It’s Thursday, and YouTube is hitting the books. The platform is reportedly working on an audiobook feature that would put it in competition with platforms like Audible.

CREATOR COMMOTION

The hosting gig: On November 7, Drew Desbordes will become the first Saturday Night Live host who began his career as a social media content creator.

The multi-hyphenate creator—who is known by his 13.6 million Instagram followers as Druski—rose to prominence on Instagram Live before expanding his “Coulda Been” brand through entrepreneurship, original programming, and strategic partnerships.

SNL has not shared an official notice about the upcoming Druski gig, but Variety confirmed that Desbordes will indeed host the show’s November 7 episode.

The context: Druski will break new ground for social media influencers when he hosts SNL, but this certainly isn’t the first time the show has recruited digital stars. For more than a decade, Lorne Michaels and co. have turned to the internet when scouting talent.

That pipeline has only become more prominent in the 2020s. Jane Wickline, for example, was an original cast member for the TikTok-based sketch crew Stapleview before becoming an SNL fan favorite. In season 52, another Stapleview OG—Grace Reiter—joined Wickline in Studio 8H. And Jeremy Culhane, who has emerged as one of SNL’s best impressionists, is often seen in videos produced by Dropout.

The reverse is true, too. SNL vets like Chloe Troast have turned to online video platforms after departing NBC’s late-night lineup, while SNL itself has chased viewership on YouTube. Now, by bringing in a host like Druski, the show is seizing another opportunity to boost its online presence.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

GOSPEL STATS 📈

It’s not unusual for us to see MrBeast at the top of Gospel Stats’ Weekly Brand Reports, or to find a heavily branded Short trailing close behind. The thumbnail attached to MrBeast’s latest #1 video, however, is significantly less par-for-the-course. (But with over 255 million views on the table, we’re guessing sponsor Fitbit Air isn’t blinking.)

🥇 #1. MrBeast x Google Fitbit Air, Kizik, iFit, Good Ranchers: Eat Everything in a Grocery Store, Win $1,000,000 (255.8M views)
Don’t let the digital fatsuit in this video’s thumbnail fool you; Jimmy Donaldson himself didn’t join in on the competition. Instead, four contestants spent 190 days eating their way through an entire grocery store in hopes of winning a million-dollar prize.

MrBeast and Google have an ongoing partnership, so we’re not surprised to see him hawking the Fitbit Air. What we are surprised by is Google’s willingness to share the stage with three other sponsors.

🥈 #2. hyoga.x x Arencia: her secret dermatologist 😇 / usd Arencia Vitamin C Booster Shot on her 🧴 #arencia #vitaminC #couple (18.6M views)
This 30-second Short might not be #couplegoals, but it still managed to attract plenty of eyeballs for sponsor Arencia. Millions of viewers tuned in to watch hyoga.x “secretly” spray his girlfriend’s underarms with the K-beauty brand’s vitamin C booster product—although to what end, we’re not sure.

🎰 #5,577. Novympia x HOLY Energy: Testing Out A Potions Kit! (35.6K views)
Drag duo Nova and Olympia are welcoming spooky season with glitter wigs and witch hats. A recent potion-making installment on their shared channel was sponsored by soft drink company HOLY’s new energy line, which also backed ten other videos this week.

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

SPORTS SPHERE

The studio: The University of California, Berkeley has figured out a forward-thinking way to feed the development of its student-athletes. The Bay Area institution (aka Cal) has teamed up with StreamU and UnlimitedIRL to build a studio that athletes can use to stream content on Twitch.

Amenities at the new facility include professional lighting, Canon and Sony cameras, a video switcher for multi-camera streams, and a PlayStation 5 for broadcasting gaming content. All varsity athletes will be able to go live from the studio, and UC Berkeley has already produced a packed schedule. Across ten hours of weekly programming, content will encompass workouts, challenges, campus tours, and game-day watch parties.

Those streams will be delivered to fans through the university’s StreamU account. The network was born out of a partnership between NIL platform TheLinkU and Twitch. UnlimitedIRL is serving as the technology partner for the new West Coast venture.

The context: For some student-athletes, brand-building opportunities have become as important as regular playing time. Streaming is now a common side hustle for pro athletes who are recovering from injuries, and it’s a reasonable back-up plan for those whose careers don’t turn out as planned.

For recruits seeking that kind of diversification, a facility like UC Berkeley’s will surely draw a second glance—and it’s only a matter of time before other schools follow suit. StreamU plans to open Twitch studios at other universities, including the University of Arkansas, Texas A&M University, Baylor University, and the University of Houston.

WATCH THIS 👀

The microdrama boom: Earlier this year, TikTok struck a deal with Issa Rae’s HOORAE to bring microdramas to its platform. The first vertical series to emerge from that partnership, Screen Time, has since attracted over 580 million views on TikTok and PineDrama, making it both platforms’ most-viewed show to date.

At MIPCOM Cannes, HOORAE and TikTok unveiled their next microdrama. The Compatibility Experiment is a 68-episode series that follows a couple “desperately in need of money” who “decides to test their relationship on a new Temptation Island-esque reality show.” (You can check out Episode One here.)

TikTok’s microdrama ambitions aren’t limited to its partnership with HOORAE. The platform has also announced a new microseries-focused partnership with Made By Us Studios, which describes itself as a “first-of-its-kind, Hollywood-grade studio designed for the creator economy and powered by creator management company MADE BY ALL.” The production company has already pulled in two creators—Hannah Stocking and Adam Rose—to star in TikTok- and PineDrama-exclusive microseries.

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