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It’s Monday and Fortnite’s latest branded experience will allow players to duke it out in arenas themed around English soccer club Manchester City F.C.

Table of Contents:

• 🔥 Are YouTube and Netflix a perfect match?

• A creator-made film is stalking its way into theaters

• Night is beefing up its roster

• 🎙️ On the latest episode of Creator Upload…

FRIENDLY COMPETITION

Netflix’s CEO sees YouTube as an asset—not a rival

YouTube vs. Netflix: YouTube might command nearly 10% of all TV viewership in the U.S., but Netflix isn’t sweating it.

According to co-CEO Ted Sarandos, the streamer and video platform “feed each other pretty nicely” despite competing “in certain segments of their business.”

• Sarandos shared that perspective in response to a recent Nielsen report, which found that Netflix led all subscription services with an 8.4% share of U.S. TV viewership, but fell just short of YouTube’s claim. The reason for Sarandos’ lack of concern: he and fellow co-CEO Greg Peters believe the two companies fill different niches in digital entertainment.
  
  

• Netflix, Peters explained, produces “amazing, spectacle movies and TV shows” while supporting creators by sharing risk. YouTube, on the other hand, provides reach and visibility for both creators and brands—including Netflix, which claims roughly 28 million subscribers on the platform.

The big picture: Netflix might offers viewers a different experience, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t taken a page out of YouTube’s monetization playbook. Netflix’s pivot to ad-supported content has proven to be increasingly lucrative, especially as it moves away from offerings like its $11.99/month basic plan.

During the second quarter of this year, the streamer earned $9.56 billion in revenue and grew its ad-supported subscription earnings by 34% year-over-year.

• Netflix’s next big shift offers investors significantly less reassurance. The streamer’s stock fell by approximately $21 per share in the aftermath of its Q2 2024 earnings report, which followed its decision to stop sharing subscriber numbers in 2025 and the departure of sales-focused exec Peter Naylor.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Wendigoon and Evan Royalty’s cowritten fan film, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of the Zone, will be screened at theaters in New York, Florida, Texas, and California. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Twitch has restored Donald Trump’s account ahead of the U.S. presidential election. (Engadget)
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• X is testing a new feature that allows web-based users to request the addition of Community Notes on posts promoting misinformation. (Ars Technica)
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• Just one week after the former president linked him to “election fraudsters,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Bloomberg that Donald Trump’s post-shooting reaction was “one of the most badass things” he’d ever seen. (The Verge)

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Night taps into some rage with new signings

The announcement: It’s been an eventful month for Night. Just weeks after parting ways with Night Studios head Alex Piper and VP of Development Jared Jacobs, the Austin-based management firm has tapped Camdyn Perry as a manager.

• That hiring comes with an expansion of Night’s talent roster. Perry, formerly of Kinetic Group, brings with him two major clients: Twitch streamers YourRage (1.5 million followers) and PlaqueBoyMax (988,000 followers).
  
  

• Both creators have preexisting connections with gaming and entertainment org FaZe Clan, as well as multiple members of Night’s roster. YourRage (who streams primarily on Kick) has appeared alongside AMP member and Twitch record-breaker Kai Cenat, while PlaqueBoyMax has shot videos at the AMP “crib.”

The context: Fostering those creator connections—and others like them—could prove vital to Night’s future success. The management firm lost a major asset back in May, when MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) ended his exclusive relationship with Night after almost five years.

• Donaldson had previously told Time that his collective business dealings bring in between $600 and $700 million per year. In addition to shrinking Night’s share of those earnings, the creator’s partial departure weakens a connection that has helped the firm attract dozens of prominent signees, including Ryan Trahan, Safiya Nygaard, Kai Cenat, Unspeakable, and ZHC.
  
  

• Night likely hopes that bringing on Perry will help it to retain and expand its roster, showing the management company can still attract top tier creators.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

This week on the podcast…

Campaign promises: Donald Trump is switching sides. Despite previously endorsing a ban on TikTok, the former president seemed to voice support for the app in a recent interview with Bloomberg. Is that change of heart something creators can rely on, or simply a not-so-subtle tactic to woo young voters?

• Check out the latest episode of Creator Upload to get the full scoop from creator economy experts Joshua Cohen and Lauren Schnipper. It’s all right here on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.