• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, July 31, 2024

Creators are not influencers, but they are the future of media.

Big media companies are in danger of losing their pole position for entertainment, and they know it.  As viewership shifts from linear television to digital, and as digital becomes more cluttered, what is rising to the top of the “programming guide” for many audiences is creator content.

The last couple years’ worth of writer’s strikes and other challenges haven’t helped.  There are good shows being developed and launched on major media channels, but creators are creating content with their regular schedules, and they were not stifled by the strikes.

Creators create.  Viewers view.  Advertisers advertise.  Nobody really cares about seasonality anymore.  In the old days, advertisers were lining up to associate themselves with premium media content, but then that content was delayed, and creators began to fill a void. 

What’s more, the audience feels more closely aligned to creators than they do to any procedural drama, and as a result advertisers are shifting, too.  That leaves the major media channels with a game of “catch-up” to bring advertisers back and encourage their audiences to return as well.

Creators are going to be an immediate influence on the major media channels because they will push the media companies to create year-round content, and possibly no longer hiatus their major shows.  A hiatus continues to open the door for other video creators to hijack the audience.  Creators don’t take any extended summer hiatuses, and as a result they have fresh content all the time, which attracts audiences.  Major media companies now have to compete year-round.

Creators also create more economically.  One big example is Mr. Beast. He and his team create over-the-top content, and it doesn’t cost as much as a major media company spends.  That means he can reinvest that revenue and come up with more content while maintaining profitability for his ventures.  They have less overhead, which is not to say they have none.  They just know what they need and what they don’t.

Creators don’t care about the ad industry.  They don’t know or care about the IAB, the AAAA’s and the ANA.  They don’t know or care about our events.  The industry cares about the creators in so much as they can check a box and say they are engaging with them, but it doesn’t really care.  Ask any creator if they need the industry, and they will say “what industry?”  The fact is they are doing just fine by themselves. They don’t need us.  The advertisers are seeking them out, and if the ad industry wants to be important to the creator economy, it is going to take time proving its value.   

These are all immediate changes that come from creators.  They are less reliant on our industry processes, regulations and benchmarks.  They don’t need seasonality to be a gating factor.  They are more economical and in control of their publishing than most major media networks.  These are factors that, if I were running a media company, I would have to be paying attention to.  If not, then things are not going to look good for you over the coming years.  Don’t you agree?