TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and the latest findings on AI confirm what plenty of teachers already suspected: according to a new study, students used generative AI to write upwards of 22 million papers last year.

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

A “nine-figure” investment will help Dude Perfect fund its Disney-inspired future

The investment: Dude Perfect is now nine figures richer thanks to a deal with private equity firm Highmount Capital.

• Although an exact number hasn’t been confirmed, that investment should provide the multi-platform brand with upwards of $100 million—a haul that will go a long way toward funding Dude Perfect’s rapidly expanding empire.

The context: Dude Perfect has grown by leaps and bounds since starting out as a single, basketball-focused channel. In addition to growing its original YouTube hub to 60 million subscribers, the group’s multimedia operation now encompasses a streaming service, an ownership stake in a Premier League soccer club, and a cruise.

• Luckily for fans, that success hasn’t altered Dude Perfect’s dedication to family-friendly content. As Coby Cotton noted in a statement, he and fellow members Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert, Tyler Toney, and Cory Cotton plan to use their new funding to continue serving “families with the most trusted entertainment on earth.”

What’s next: Dude Perfect is single-handedly expanding the bounds of the creator economy—and Highmount Capital Co-Founder Jason Illian sees an even more dramatic Disney-style evolution in the brand’s future.

• That prediction is hard to argue with: in addition to building their management team, the group’s upcoming plans include a long-awaited Dallas area HQ—complete with trick shot towers and retail storefronts—and an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary that will screen at the Dallas International Film Festival in April 2024.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Viewers know authentic content when they see it. That’s why top brands work with the UGC creators at Viral Nation.

With influencer marketing on the rise, partnerships with UGC creators are more beneficial to brands than ever before; in fact, UGC campaigns score 29% higher conversion rates on average (Search Logistics). Viral Nation gets it: with 900+ creators and celebrities on its roster, Viral Nation is committed to matching brands with creators who share their goals and values.

Meet three of Viral Nation’s top UGC creators:

Terrence Bradshaw 💪
Terrence’s fitness content resonates with 622K Instagram followers. His motivational videos make him a perfect collaborator for brands aiming to reach health-conscious viewers—which is exactly why HOKA sought him out as a partner.

Stephanie Pena ✨
As a mom and entrepreneur, Stephanie’s lifestyle content is effortlessly relatable. Whether she’s sharing a GRWM or running a Mastercard campaign, Stephanie’s down-to-earth videos appeal to busy parents, young professionals, and anyone seeking authenticity.

Victor Nguyen 🔥
From partnerships with apparel giants like Hollister to step-by-step outfits tutorials, Victor has become a go-to style guide for 1.1M fashion lovers on TikTok.

UGC creators like Terrence, Stephanie, and Victor build platforms on authenticity and relatability—meaning viewers take their opinions seriously. Combined with Viral Nation’s commitment to brand/creator compatibility, that trust is exactly what brands need to turn viewers into consumers. 

Learn more about Viral Nation → 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Cannes Lions has teamed up with talent agency Viral Nation to provide the Creator Pass, an offering that will give influencers access to a curated slate at the 2024 Cannes Lions. (Tubefilter)
  

• In a recent live stream, X owner Elon Musk predicted that “we'll have AI smarter than any one human probably around the end of next year.” (Ars Technica)
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• Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell urged legislators on Monday to take “common sense bipartisan steps” toward blocking alleged security threats from TikTok. (Axios)
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• X has announced a global rollout of passkeys, a login option that circumvents the use of traditional passwords. (TechCrunch)

DATA • GLOBAL TOP 50 📈

Who doesn’t love some good old-fashioned family hijinks?

The trend: A quick glance at our global YouTube chart is all it takes to grasp the viral popularity of kid-friendly family comedy.

• Indian creator Anaya Kandhal and her Shorts-famous relatives scored more views than any other channel in the world last week, while Sierra & Rhia FAM brought in a whopping 519.3 million weekly views.

The channel: BorisKateFamily hasn’t accrued quite as many views as those channels, but it’s still a sterling example of the effectiveness of YouTube’s top comedic tropes. The hub’s main stars, Boris and Kate, routinely pull in hundreds of millions of views by filming dialogue-free skits about low-stakes family hijinks and food-centric pranks.

• Like other top kid-friendly channels, Kate and Boris’ most-watched Shorts impart moral lessons. 213 million viewers have already tuned into the channel’s #1 clip to discover why spouses shouldn’t judge each other based on looks.

The stats: BorisKateFamily is just under a year old, but the channel is already nearing 6 billion lifetime views.

• 447.3 million of those flooded in during our last seven-day counting period.
  
  

• Altogether, that massive haul added up to a week-over-week viewership increase of 33%.
  
  

• The result: Kate and Boris’s channel rose to #10 in our Global Top 50 chart.

POD PEOPLE

Night is breaking into podcasting. Its first big acquisition: The Roost.

The announcement: Night—a talent management firm known for repping viral stars like MrBeast—has acquired The Roost, a podcasting network previously associated with Warner Bros. Discovery‘s Rooster Teeth brand.

• While the specific terms of that deal haven’t been disclosed, Night reportedly plans to establish a podcast vertical within its ecosystem.

The context: News of that big acquisition comes just one month after Rooster Teeth announced the end of its 21-year run in the digital media biz. At the time, Rooster Teeth General Manager Jordan Levin stated that The Roost—which was first established as an extension of Rooster Teeth in 2017—would be the sole part of the company to continue operations (mainly because Warner Bros. was interested in selling it).

• Now, Night CEO Reed Duscher says the firm is “committed to maintaining The Roost’s autonomy and integrity” in the wake of its acquisition. Night reportedly plans to retain the majority of The Roost team, with A.J. Feliciano continuing in her role as the Head of the podcast network.

Why it matters: Night is setting itself up to be a power player in the podcasting world. Its new acquisition encompasses a star-studded network of podcast hosts (including veteran YouTube stars like Philip DeFranco, Ludwig, and Smosh founders Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla) and is home to 47 original shows.

• Many of those programs have become massive hits (Ethan and Hila Klein‘s H3 Podcast and This Past Weekend with Theo Von being two examples).
  
  

• According to Night, The Roost’s 47 shows have pulled in a cumulative total of 350 million views and 20 million monthly audio downloads.

WATCH THIS 📺

MrBeast’s latest play button is a custom-made masterpiece

The trophy: MrBeast marked his 200-million-subscriber milestone with a special delivery from YouTube. In a recent Short, the creator gathered members of his crew to unveil his latest play button: a blindingly shiny trophy shaped like the iconic MrBeast panther.

• After basking in the glow of that metallic feline for a few seconds, MrBeast turned his attention to the eventual arrival of his next YouTube play button. The creator’s only request:

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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.