It's Thursday and the Motion Picture Association wants Instagram to stop calling its content “PG-13”—mostly because it thinks Meta’s adherence to the rating system is “literally false.” Let’s keep the fight G-rated, you guys.

Today’s News

TALKING POLITICS

TikTok’s favorite politicians won Election Day

The elections: In recent months, we’ve seen think-pieces suggesting that the idea of “TikTok candidates” will be overplayed in upcoming electoral cycles. As of this week, however, the legacy of 2024’s “influencer election” is still alive and well—and shaking up political hierarchies across the world.

Two newly elected government officials are proving just how potent social media—and TikTok in particular—can be in capturing voter attention. On the same day that Zohran Mamdani secured his status as the next Mayor of New York City, Dutch politician Rob Jetten became the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the Netherlands.

Both politicians are Millennials who defeated more established candidates with help from their respective social media operations. Mamdani (who now reaches 1.7 million TikTok followers) used snazzy videos to paint himself as a younger, hipper alternative to Andrew Cuomo, while Jetten (who has 121,000 TikTok followers) similarly leveraged social media to relate to common people.

The context: Politicians aren’t just leveraging their own social media followings, either; they’re also courting big-name streamers. Last year, right-leaning influencers like Adin Ross and the Nelk boys earned kudos from Trump after helping to propel him back into the White House. This time around, Mamdani solidified his alliance with left-wing internet personality Hasan Piker by inviting the streamer to join his revelry.

Campaign strategies leveraging social media followings and creator alliances seem unlikely to disappear from political playbooks anytime soon. Jetten, Romanian President Nicușor Dan, and Cypriot prankster-turned-MP Fidias Panayioutou have all used TikTok to create popular upwellings of support. For the candidates of the future, a robust and relatable online presence will likely become the rule, not the exception.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Creator Camp has signed a three-movie deal with Attend Theatrical Marketplace, which connects independent filmmakers with movie theaters and other exhibitors. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Creator fintech company Karat has a proposal for its clients: connect your platform payouts to its business banking service, and it’ll pay 10% of your earnings (up to $100K) as a reward. (Karat)
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• Snap and Perplexity have announced a partnership that will see “conversational AI search” integrated directly into Snapchat. (Snap)
  
  

• Sony and Netflix are teaming up on a sequel to KPop Demon Hunters—but the animated film’s big follow-up likely won’t arrive for at least another three years. (Gizmodo)

SPORTS MODE

Amid a YouTube TV dispute, Disney bet on Pat McAfee—and snagged 1.1M live viewers

The stream: What do you do when you have a whole weekend of football to broadcast, but YouTube TV is playing hardball with your carriage rights? If you’re Disney—aka the parent company of ESPN—you tap in Pat McAfee.

The longtime Indianapolis Colts special teamer (who has since become a football pundit, a podcaster, and a popular creator) joined the weekly pregame show College Gameday in 2023 as part of a deal with ESPN. Earlier this month, Disney took that role to the next level: after the Mouse House failed to reach an agreement on new carriage terms, it brought College Gameday to McAfee’s X account.

The result: According to Awful Announcing, the creator’s Gameday stream drew 1.18 million unique viewers, 1.37 million aggregate views, and over 1.3 million minutes of watch time.

The context: Those stats illustrate why it’s so important for media companies to forge connections with pro and NIL sports creators. McAfee doesn’t just reach Gen Z viewers with his youthful antics and outsized presence on platforms like YouTube; he also opens the door to new distribution strategies that give Disney leverage amid carriage disputes.

That’s good news for the Mouse House, because its tussle with YouTube TV seems unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. Disney thinks that YouTube is out to “eliminate competition,” while the latter tech giant claims that it only wants a “fair deal”.

McAfee’s strong showing on X isn’t just a boon for Disney, either. As the platform formerly known as Twitter attempts to level up its live streaming capabilities, McAfee’s success illustrates its potential value to media companies.

THE BIZ

Microdramas are drawing Gen Z to YouTube and TikTok (and away from TV)

The stats: A survey published by Activate Consulting is shedding light on the rise of microdramas. For its Technology & Media Outlook 2026, the company measured consumers’ relative activity on traditional and new media platforms. The takeaway: as formats like the microdrama continue to redefine digital consumption, a growing number of twentysomethings are shunning traditional TV in favor of social video.

According to Activate CEO Michael Wolf, 43% of Gen Z respondents listed YouTube and TikTok as their preferred destinations for entertainment and news. Microdramas are an increasingly significant draw for that demographic; the short-form shows now claim 28 million U.S. adult viewers, more than half of whom are between the ages of 18 and 34.

Microdramas are inspired by short-form shows in China, some of which have been distributed through TikTok’s sister app Douyin. As of now, America’s top source for microdramas is YouTube, where the format has spawned a revival of the dormant web series trend.

The impact: Activate’s report shows that the growth of social entertainment hubs like YouTube and TikTok comes at the expense of traditional players. While the time spent on streaming video is expected to rise to an average of four hours and eight minutes per day by 2029, linear TV is projected to drop to one hour and 17 minutes per day.

Naturally, those trends will affect distributors’ bottom lines. Streaming revenue from ads and subscriptions is due for a year-over-year increase of 18%, while traditional TV revenue will decline four to six percent over the same period.

WATCH THIS 👀

What will brainrot look like in 2035?

The skit: Skibidi rizz. Sigma. 6-7. In 2025, the language of brainrot is everywhere. But what will the legacy of brainrot look like in ten years?

The Johnson Brothers have a few comedic visions in mind for the coming decade. A zombie apocalypse is, of course, the most likely outcome—but if we’re not fighting off the undead in 2035, the Johnsons are pretty sure we’ll be checking up on our brainrot-addled buddies (and very carefully avoiding trigger phrases like “6-7”).

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