James Hale

• The Sidemen say they’ve hit “the ceiling” of what they can do on YouTube. So they’re going to Netflix.
• Creators are becoming news anchors. Why do viewers prefer them to mainstream outlets?

  The "influencer election" just closed out, with Donald Trump giving nods to streamers and podcasters like Adin Ross and Joe Rogan in his victory celebration, and some of Election Day's biggest news presenters being content creators like Hasan Piker and V Spehar. Ross, Rogan, Piker, Spehar, and thousands of other creators who broadcast content around the election come from all across the political spectrum, but they have one thing in common: viewers are increasingly using their videos and livestreams as primary sources of news.

  
• Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: One salad, two bombs, and three Joe Rogans

  Joe Rogan got a lot of face time on our Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Reports in the leadup to the 2024 election--and now that the election is over, he's getting even more. This week, he's not just spot #1, but got in at #6 and #7, too. Aside from the Roganpalooza, we have Kurzgesagt and NileBlue both chiming in for some Ms. Frizzle moments, plus a stretchy Short and a deep dive into dinner from that one very pale, deaging-obsessed biohacker who uses his son like a Mad Max: Fury Road blood bag.

  
• Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: JD Vance, PewDiePie, and “the internet’s oldest lie”

  After making an appearance last week on Theo Von's podcast, JD Vance is back for a three-hour interview with Joe Rogan. Since these videos were both released in the leadup to the election, we now know the outcome--including how Rogan, Von, and Adin Ross were shotued out by UFC CEO Dana White during Donald Trump's victory speech. Surreal. As for the rest of the lineup, we depart from politics into baseball, science, a splash of art, and one of the internet's favorite video games.

  
• YouTube’s hyperlinked comments could drive valuable traffic for Google Search
• TikTok is becoming Spotify’s new recommendation engine
• As live spectacles increase, a creator plans to eat for four days straight on YouTube
• Election night coverage has gone online. Here’s where people watched the most.
• YouTube wants creators to send their videos to brands
• TikTok is becoming a job board for Gen Z
• What if there was a new way to measure how TV shows perform on streaming services?
• Did you know Roblox has a TikTok competitor? It just crossed a billion views–and got ads.