TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and Netflix might need to hit the gas on its next big hit—because according to Nielsen, YouTube has now claimed the largest share of TV viewing among media companies for three months straight.

Today’s News

HOUSE OF MOUSE

Sorry, Netflix: Disney just nabbed the rights to CoComelon

The CoComelon caper: The House of Mouse just pulled off a major coup at Netflix’s expense. Disney+ will be the new streaming home of CoComelon beginning in 2027—the same year as the anticipated premiere date for the upcoming CoComelon movie. Bloomberg reports that Disney “will pay tens of millions of dollars annually” for the rights to Moonbug‘s prized preschool hit, which has arguably become the biggest kids’ show in the world. CoComelon will also continue to be available on YouTube, where it regularly tops our rankings of the platform’s most-watched channels. 

The context: Although Netflix will still stream some CoComelon spinoffs and will retain access to other Moonbug properties like Blippi, that change of hands is a major loss for the streamer. CoComelon has been one of Netflix’s most reliable sources of viewership from young children since 2020, and consistently ranks among the biggest franchises of any kind in its catalog. In 2024 alone, CoComelon content brought 231.1 million views to Netflix’s shores.

Despite that high traffic, CoComelon’s viewership on Netflix has actually dropped about 60% in recent years and the show has fallen out of the top ten in some of the streamer’s recent viewership rankings (per Bloomberg).

The next steps: Disney, however, seems confident in its ability to tap into the power of Moonbug franchises.

Candle Media—Moonbug’s parent company—already has strong ties to the Mouse House through its co-founders, former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Those connections recently helped Moonbug secure a deal that will bring Blippi to Disney parks. Now, by adding all seasons of the main CoComelon show to its streaming library—which already contains other kid-friendly hits like Bluey—Disney+ will make itself even more appealing among toddlers.

 🔆 PRESENTED BY LIONS CREATORS 🔆

Creator Q&A: Coco Mocoe will be first in line for “Chicken Shops and Red Carpets” at Cannes Lions 2025

LIONS Creators is your gateway to growth: a dedicated pass, programme and place for creators at the 2025 Festival. From June 16-20, participants will gain full access to the Festival, connect with global brands, and learn from top creators—including Kai Cenat, Amelia Dimoldenberg, Colin & Samir, and Keith Lee.

Creator and Marketing Expert Coco Mocoe is ready for the action. Here’s what she’s looking forward to most at Cannes Lions this year:

1. What are you most excited about for LIONS Creators?
Coco Mocoe: “I am excited about being in such close proximity to the biggest brands, creators and marketers in the world. I attended Cannes Lions in 2023 and it has remained my favorite event.”

2. What sessions are you looking forward to most?
Coco says she’ll be dropping in on “What 20 Years of YouTube Reveals About Creativity’s Future” to find out “what the CEO of YouTube sees for the platform’s future.”

Also on her must-see list: “Chicken Shops and Red Carpets: The Rise of Amelia Dimoldenberg.” Coco says Amelia Dimoldenberg “is someone I look up to as a creator coming up with my own IP and I would love to hear her insights exclusively at Cannes Lions.”

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Meta is reportedly restructuring its AI team into smaller divisions as it aims to keep up with rivals like OpenAI. (TechCrunch)
  
  

• Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker is back on Twitch one day after being banned for comments related to the shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers. (New York Post)
  
  

• Texas and Florida number among 30+ states that have restricted the use of TikTok on government devices. So why are their tourism boards still active on the app? (Salon)
  
  

• Trump Media—which operates conservative platform Truth Social—reportedly plans to secure $2.5 billion in Bitcoin. (The Verge)

GOSPEL STATS 📈

Top 5 Branded Videos: Poison, Kickstarter, and the Diddy case

Even without MrBeast in the mix, Gospel Stats’ latest ranking of most-viewed sponsored YouTube videos is a veritable who’s who of top channels, with Veritasium and Ryan Trahan both making appearances. Add in the show that just knocked The Joe Rogan Experience out of first place in YouTube’s weekly podcast chart, and you’ve got a microcosm of virality in 2025.

🥇 #1. Veritasium x Ground News: How One Company Secretly Poisoned The Planet (12M views)
STEM superchannel Veritasium has yet to go a month without appearing in Gospel’s Branded Top 5. The edutainment hub’s most recent science-themed investigation was sponsored by frequent backer Ground News, a media comparison site that also sponsored ~70 other videos this week.

🥈 #2. Ryan Trahan x Shopify: I Tested 1-Star Hotels (finale) (9M views)
Since rising to fame in 2022, Trahan has devoted much of his focus to spotlighting small businesses (often with a little financial backing from Shopify). Sometimes, hitting up under-patronized locales has gone surprisingly well—other times, not so much. Luckily, for Trahan, most of the hotels featured in his newly-completed “1-Star Hotels” series seemed to have learned from previous customer complaints before he arrived.

🏛️ Bonus Video: #5. Rotten Mango x Acorns: “Is baby oil and lubricant a federal crime? NO” - Diddy’s Defense \ Day 1 (4.1M views)
This week’s bonus video is from Rotten Mango, the show that just knocked Joe Rogan’s podcast down to #2 on YouTube’s weekly chart. The true crime ‘cast has since turned its attention to the Diddy court case with a video sponsored by Acorns. It’s not alone: viewers’ fascination with the case is reminiscent of the 2022 Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp trial, which triggered passionate discussions about the ethics of court case videos.

Check out the full branded ranking here and head over to Gospel Stats for more YouTube sponsorship insights.

SAYING GOODBYE (FOR NOW)

Want to get a lot of new subscribers? Leave your channel behind.

The surge: After 18 years and 2.5 billion lifetime views, Mike Nichols is stepping away from Outdoor Boys. The camping/survivalist creator—who has long hosted one of YouTube’s most enduring channels—made the announcement to his 15 million subscribers earlier this month, when he revealed that he’d be going on an indefinite hiatus to spend more time with family.

But then a funny thing happened: Outdoor Boys kept growing. During our most recent seven-day measurement period, Nichols’ old-school YouTube hub added 400,000 new subscribers. The creator’s goodbye address has also racked up more than 15 million views, indicating that fans are still eager to consume his content.

The context: That response isn’t so unusual; in fact, Nichols is far from the first creator to fare well after leaving the channel he previously called home. Another notable example (although one that admittedly came amidst very different circumstances) is Technoblade. Even after his death from cancer, the Minecraft gamer has remained a cultural icon, and his following on YouTube only continues to grow in his absence.

Nichols may not have intended to catalyze a growth spurt when he announced his hiatus from Outdoor Boys (although he did note that he’d be sticking around on YouTube to help his son Thomas grow his own channel). The unexpected surge suggest that creators can certainly get a boost from goodbye videos (though it’s not quite clear what they’d be able to do with the new subs). Or it could be that YouTube viewers just really like survival content, as they have demonstrated repeatedly throughout the past year.

WATCH THIS 👀

TikTok has revived another oldie-but-goodie

The 1962 hit: 63 years after its release, Connie Francis’ “Pretty Little Baby” is making a comeback. The tune has been used in millions of TikTok videos since resurfacing in April, with creators using the track to back everything from viral couples content to heartfelt family moments. According to Indy 100, the song has already attracted 10 billion views, sending it to “No. 1 on TikTok's Viral 50 and Top 50 charts.”

As for Francis’ response to the revival of her decades-old hit?

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​Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.