TOGETHER WITH

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Today’s News

THE BIZ

Mark Rober teamed up with Toys and Colors for a YouTube collab

The collab: Two of the world’s biggest entertainment destinations have united for a kid-friendly YouTube collab. In a series of recent videos, STEM YouTuber Mark Rober appeared alongside Kaden and Andrea—aka the young stars of Toys and Colors—to promote his CrunchLabs brand. After pitting the kiddos against one another in a gauntlet of scientific challenges, Rober had them explore an “extreme laser maze” built by him and his team.

Videos from that collaboration can be found on both the pocket.watch-partnered Toys and Colors channel and Rober’s official CrunchLabs channel. The latter of those claims just under 2 million subscribers—but both Toys and Colors and Rober’s primary hub rank among the 40 most-subscribed channels on YouTube, with 76.5 million subs and 69.2 million subs respectively.

The partners: In October 2024 alone, Toys and Colors picked up more than 3.4 billion monthly views. Emboldened by those big numbers, pocket.watch (a children’s media company known for building franchises from kid-friendly IP like Ryan’s World and LankyBox) has set up several high-profile collabs, including a partnership with Sesame Street.

Crunchlabs, meanwhile, is making its own moves to reach young audiences. A cameo in Roblox helped Rober introduce Gen A users to his line of subscription-based “build boxes,” while his recent YouTube content promotes the summertime initiative Camp CrunchLabs.

CrunchLabs recently telegraphed its plan to invest in more content when it hired Scott Lewers as its first Chief Content Officer. Lewers, a longtime Rober associate who worked with the creator on his Discovery series, Revengineers, will aim to make CrunchLabs’ build boxes look as exciting to online viewers as they were to Kaden and Andrea.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Join Creators HQ for an exclusive open house—and discover Dubai’s cutting-edge creator community

With $40.8 million in backing and partners like Meta, X, Komi, and Colin and Samir, Creators HQ offers everything creators need to thrive in Dubai—from relocation aid to cutting-edge studio space.

Now, the Creators HQ team is hosting an exclusive open house. On Wednesday, June 25, creators will have an opportunity to meet the minds behind the initiative, get clarity on the Golden Visa nomination process, and discover new opportunities.

Sign up for tomorrow’s open house here—and check out the details below:

• When: Wednesday, June 25

• Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

• Languages: English & Arabic

• Location: Boulevard Emirates Towers 

Whether you're curious about creator initiatives, looking to snag a Golden Visa, or simply want to connect with top creators and brands, Creators HQ has the answers you’re looking for. 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Six YouTube channels added one million or more subs during the third full week of June—but only one hub added at least two million: MrBeast. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• A lawsuit filed by Media Matters accuses the Federal Trade Commission of attempting to punish it for exposing “how X.com has enabled and profited from extremist content.” (Engadget)
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• Streams Charts has identified Zentreya—who appears to viewers as a cyborg-slash-dragon avatar—as the “most watched VTuber” on Twitch “across the past 30 days.” (Vice)
  
  

• A recent YouTube blog post hits back at eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who has urged the Australian government to include the platform in its ban on teen social media use. (Reuters)

GOSPEL STATS 📈

Top Branded Videos: Disney, Tide, and LEGO find common ground

Gospel Stats’ latest Weekly Brand Report is a who’s who of big-name companies. LEGO, Disney, and Tide each backed videos that ranked in the top five—two of which happen to be Shorts. Could this be a sign that brands are finally embracing Shorts (and YouTube’s Shorts ads tools) as the next big thing in digital marketing?

🥇 #1. Mark Rober x LEGO: Mark Rober vs LEGO Floor #LEGOWorldPlayDay (59.5M views)
Mark Rober has made Gospel’s top five multiple times with big tech sponsors like Google. This week, the former NASA wiz added another household name to his list of brand partners. LEGO doesn’t sponsor many YouTube videos, but when it does, it goes for top names. This week, the company also sponsored videos from fishkeeper Aquarium Info (which ranked at #60), and Zhong, who has 60 million subscribers and clocked in at #236.

🥈 #2. James Seo x Disney: $1 or mystery trip? AD (15.9M views)
Disney kicked off its summer marketing by sponsoring kids’ creator Blippi. Now, the House of Mouse has tapped James Seo for a classic “this or that mystery thing”-style Short. In this case, the lucky contestant (who, of course, picked mystery adventure) was treated to one heck of a Disney trip.

🎰 Bonus Video: #4. Jesser x Tide: Basketball vs Baseball - Who Are Better Athletes? (37K views)
The final household name in this week’s top five ranking is Tide, which linked up with a longtime sports YouTuber Jesser for a comparative sports video. Like LEGO, Tide is pretty picky about its creator partners—so we’re not surprised that it chose to go with a well-known influencer who recently surpassed 30 million subscribers.

Check out the full branded ranking here and head over to Gospel Stats for more YouTube sponsorship insights.

TWITCH TALK

Twitch takes most of its revenue from viewers’ pockets

The revelation: Twitch and YouTube might have different priorities, but they each account for large portions of the livestreaming market and are owned by digital advertising juggernauts (Google for YouTube, Amazon for Twitch).

Given those similarities, the fact that Twitch makes most of its revenue from channel subscriptions and donations—not from ad revenue—was something of a surprise when revealed by CEO Dan Clancy earlier this year:

According to Clancy, the ad placements Twitch sells on streams only account for about one-third of its overall revenue. The other ~66%, as he explained at Cannes Lions, comes directly out of viewers’ pockets.

YouTube, by contrast, makes virtually all of its billions of dollars of income from ad revenue, while YouTube Premium subscriptions and creator-managed Channel Memberships account for a slim minority of its revenue.

The takeaway: So, why does all this matter? For one, Clancy’s revelation suggests that Twitch’s ad offerings might be lagging (and therefore a possible contributor to the platform’s overall money problems). On the other hand, the info confirms one of the distinguishing characteristics of Twitch’s audience—and one of the main reasons it’s been able to stay afloat among streaming competitors and VOD platforms alike.

While viewers of VOD content typically support creators by passively generating ad revenue or occasionally buying merch, Twitch viewers are more likely to spend money directly to show their appreciation. On Twitch, it’s normal for streamers to ask for subscriptions or donations—and that culture of direct community support is a key driver of the platform’s ecosystem.

WATCH THIS

BTS’ reunion is already shaking up the YouTube charts

The reunion: On June 20, BTS idol Suga announced on social media that he has completed his time in the South Korean military—meaning the most legendary boy group in K-pop history is ready for a comeback. Before going on hiatus, BTS was arguably the most-watched pop act on YouTube. Every new BTS single brought a flurry of social media activity along with it, driving views for both the group itself and a litany of fan channels.

The impact: BTS hasn’t put out new music since its reunion, but some Korean channels have already seen viewership uptakes since the group confirmed the end of its hiatus. Top 50 stalwart CRAZY GREAPA, for example, has surged in recent days after experiencing lower viewership for much of May. Another member of the BTS Army—India-based hub/creator Nandita Bar—got 746.5 million views during the third week of June, signaling a week-over-week increase of 49%.

Check out one of Nandita Bar’s latest viral clips here.

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