of 2025. That seems like plenty of time to attract millions of MrBeast fans who want nothing more that to put themselves into one of Jimmy Donaldson’s extreme challenge videos.

Identical twins Brigitte and Danielle Pheloung are seeing double in the fashion world. With a new brand called Phe Phe, the sisters are looking to leverage their sizable followings on platforms like Instagram. I’m sure that, for the fans who have been following them since the beginning, this announcement landed right in the PhePhes.

Creators are getting more people invested in Dancing with the Stars. DWTS is seeing its highest same-day viewership numbers in five years, and TikTokers like Alix Earle are a big reason why. Who knew that an app original focused on dance routines could produce so many talented dancers?

Agency dealings

Matt & Abby sign with Currents Management. In addition to running one of the biggest family channels on YouTube, Matt & Abby host The Unplanned Podcast. In other words, they’re operating in some of the most lucrative corners of the creator economy, so it’s no wonder that Currents wants to build on the couple’s success.

UTA stocks up its creator division in the U.K. The Beverly Hills-based agency is levelling up across the pond by signing Jack Edwards, Madame Joyce, and Lewis Goodall. Those newcomers will join the creators who are already represented by UTA’s London-based agents — a group that includes TikTok standout Madeleine Argy.

Buchwald taps Verve, Gersh veteran to lead digital push. At Buchwald, new hire Max Nagler will serve as VP of Branding and Digital. To any agencies out there that haven’t yet upped their investment in digital media: The time is now.

The internet is a strange place

Even Jennifer Lawrence can’t get enough rage bait. When JLaw needs to kick back and relax, she logs into her secret TikTok account and stars trolling everyone in sight. You might think that she uses her internet anonymity to tackle tough topics, but no — apparently, her comment wars are usually about Real Housewives or the Kardashians.

Freddie Wong takes us on a tour of the Chinese restaurant menu. Obsessing over small details is a very Freddie Wong thing to do, so the action filmmaker took viewers on an education journey as he hunted for the perfect prop for his upcoming movie. It is great having such a fun and eclectic voice back on YouTube.

Does this politician look like MrBeast? After announcing his candidacy for the Wisconsin State Assembly, Brady Penfield drew comparisons to another wavy-haired boy. If it turns out that Penfield is just MrBeast in disguise (as part of a video, of course), I won’t be surprised.

American Express is putting a fresh twist on Small Business Saturday: Say hello to Keith Lee

American Express established Small Business Saturday in 2010, and the annual tradition has since become a valued part of post-Thanksgiving shopping sprees everywhere. In 2025, Small Business Saturday falls on November 29, and AmEx is celebrating by working with Keith Lee, the TikTok food critic who is known for uplifting mom-and-pop shops across the country.

Lee and AmEx will collaborate on a series of stories that will celebrate small businesses. The vignettes will draw attention to hard-working vendors ahead of the 29th, when AmEx customers will be able to use a Shop Small Map to find deals at local small businesses.

The collab reflects the transformation of Lee’s approach to his food reviews. Once upon a time, the former MMA fighter was leveraging his fast food hacks to land on the menu at Chipotle. But in recent years, as the “Keith Lee effect” has become a significant economic phenomenon, the namesake creator has turned his attention to the little guys. His support for independent, family-owned restaurants makes him the perfect partner for AmEx’s Shop Small push.

@keith_lee125 Supporting small businesses made me who I am today. This year, I’m tapping in #withAmex to back small businesses for #SmallBusinessSaturday — starting with Drew’s Place, a 2025 Backing Historic Small Restaurants grantee that’s been serving up good food and community for decades. They’re proof of how a little support can make a big difference. @American Express ♬ original sound – Keith Lee

“I’ve always believed that supporting small businesses can change lives, and partnering with American Express gives me the opportunity to help even more people discover and uplift the entrepreneurs who make our neighborhoods special,” Lee said in a statement. “Small businesses are the heart of every community. They’re where stories start, families gather, and people chase their dreams.”

