TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday and now that deepfakes have replaced facial recognition as The Big Bad, Facebook is booting up its retired facial recognition system to identify AI-generated scam ads.

Today’s News

COURTSIDE CREATORS

The NBA will kick off its “most expansive” creator program of all time with a Kai Cenat collab

The tip-off: NBA fans can look forward to a star-powered season both on and off the court. A press release describes the pro league’s 2023-24 slate as its “most expansive creator program” yet—and the first of those initiatives is set to kick off today.

The fun will begin several hours from now (aka the night of October 22), when Kai Cenat joins the TNT crew in Boston to watch the Celtics take on the Knicks. Comment Section host Drew Afualo will take over the reins the next day by attending the October 23 matchup between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers. Like Cenat, Afualo will broadcast her experience across NBA-affiliated social hubs.

The season: Cenat and Afualo’s appearances represent the tip-off of a season-long undertaking: as the competition heats up, creator-facing opportunities will be bunched around the most important dates on the NBA calendar. The Creator Cup—an influencer gauntlet that kicked off last year—will once again take place alongside the NBA Cup games. Additional Creator Cup showdowns will be held during All-Star Weekend (which is always an important time for basketball influencers) and the NBA Summer League.

The revamp: The NBA’s creator-focused marketing strategy goes far beyond those star-studded initiatives. The league is also revamping its NBA Playmakers program, which originally launched in 2016. Through a partnership with WSC Sports, the NBA will let select creators—including Thinking Basketball, Swish Cultures, By Any Means Basketball, CoshReport, MaxaMillion711, and Golden Hoops—access 25,000 hours of NBA game footage and AI-driven editing tools.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Become a Member of Spotter Studio and Gain Access to an Exclusive Webinar with Jon Youshaei

A good thumbnail can make or break a viral video—but brainstorming the right concept isn’t easy. For creators who have already released dozens (or even hundreds!) of videos, inventing new thumbnails can be a frustrating and time-consuming task. 

That’s why Spotter is expanding their suite of software designed by and for YouTube creators: Spotter Studio.

With Spotter Studio, YouTube creators can generate fresh thumbnail concepts in three distinct Thumbnail Styles to help kickstart the brainstorming process—and that’s just the beginning. From real-time data insights to personalized collaboration tools and video outlines, Spotter Studio makes it easy to brainstorm all aspects of your next viral video.

Register today and you’ll receive exclusive access to a free webinar with industry leader Jon Youshaei on 10/29.

Tune in to hear Jon…

• Unravel the code to going viral (based on years of collabs with top creators like Dude Perfect, Mark Rober, Liza Koshy, and Danny Duncan).
  
  

• Break down how YouTube’s algorithm works, showing you how it prioritizes content and how you can use this knowledge to maximize visibility.
  
  

• Outline his best tips to grow your audience, decrease your production time, and increase your retention.

Unlock Exclusive Benefits → 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• A new generation of “triple threat” creators are taking over YouTube—and they can pull off Shorts, long-form videos, and live content. (Tubefilter)
  ​

• TikTok has announced the launch of a Global #ElectronicMusic Hub dedicated to celebrating fans’ “favorite sounds” and “elevating DJs, producers and artists at every stage.” (Social Media Today)

• Netflix will reportedly lower its output of movies from 50 per year to between 25 and 30 as it shifts content strategies under film chairman Dan Lin. (Gizmodo)
  
  

• TikTok parent company Bytedance has confirmed that an intern was fired after allegedly sabotaging AI training materials, but says rumors about resulting financial losses were “seriously exaggerated.” (Ars Technica)

📈 DATA • GOSPEL STATS

Top 3 Branded Videos of the Week: From underground cities to Revolt World

MrBeast is back at the top of Gospel Stats’ weekly branded ranking thanks to a trip to an underground city—and the 71.6 million viewers who followed along. Of course, Jimmy Donaldson wasn’t the only creator to transport fans to new (and sponsored) places: Revolt invited viewers to revisit Revolt World, while Danny Gonzalez dove into the universe of YouTube copycats.

🥇 MrBeast x Zaxby’s: 7 Days Exploring An Underground City (71.6M views)
MrBeast’s jaunt through underground Transylvania included nods to not one but two of his food-focused partnerships. Lunchly co-founder Logan Paul showed up for a special guest appearance (alongside fellow stars like Kai Cenat), while Zaxby’s served as the video’s official brand partner. That ad spot was dedicated to promoting the chain’s official MrBeast Box, which hit the menu in May.

🥈 Revolt x Walmart: REVOLT WORLD: We Create the Future – Recap Special Featuring Yung Miami, Cam Newton, Pusha T & More (7.1M views)
Revolt snagged the #2 spot with an official recap of Revolt World, a three-day fest that included live music performances, panels, masterclasses, and branded activations. That IRL Atlanta event was sponsored by Walmart, which returned to fund the follow-up video.

🥉 Danny Gonzalez x Rocket Money: The King Copycats Of YouTube (4.2M views)
Instead of exploring underground cities, Gonzalez brought fans into the dark underbelly of content thievery. The YouTuber’s Rocket Money-sponsored video dissected a series of questions that have long plagued the creator economy: “Stealing content. When is it okay? When is it just inspiration? When is it just hopping on a trend that everybody’s doing?”

Check out our full Top 5 overview here or head over to Gospel Stats for more YouTube sponsorship insights.

TEEN TALK

As Election Day approaches, YouTube is teaching teens how to recognize AI content

The program: YouTube might be all in on artificial intelligence, but that doesn’t mean the platform is willing to ignore the dangers of AI-generated content. Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, YouTube is joining forces with fact-checking nonprofit Poynter and its edutainment initiative, MediaWise, to release a set of 11 lessons that teach teenagers how to identify misinformation online.

The launch: The educational program serves as an extension of YouTube’s two-year-old Hit Pause media literacy campaign and is timed to coincide with Global Media Literacy Week. In addition to covering AI imagery, the curriculum’s 30-minute to 45-minute lessons address topics like evaluating whether a post’s sources are trustworthy. The full program—which includes 11 lessons and corresponding YouTube videos, handouts, and slideshow presentations—is 100% free and intended for use in classrooms or workshops.

The context: This isn’t the first time YouTube has backed a program designed to slow misinformation. In 2022, the platform and parent Google committed $13.2 million to Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network after the org criticized YouTube’s “insufficient” regulatory tools in an open letter to then-CEO Susan Wojcicki.

Two years later, the time is ripe for YouTube and Poynter to take action again. A recent study from Amazon found that nearly 60% of all text content on the web is AI-generated or translated through an AI algorithm—meaning young viewers need all the anti-misinformation training they can get.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

SNL knows exactly what your TikTok FYP looks like

SNL takes on TikTok: From Shop ads and Nara Smith recipes to Keith Lee food reviews, TikTok is a pretty multifaceted place—but SNL still managed to cover a solid swatch of content during last week’s show.

The October 19 skit in question offered a dramatized look at TikTok feeds during “influencer election” season. Between spoofs of popular creators like Alex Cooper, SNL poked fun at political hubs like Kamala HQ and showed viewers what Joe Biden might look like as a TikTok Shop influencer. That last bit might be a reach, but it’s not out of the ordinary for viewers to see creator reviews interspersed with political content—and that fact could make all the difference when Election Day rolls around.

Want to introduce your brand to Tubefilter’s audience? Sponsor the newsletter.

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.​

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