TOGETHER WITH

It’s Monday once again, and six Senators have introduced the Fans First Act to regulate services like Ticketmaster. They can count on the support of Congress’ Swiftie and Beyhive blocs.

ONTO THE BACK BURNER

Congress won’t pass TikTok regulation this year (but GOP presidential hopefuls still want the app gone).

Earlier this year, a U.S. TikTok ban seemed like a definite possibility. Instead, Congress has decided to kick the proverbial can down the road.

TikTok’s U.S. operations will at least continue through 2023.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who heads the Senate Commerce Committee, told Reuters that Congress will not take up TikTok-oriented legislation until the calendar turns over to a new year. Cantwell has led efforts to revise the RESTRICT Act, a proposal that would equip the Biden Administration with the power to regulate Chinese-owned apps like TikTok.

The decision to delay Congressional action on TikTok is the latest step in a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the app. Back in March, a unified Congress grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and vowed to punish the video app for its data security shortcomings. But events since then — including a quashed attempt to ban TikTok in Montana — have convinced Cantwell that a regulatory solution needs more time.

Reuters doesn’t expect U.S. lawmakers to decide on TikTok in 2024, either.

After all, it’s a presidential election year. Will electoral hopefuls really try to ban TikTok when the app is so popular among America’s youngest voters?

Apparently, some of them will. In recent Republican Presidential debates, candidates like Nikki Haley have repeatedly ripped into TikTok. The former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations used some fuzzy math to tie TikTok to a recent rise in anti-Semitism.

Despite Haley’s invective, she faces an uphill if she wants to ban TikTok. Maybe she should copy her rivals and embrace the app instead.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Opus Clip is launching a new Pro plan for video creators who mean business 💪

With innovative AI editing tools and data insights, OpusClip is the best way to transform long-form videos into viral Shorts, TikToks, and Reels.

Creators are already seeing incredible results, from 70% higher revenue (Ebonie Dion) to 65% more subscribers (Ricardo Hernandez).

Now, OpusClip is taking its AI-powered video clipping solution to the next level with a brand-new Pro plan. Here’s why everyone from celebrity podcasters like Patrick Bet David to up-and-coming NewTubers are going Pro—and saving 90% of production time in the process:

1-Click Export to Adobe Premiere 🚀
Want to add that professional touch to your Shorts? Download your OpusClip results and caption’s SRT files directly into Adobe Premiere Pro.

Horizontal, 1:1, and vertical aspect ratios and social media scheduling 🗓️
Refigure your videos into the formats you need to go viral—and then schedule your content so you can take that much-needed holiday vacay.

AI-powered B-roll with brand templates galore 🎉 
Pro makes spicing up your B-rolls a cinch with everything from AI B-rolls to endless brand template options. AI shouldn’t be able to make clips look this good (but this isn’t just any AI).

Check out the website for more upcoming features—or jump the line by signing up for Pro:

Subscribe to OpusClip Pro →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• YouTube Premium users who were grandfathered into lower rates will start paying the full $13.99 per month beginning in January. (Tubefilter)
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• After spending big on properties like Moonbug and Hello Sunshine, Candle Media is reportedly looking to restructure its debt as it accounts for missed targets. (Bloomberg)
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• Google Podcasts is going bye-bye, but Google has launched tools to help users migrate their audio libraries to YouTube. (Ars Technica)
  ​

• Thinking of applying TikTok’s “red flag test” to your partner? A relationship expert advises against it. (CNBC)

DATA • MILLIONAIRES 📈

Alyson and Christopher love board games. YouTube and TikTok love watching them play.

When they first met at a nearby supplements store after being each other’s “gym crush,” Alyson and Christopher knew they had some things in common.

But they didn’t yet realize just how much they shared.

Namely, a serious love of board games.

They were both 90s kids who’d grown up playing games like Candyland, Operation, and Hi-Ho! Cherry-O with their families (particularly their siblings), and now they each had a worthy opponent. And that’s a good thing, because they’re both very competitive.

But as they merged their game libraries, they realized it wasn’t exactly easy finding games for just two people. Most are made for four to six, or even more. That’s what sparked the idea to start making content.

Now, three years later, their channel Games4Two is one of the fastest-growing on YouTube, and they’ve got over a million followers on both YouTube and TikTok watching them challenge each other to a friendly match of—well, any board game they can get their hands on.

Check out our chat with them here.

WATCH THIS 📺

The Grand Theft Auto VI reveal trailer is officially entering the Guinness Book of World Records. Have you seen it?

Rockstar Games’ first peek into the world of Grand Theft Auto VI got 90 million views in 24 hours, and then Guinness World Records came calling. According to everyone’s favorite beer-branded record keepers, the GTA VI trailer got more first-day views than any other non-music video upload on YouTube.

GTA VI is leaving video game trailers behind and heading into BTS territory. The K-pop group got 100 million views in 24 hours on the music videos for the songs ‘Dynamite’ and ‘Butter’.

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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.