As for AmEx, the opportunity to work with someone as influential as Lee is too good to pass up. The credit card company’s 2025 Shop Small Impact Study. found that 82% of small businesses who use social media as a marketing tool have seen their sales spike when content creators post about them.

AmEx isn’t the only company in its field paying attention to that phenomenon. Visa, which has already encouraged creators to turn their hustles into small businesses, is now deepening its existing relationship with the creator banking firm Karat. A new pilot program will “focus on leveraging agents to help resolve common friction points for creators,” according to a press release. In a separate update, Visa announced support for stablecoin payouts, dangling another carrot in front of creators who bank on the blockchain.

In many ways, companies like AmEx and Visa are gatekeepers of the traditional consumer finance world. It’s meaningful for these firms to embrace creators, but when you look at how big the Keith Lee effect is, it’s hard to come up with reasons why AmEx wouldn’t want to go into (small) business with its new partner.

Disney and YouTube are digging in for a long ESPN feud. Who will budge?

[[UPDATE 11/15/25: Disney and YouTube have a deal. The Mouse House announced that the two companies’ new distribution agreement will deliver “marquee sports, news and entertainment programming” as well as “greater choice and value” for consumers.]]

 

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history has come to an end, but in the world of streaming media, another bitter dispute is dragging on with no end in sight. Disney and YouTube still cannot agree on the carriage deal they need to bring Disney’s channels back to YouTube TV.

The standoff looked as if it was moving toward a resolution last week, but during Disney’s Q3 2025 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston took a more pessimistic stance. He told analysts that the Mouse House Disney has “built a hedge” into its projections to account for a potentially protracted fight against YouTube.

Disney and YouTube both say they just want a fair deal. Viewers just want the situation to resolve itself before they miss too many more Monday Night Football broadcasts. Both sides have ways they can hold out for a better deal, but someone has to blink first eventually. Who will it be?

Disney piece of leverage #1: The ESPN app is coming

Though the carriage dispute involves channels affiliated with ABC and 20th Century FOX, the clear flashpoint of the feud is the ESPN family of networks. Since launching its alternative to old-school cable packages, YouTube has built its TV offerings around its ability to distribute live sports. It has rolled out several packages to serve sports fans who have limited access to their favorite teams and events (more on that later).

Disney’s decision to launch a $30-per-month ESPN streaming service may be the origin of the carriage dispute. If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, consumers will have to go elsewhere to watch The Worldwide Leader in Sports. That plays right into Disney’s hands, and it may have been the company’s plan all along. “Disney is reducing its reliance upon cable companies to distribute its channels,” said Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes. “But cutting out video distributors will take time.”

YouTube piece of leverage #1: NFL Sunday Ticket can counter the appeal of the ESPN app

Football fans can get NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube, so the Google-owned hub has its own solution for football-starved consumers. Rather than adding ESPN to their growing list of streaming subscriptions, those households can get the majority of each week’s NFL games, along with a plethora of other sports channels, on a single YouTube TV bill.

The Sunday Ticket add-on for YouTube TV is causing headaches amid the Disney dispute, but YouTube can still brand itself as a primary provider of live sports. Even without ESPN in its lineup, its sports coverage is more expansive (and, it should be said, more expensive) than most of its competitors.

Disney piece of leverage #2: YouTube is in a lose-lose situation

Whether YouTube accedes to Disney’s demands or stands firm, it is likely to frustrate a significant portion of its YouTube TV subscriber base (which now includes more than 10 million customers). It’s a classic case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

On one hand, YouTube indicated that meeting Disney’s demands would “force deal terms that would raise prices on our customers.” For consumers who are already concerned about regular YouTube TV price hikes, additional costs won’t feel great. But if YouTube holds out, its ongoing outages will rankle people who feel they pay too much for inconsistent coverage.

YouTube piece of leverage #2: People are already fed up about the limits of ESPN access

Sports fans just want to watch their favorite teams, but in a fractured streaming landscape, that task isn’t always so simple. Blackouts have become so common that Patrick Mahomes’ mom wasn’t even able to access one of her son’s games earlier this year.

