TOGETHER WITH

It's Thursday and Fat Bear Week 2025 has come to an end. This year’s viral winner: an absolute unit named 32 Chunk.

Today’s News

MAFIA MAN

Kai Cenat ended Mafiathon 3 with 1.1M subs (and a haircut from Lebron)

The subathon: In August, a trailer featuring Michael B. Jordan informed viewers that Mafiathon 3 would be Kai Cenat’s biggest month-long streaming bonanza yet—and his last. The 23-year-old streaming star had one goal for his finale subathon: reaching one million active Twitch subscribers over the course of September.

As of this week, Cenat officially achieved that milestone. With help from a parade of special guests, the streamer reached the million-subscriber mark with a few days to spare. By the end of September, he counted more than 1.1 million active subs (and even his Twitch mod benefitted with a five-digit subscriber gain as became one of the stream’s most-popular extensions).

Celebrity cameos proved key to that success. In response to Rapper Ray J’s accusation that celebrities were profiting from Cenat’s fame without giving back, Snoop Dogg contributed 50,000 gifted subs to the cause. A Mafiathon-concluding team-up with LeBron James (in which the Los Angeles Lakers star shaved Cenat’s locs) pushed the streamer’s concurrent audience into seven digits to match his subscriber count.

The future: So, what’s next for Cenat? Following the end of Mafiathon 3, fans can look forward to yet another major celebrity collab. The streamer is joining forces with Kevin Hart and fellow streamer Druski for Livestream from Hell, a horror movie that will satirize the creators’ chosen profession.

Between that project, the impending return of Streamer University, and the other irons Cenat has in the fire, 2026 is set to be a big year for the streamer—even if this really is the end of Mafiathon. 

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

The world’s largest debut gathering for media and content is two months away. Will you be there?

This December, the world’s largest cross-sector event in media, content, and entertainment-related industries will bring 400+ global speakers, 300+ exhibitions, and 60,000 attendees—including creators, brands, and decision-makers—to Abu Dhabi.

The BRIDGE Summit aims to optimize the global media ecosystem by facilitating cross-sector integration, and streamline access to the content economy. The 3-day event will offer a robust platform to value-driven industry players who want to collectively align towards a more connected and prosperous future. 

From December 8-10, BRIDGE Summit will give attendees access to...

• Unprecedented business and investment opportunities

• Collaborations, partnerships, and deals

• Matchmaking 

• Policy-making roundtables

• Mind-opening keynotes and insightful panel discussions

• Workshops and masterclasses

• Entertainment nights

• And so much more…

Some of the biggest, most influential and admired players in the global media, entertainment and content ecosystem are attending BRIDGE Summit. Register now to reserve your spot:

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Next week, thousands of attendees will unite for Advertising Week New York: a conference that promises it’s “built for today’s changemakers across marketing, media, tech and culture.” (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
  
  

• Which streamers would you pick for a Twitch version of Mount Rushmore? Creators like xQc are debating the question on social media after hearing Twitch CEO Dan Clancy’s picks during Mafiathon 3. (Dextero)
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• A new study from Harvard Business School suggests that some chatbots leverage techniques designed to discourage users from ending conversations. (Wired)
  
  

• “Hawk Tuah girl” Haliey Welch is transitioning from podcasting to Twitch streaming via an upcoming channel called Talk Tuah LIVE. (Dextero)

GAME ON

YouTube is launching sports-themed ad lineups

The ad lineups: YouTube Select is getting a sports-themed upgrade.

Since succeeding Google Preferred in 2020, Select has provided premium, guaranteed ad space next to curated lineups of popular YouTube channels in popular categories like makeup, cooking, and gaming. Now, YouTube is deepening those offerings with two sports-centric options: “YouTube TV Women's Live Sports Lineup” and “YouTube TV College Sports Lineup.”

The new ad packages promise more monetization opportunities for top-performing creators who benefit from name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, since student athletes are in the best position to leverage the kind of brand deals that would fit into a lineup centered around college sports. The Women’s Live Sports lineup, which Google Ads Help says “features live sports content across collegiate and professional levels,” could similarly provide key openings for NIL athletes.

The context: On its surface, the Select update caters to a growing number of advertisers who want a piece of premium sports content—but the new lineups are also a logical path for YouTube given its flurry of activity in the sports world.

The platform is paying $2 billion per year for the rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket package, and it has looked to recoup those costs by turning its homegrown stars into spokespeople for its football coverage.

One example of that effort is an upcoming flag football game in London, for which rappers Gunna and Aitch will draft star-studded teams. Viewers who prefer on-demand programming to live spectacles, meanwhile, can tune into Speed Goes Pro, a new series that puts streaming star iShowSpeed in contact with legendary athletes like Tom Brady.

THE BIZ

A new platform moves creators from paid posts to the cap table

The platform: A brand-new platform aims to revolutionize influencer marketing by offering equity partnerships to creators. 

OWM functions as a matchmaker by connecting creators to entrepreneurs who are willing to exchange pieces of their companies for promotional advantages. An AI-powered proprietary data engine named Andy will identify the audience each founder needs to reach before connecting them to the creators who are best equipped to boost their messaging.

Unlike companies that facilitate one-off creator/brand connections, OWM aims to build long-term partnerships and mutually beneficial collabs. According to OWM Founder and CEO Jeff Frommer, the central idea is that viewers respond better when they can tell that a creator is passionate about the company they’re shilling for—and the way to ignite that passion is by giving creators some skin in the game:

That setup isn’t just beneficial for founders. As creator-led brands like Prime encounter friction, OWM is giving creators a way to flex their entrepreneurial muscles while assuming less risk than they would if they launched their own product line.

The clients: Hundreds of companies are already seeking equity deals with 5,000+ creators through OWM, with agencies like VaynerSports, Underscore Talent, Wasserman, Made by All, UnderCurrent, Select Management Group, and The Creator Society bringing their rosters to the platform.

There are also some creator investors on OWM’s own cap table, including Victoria Garrick Browne, Corp Bro, and Corp Natalie. Other backers include ACQ Ventures, Avalanche VC, Firsthand Ventures, Spacestation Investments, and HotStart VC.

WATCH THIS 📺

Instagram’s head promises the app isn’t listening to you 

The myth: If you’ve ever wondered whether Instagram is eavesdropping on your IRL conversations, you’re not alone. According to Adam Mosseri, even his wife has posed the question—but the Instagram head’s latest “myth busting video” assures users that Meta isn’t, in fact, listening in.

At least, not through your phone camera or microphone. What the tech giant will do, according to a recent announcement, is gather data from your conversations with AI chatbots to serve targeted ads. So—you win some, you lose some.

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