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It's Friday and Barbie is doing big things for Aqua. According to VEVO, the band’s “Barbie Girl” music video tripled its average day-to-day viewership in the week after the movie’s release.
TAKING STOCK
Snap’s stocks just took a 15% tumble—and that might not be the worst of it
Snap is already bracing for Q3 losses. The Snapchat parent company exceeded expectations in the second quarter of 2023 by scoring $1.07 billion of revenue and adding 14 million daily active users—but even with those gains, Snap’s revenue still declined by 4%. And according to its Q2 earnings report, Q3 isn’t looking much better:
“From a revenue perspective, our business remains in a period of rapid transition as we work to improve our advertising platform, while forward visibility of advertising demand remains limited.”
Snap’s Q2 report projected flat or declining earnings over the next three months—a prediction that quickly took a toll on the company’s stock value. In the aftermath of its forecasted revenue losses, Snap saw its share price fall by more than 15%, from 12.51 per share to 10.41 per share. (As of yesterday, those numbers have rebounded to roughly 10.74 per share.)
Investors might be sweating, but Snap has a plan.
As Snap CEO Evan Spiegel noted, the company is leveraging three key strategies in its pursuit of “a higher rate of revenue growth”:
“First, investing in our products to sustain community growth and deepen engagement. Second, investing heavily in our direct-response business to deliver measurable return on spend for our advertising partners. Third, cultivating new sources of revenue to diversify our topline growth to build a more resilient business.”
That game plan is already bearing fruit: Snapchat’s premium subscription tier—Snapchat+—reached four million subscribers during Q2 2023, while its ChatGPT-powered service, My AI, is now being used by more than 150 million Snapchatters.
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰
A recent post from ex-Twitter Blue head Esther Crawford offered an inside look at the company culture before and after Elon Musk’s turbulent takeover. (Tubefilter)
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has called for an amendment to the Restrict Act, a piece of legislation initially designed to act as a TikTok ban. (Tubefilter)
A series of studies published in partnership with Meta found that 97% of all “false” political news was “seen by more conservative users than liberal users.” (The Verge)
According to Peacock’s Q2 report, the streamer gained only 2 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2023. (TechCrunch)
DATA • CREATORS ON THE RISE 📈
This TikTok star had three months to make it as a creator. She only needed two.
For Cassie Yeung, the first step to becoming a content creator was both simple and terrifying: she had to tell her parents. They took the news that she was quitting her nine-to-five job to “share Asian cuisine” surprisingly well—but that support came with one condition.
Yeung had three months to make it as a content creator.
If things weren’t going well by then, her parents said, she’d need to “explore other options.” Yeung took that bet and ran with it. Within two months, she’d produced multiple viral videos, collected 50,000 TikTok followers, and scored an invitation to compete on the Gordon Ramsay-hosted cooking series Next Level Chef.
Yeung followed up that incredible culinary experience with another. She flew to Europe and Singapore after the show wrapped, and then took a short break from TikTok before returning to share “all these special family recipes” she had learned during her travels. Videos featuring those recipes and the takeout tutorials Yeung posted afterward ”skyrocketed” her viewership.
One short year later, the creator has surpassed 2 million followers on TikTok and is hard at work on her own cookbook. She’s also one of the talented creators included on TikTok’s 2023 Visionary Voices list, which she says has been “a dream.”
“Now, with a platform like TikTok, it’s really amazing, because we are creating an interest, respect, and just to not only eat the foods and to respect it, but also to be making it at home. To be nominated for the Visionary Voices list was so special to me, because it’s been my goal to stop that judgment on this cuisine. It’s one of the most amazing cuisines in this world.”
SEEING RED
With 95% of revenue going to creators, Kick isn’t bringing in any profit…yet
Kick has always been pretty vocal about its 95% creator revenue cut. As far as marketing goes, that’s not a bad strategy for a platform hoping to poach Twitch’s top stars.
But in terms of profit…
Handing over 95% of revenue—and signing $100 million, nonexclusive deals—isn’t the best way to make a quick buck (or any bucks). But according to founder/CEO Ed Craven, Kick isn’t worried about its bottom line just yet:
“Kick is not currently profitable, and that is obviously no secret. Just like any startup…we understand that there is a cost you have to pay to enter.”
Eventually, though, Kick will have to turn a profit. Craven says the platform aims to hit that milestone “sort of somewhere around the 12 to 36 months mark.”
The game plan: ads.
Craven told Forbes that Kick will “look heavily towards the advertising space” in its pursuit of profit. When and how that will manifest is unclear, but it’s unlikely to be a straightforward process. As Forbes points out, ad-unfriendly content is harder to predict when creators go live—and even if streamers do keep things brand-safe, they’re unlikely to be thrilled about the presence of ads. Twitch streamers and viewers alike have voiced frustrations about pre-roll and midstream ads for years, with many creators running the minimum number of midstream ads possible (per Forbes).
Kick will need to overcome those obstacles if it hopes to continue luring streamers away from Twitch. But in the meantime, Craven isn’t too worried. As the CEO told Forbes, Kick is confident that its rival’s recent missteps have granted it an “absolutely perfect opportunity” to swoop in.
WATCH THIS 📺
Did a retired military intelligence officer just confirm that aliens exist?
Congressional hearings are typically long, boring, and filled with vague deflections—unless they’re about UFOs, of course. The latest testimony from former intelligence officer David Grusch (who served for 14 years in the Air Force and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency) was anything but boring.
In response to questions from the House Oversight Committee, Grusch claimed that the U.S. military has purposefully covered up the discovery of “nonhuman” aircraft and “biologics.” That testimony may or may not be true—but either way, it’s a pretty compelling watch.
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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.