Even if consumers feel that YouTube is using strongarm tactics to push around rival who have smaller market capitalizations, ESPN is more likely to be blamed for the lack of access that results from a protracted dispute. Even inside of the company, Pat McAfee is calling on his higher-ups to give the people what they want.

Disney piece of leverage #3: For YouTube, these disputes are a “one vs. many” situation

This carriage fight isn’t the first one YouTube has had to contest, and it likely won’t be the last. A battle against NBCUniversal knocked the Peacock’s channels off of YouTube TV earlier this year. The feud with Disney comes on the heels of a similar dispute that was resolved in 2021.

YouTube has shown that it is determined to fight for the best possible deal for its TV-watching customers. At a certain point, however, the platform risks a death by a thousand cuts. How long can YouTube keep risking carriage interruptions before its subscribers decide that alternatives like Hulu Live TV and Fubo TV come with less hassle?

YouTube piece of leverage #3: The nuclear option

At the end of the day, this dispute is a game of chicken. Both Disney and YouTube will take financial hits for as long as they fail to reach a deal. Disney’s stock is down after the news of its “hedge,” while YouTube is placating consumers with credits.

If the dispute drags on long enough to hit these companies where it hurts, Disney will suffer more consequences. If only the Mouse House had a Google-sized market cap — then it would have more leverage in its YouTube TV negotiations.

YouTube gives advertisers a sneak peek of top creators’ next projects at its first “Premieres” showcase

Once upon a time, we had YouTube Originals, where the platform partnered with creators and gave them production resources to make high-concept series and standalones. YouTube has since ceased offering this kind of partnership–but what if it could still bask in the glitz and glamour of an Originals premiere, and hype creators’ projects to potential advertisers, without materially participating in the production process?

That seems to be YouTube’s strat these days. At its recent Made On event, it said it wants to do more creator/content promotion events and matchmake them with brands. Now it’s making good on that promise.

Last week it booked the bougie Paramour Estate in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood to host a “coronation” (aka premiere) for season 3 of Brittany Broski‘s interview show Royal Court.

And, today, it unveiled its first “Creator Premieres” showcase, which it called a “film festival style experience” that “provided a room full of advertisers and industry leaders a front-row seat to must-watch programming, directly from the creators who are defining a new era of media and entertainment on YouTube.”

The showcase was held at the Metrograph theater in New York City, and gave brands a close look at upcoming series and videos from well-known creators like Broski, Ms. Rachel, Dhar Mann, Deestroying, Recess Therapy‘s Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Brave Wilderness host Mark Vins, and Cleo Abram (pictured above). (Oh, and Trevor Noah was there too?)

YouTube of course used the opportunity to reiterate to advertisers that it has been the most-viewed subscription service in the U.S. for more than two years straight, according to Nielsen. That puts it ahead of Hollywood-backed competitors like Netflix and Disney+, which both have ad-supported tiers, but are becoming increasingly pricey for consumers while YouTube remains free, and take years to release new installments of popular content (ahem, Stranger Things) while digital creators pump out new videos weekly or even daily.

“YouTube creators are building global communities through content that is authentic, engaging, and premium. They’re not only driving culture–they’ve created an irreversible change in entertainment, which has redefined viewing behavior,” Sean Downey, Google’s President of Americas and Global Partners, said in a statement. “For advertisers, YouTube presents a unique opportunity to make an impact with their desired audiences, by aligning and deeply integrating their brands with the voices that they actively seek out.”

YouTube’s VP of Americas Tara Walpert Levy added, “There is an insatiable demand from both viewers and brands for the creator-led, discoverable programming that is shaping culture. These next-generation studios, where YouTube creators drive every aspect of production–vision, execution, on-air performance, fan connection–are what is driving must-see entertainment today.”

