It's Wednesday, and 2025 has already left its mark on the English language. Among the latest additions to the Cambridge Dictionary: ‘Skibidi’ and ‘delulu.’

Today’s News

STREAMING BIG

Netflix’s latest creator partner: Mark Rober

The deal: With more than 70 million subscribers and over 13.7 billion lifetime views on his primary channel, Mark Rober ranks among YouTube’s biggest stars. The former NASA engineer has spent nearly 15 years accumulating a devoted audience of STEM enthusiasts and science-obsessed kiddos.

Now, Netflix is poised to tap into that built-in fanbase. The streamer has announced an agreement with Rober that will bring “some of his most beloved experiments” to its library later this year, as well as a new competition show that will premiere in 2026.

That deal also involves one of Rober’s celebrity friends: Jimmy Kimmel. The late-night host let Rober guest-host his show in 2022 and later teamed up with the creator on a pair of TV shows that hit Discovery in 2023. According to a Tudum post, the duo’s next collab will bring a “Kids and Family competition series” to Netflix. That show will be co-produced by Rober’s CrunchLabs and Kimmel’s Kimmelot. Scott Lewers, who has supercharged CrunchLabs’ content output since joining the brand earlier this year, is also listed as an executive producer.

The context: As Netflix looks to tap into the audience bases commanded by rivals like YouTube and TikTok, it’s eager to secure more shows, films, and live events led by star content creators.

Rober’s all-ages approach makes him an especially valuable partner in that regard. While grown-up creator partnerships like the Jake Paul/Mike Tyson boxing match have grabbed headlines, the viral impact of kid-friendly creators has started to inform Netflix’s programming decisions. In addition to Rober’s upcoming contributions, for instance, Netflix subscribers will soon be able to tune into videos from educational creator Ms. Rachel.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Between a state lawsuit and a dip in stock value, Roblox is facing increased scrutiny—and possibly an upcoming Adpocalypse—over its child safety practices. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Google has agreed to pay $30 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over its alleged collection of data from underage users without parental consent. (Engadget)
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• Meta has announced the expansion of Meta AI translations, a tool for Instagram and Facebook creators that “automatically dubs and lip syncs your reels into another language.” (Meta)
  
  

• Meta and Oakley’s new line of HSTN smart glasses is now available for preorder, with shades ranging from $399 to $449.  (TechRadar)

THE BIZ

ESPN will feature creators on a TikTok-style feed

The announcement: ESPN is putting its own twist on the TikTok For You Page. On April 21, the sports media giant’s mobile app will introduce an endlessly-scrolling feed of vertical videos, which will include a mix of user-generated clips and content from shows like SportsCenter (per Sportico).

The feed: That feed will provide a new stage for ESPN’s growing stable of in-house influencers. Katie Feeney, a sports broadcaster known for her TikTok videos, was officially hired at ESPN earlier this month. There, the creator joins House of Highlights founder Omar Raja and other influencers who are translating the network’s sports coverage for Gen Z and Gen A.

To reach that social media-savvy viewership, ESPN is harnessing IP that has long connected it to young consumers. SportsCenter—an irreverent news show that defined sports culture in the ‘90s thanks to anchors like Stuart Scott and Dan Patrick—will be featured on the new vertical feed. Daley has also alluded to a possible resurgence of bygone hub Page 2, which helped launch the careers of pop-conscious commentators like Bill Simmons.

The context: ESPN’s plan to introduce a TikTok-style feed is far from an original strategy. The Worldwide Leader in Sports isn’t just copying TikTok—it’s copying all the other apps that have already copied TikTok.

Derivative or not, however, the timing of ESPN’s TikTokification is right: the new pro football season is about to begin, and thanks to a blockbuster deal with the NFL, the sports giant is ready to provide more gridiron coverage than ever before.

BACK TO SCHOOL

TikTok’s college-centric update is a nod to OG Facebook

The school tool: TikTok’s latest feature invites students and alumni to connect their accounts to the colleges and universities they’ve attended. After inputting that information, users will be able to see a list of other accounts affiliated with the same schools, and will have their alma mater and graduation year listed on their own accounts.

At launch, over 6,000 colleges and universities are available to choose from. TikTok compiled that list in partnership with UNiDAYS, a company that verifies students’ scholastic affiliations.

The context: TikTok’s new tool will likely feel familiar to those of us who were around in 2004, when Facebook famously launched as a haven where university students could connect. TikTok’s take on that design is less strict—you don’t need a .edu email address to sign up—but the new feature is a reminder that the characteristics that defined “OG Facebook” are trending more than 20 years after its initial rollout.

(Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself has emphasized the importance of bringing back the communal feeling that defined Facebook’s early days. A retooling of the Friends feed is part of that effort, as are some test features on Meta-owned Instagram.)

The revival of OG Facebook trends isn’t the only thing motivating TikTok to serve college students. The app has been associated with youth culture since its mid-2010s breakout. As those users have grown up, they have brought TikTok to college with them. That demographic shift has produced a number of platform-wide trends that boost the app’s relevance among university-aged users, including public sharing of admissions decisions and Greek life vlogs that are grouped together on the #RushTok hashtag.

WATCH THIS

Bardcore is still a thing, y’all

The music genre: If you spent time coaxing a sourdough starter to life during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, then you might remember the rise of bardcore. Between the internet’s obsession with the Black Plague and the many musicians trapped at home, we’re not surprised that medieval covers of pop music briefly dominated the web in 2020.

Five years later, we’re happy to say the genre is still thriving in its own niche corner of YouTube. Creators like ettee continue to entertain viewers with bardcore covers of boppy hits like KATSEYE’s “Gnarly” and Chappel Roan’s “Subway.” (Although this take on “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter will probably always be our favorite.)

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