Here are YouTube’s detailed descriptions of each creator project announced at the showcase:

Comedian, writer, and actor, Julian Shapiro-Barnum – known for his popular online shows “Recess Therapy” and “Celebrity Substitute” – launches a first of its kind late night weekly series built for the digital age. Set in public parks and on street corners, “Outside Tonight” with Julian Shapiro-Barnum revitalizes a classic format with weekly, live shows packed with star studded interviews, audience driven games, live music, and nonstop comedy.

Filmed in South Africa during Trevor Noah’s last world tour, this never-before-released 90-minute stand-up comedy special captures him performing entirely local material on the biggest stage of his career, back home. It’s a rare and powerful creative moment with Trevor at the height of his global success, reconnecting with his roots and his audience in a way the world has never seen.

Wildlife filmmaker, explorer, and host of Brave Wilderness, Mark Vins, and a daring expedition team undertake a first-of-its-kind journey across the Galápagos’ most extreme habitats – diving deep beneath the sea and scaling the highest volcanic summit – to document rare wildlife and confront mounting threats to one of Earth’s most wild frontiers. The new full-length documentary, “Reef to Ridge,” reveals the wonder, urgency, and fragility of protecting this iconic wilderness.

  • Cleo Abram | HUGE* If True: “What If An Asteroid Is About To Hit The Earth?” | New episode premieres November 15 on the official HUGE* If True YouTube channel

HUGE* If True is an optimistic episodic series about using science and technology to make the future better. In a new episode featuring Mark Rober, host Cleo Abram imagines a fictional crisis: “If a real and massive asteroid were coming toward us… how would we know? And what would we actually do about it?” Cleo shows viewers the real science and technology we’re using right now to defend our planet.

Deestroying “Dee” is taking his viral football 1on1’s series across the pond to London, where he gathers the top athletes across the country to compete for $5,000 in a new episode, “America vs London 1v1.” But it won’t be that easy for the London athletes as Dee has a secret opponent… all the way from the streets of Detroit – a competitor that’s hungry and ready to put his football reputation on the line.

Dhar Mann Studios is launching “7 Days of Christmas,” a massive holiday programming event featuring 7 brand-new, 25-minute heart-driven scripted episodes. Featuring the return of favorite characters and new series formats,  “7 days of Christmas” delivers a universal holiday message that the greatest gift is the glow of authenticity within.

Brittany Broski’s “Royal Court” welcomes Paul Mescal to the medieval realm, in a brand-new Season 3 episode. The hit YouTube talk show from internet icon Brittany Broski brings audiences inside her hilariously over-the-top Royal Court, where chaos, comedy, and crown jewels collide. This season features a new lineup of celebrity guests including Noah Cyrus, Brie Larson, Kyle MacLachlan, Fred Armisen, and Finn Wolfhard as they join host Brittany for laugh-out-loud conversations, offbeat games, and unpredictable moments that only the Queen of the Internet could orchestrate.

Join Ms. Rachel and friends for a heartwarming celebration of connection – showing little ones that friends can come from anywhere. Through joyful interactions with a diverse group of kids, this new episode teaches valuable lessons about inclusivity and the magic of making new friends.

The showcase was also timed to highlight YouTube’s newest feature, which allows creators to manually sort their uploads into individual shows and seasons, helping them move away from the clunkier playlist tool and direct viewers to chronological binge watches.

YouTube specifically notes this new feature “optimizes and improves the viewing experience on the largest screens in your home”–making it crystal clear that the world’s largest video platform is still aggressively on the hunt for more and more living room television watch time…and more of those big TV ad dollars.

Attention, please: TikTok launches “bulletin board” feature

To complement its infinitely-scrolling feed of short-form videos, TikTok is adding some short-form text posts to the mix. The app has unveiled a virtual bulletin board that account owners can use to share updates, new content releases, and other news items.

TikTokers over the age of 18 with at least 50,000 followers now have access to the new feature. Early users of the bulletin board have included several media companies and brands, including People Magazine and French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain.

Users can follow an account’s bulletin board by tapping the board’s name when it shows up underneath the creator’s bio. Once they tune in, followers will be notified every time the board is updated, and they can use emojis to react to posts.

“Today we’re announcing the launch of bulletin board, a new in-app channel which helps creators communicate and share content directly with their fans and followers,” reads a TikTok Newsroom post. “Bulletin board is a one-to-many broadcast channel, making it quick and easy for creators to post news and updates, share exclusive content with their followers, and build thriving communities on TikTok.”

TikTok is not the only social app exploring the potential of one-to-many messaging. Instagram rolled out a similar feature last year when it debuted its Broadcast Channels, and YouTube put more emphasis on its Community Tab when it renamed that section of channel pages to Posts. TikTok’s answer to those tools underwent months of testing before its public rollout.

Forum-style threads aren’t the most natural fit on social video apps — hence YouTube’s one-to-many feature taking years to find its footing — but beyond the obvious benefits related to audience engagement, TikTok has pinpointed some specific uses for its new feature. Recording artists, for example, can use bulletin board posts to drop new music (which followers can then add to their favorite streaming services).

And much like TikTok’s decision to increase the maximum length of its video descriptions, this move empowers the app in the world of search. Adding more text to TikTok helps steer the search queries that are being made by an increasing number of Gen Z consumers. And in the world of AI, more text theoretically begets more training material.

At the end of the day, there’s not one perfect way to use TikTok’s bulletin board. It’s a simple way to blast out messages to millions of people at once, and for that reason, it will be a welcome addition for the upper class of the app’s creative community.

From ‘SNL’ to Stapleview: Chloe Troast’s move shows how far internet sketch comedy has come

Since the days of Kyle Mooney and Sasheer Zamata, the internet comedy world has felt like a feeder league for Saturday Night Live. The venerable sketch show has turned several of YouTube and TikTok’s favorite sketch comedians into not-ready-for-prime-time players, and as of season 51, that pipeline is as active as ever.

At the same time, the relationship between SNL and creators is moving in reverse. Comedic actors aren’t just moving from the small screen to 30 Rockefeller Plaza — some of them are following up their SNL stints with ambitious, digital-native projects.

The best example of this phenomenon involves Chloe Troast. The 28-year-old comic was a featured player on SNL during the show’s 49th season, and after moving on from that gig, she’s bringing her talents to Stapleview. The digital sketch comedy hub is launching Spilling Your Seed, a Finding Your Roots parody hosted by Troast.

Spilling Your Seed, which premiered on November 11, is created by Troast and directed by Sam Blumenfeld. In each installment, a guest learns the ridiculous truth about their supposed ancestral roots. Up first on the guest list is Ben Marshall, a current SNL cast member who is also part of the sketch group Please Don’t Destroy (which Troast has worked with in the past).

In a statement, Troast described Spilling Your Seed as a career pivot that will see her shift her focus to “genealogical research and YouTube monetization strategies.” The show “came to me one night when I asked myself, ‘where the hell do we all come from?’ and ‘what tantalizing New York comedians are free to do a half-day shoot in Queens,'” Troast said.

If Troast wants to learn more about monetization and social media content, she’s come to the right place. Stapleview, established in 2022, has shepherded some of the funniest creators out there. The sketch ensemble earned a win when one of its members — TikToker Jane Wickline — landed a spot on SNL. Season 51 will be her second season on the show, and she has already given us iconic characters like Alyssa, who is one half of The Couple You Can’t Believe Are Together.

To capitalize on its early momentum, Stapleview got to work on a full slate of original content. Troast is now contributing to that slate, and based on the earlier reviews, Spilling Your Seed viewers wish Troast on SNL.

With Spilling Your Seed, Stapleview is showing that SNL doesn’t have to be the only endpoint for a sketch comedian’s career. If Lorne Michaels is going to stack his cast with funnypeople who cut their teeth on the internet, then the Stapleviews of the world must be doing something right. Now they’re reaping the rewards of the comedy culture they helped create.