TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday and TikTok Shop is decking the halls with holiday cash. Its Black Friday sales total: $100 million in the U.S. alone.

Today’s News

MAFIA MAN

Kai Cenat’s latest subathon reasserted his position as streaming’s king of spectacle

The event: Streamers have a talent for upping the ante. Take Ghanian creator Afua Nash—who recently attempted to eat for four days straight live on YouTube—or Twitch streamer emilycc, who’s been live for over three years.

Spectacle king Kai Cenat stumbled across the latter creator during his own 24/7 subathon, a month-long event featuring creators like Pinkydoll and celebs like Soulja Boy, Miranda Cosgrove, and Lizzo. Those and other guest appearances helped Cenat reclaim the record for most simultaneous Twitch subscriptions, which he set at 727,700.

The highlights: Now that Mafiathon 2 is a wrap, here are seven of the event’s biggest moments:

1. Cenat collabed with Kim Kardashian to film an official trailer that snagged over 20 million views on his Instagram page and another 13 million on Kardashian’s.
   
   

2. Snoop Dogg called in on the stream’s second day to talk about his upcoming album Missionary, and later arranged a tour of his L.A. compound. 
   
   

3. Cenat talked fast food with tennis star Serena Williams and conducted an experiment with science guy Bill Nye.
   
   

4. Fellow streamer Ludwig dropped by on November 25 with a $100,000 giveaway for viewers. 
   
   

5. Cenat raised concerns about the health effects of marathon streaming on Day 22, when he told viewers he had spat up blood that morning. 
   
   

6. Cenat’s top competition—Ironmouse—presented him with his very own virtual avatar. The VTuber previously set the Twitch sub record at ~321,000 back in September, beating Cenat’s record of 306,621.
   
   

7. To wrap it all up, Cenat promised to donate 20% of his Mafiathon 2 revenue to a school he’s helping build in Nigeria. That’s a big chunk of cash: if Cenat has a 50/50 split with Twitch and brought in 727,000 Tier 1 subs, he will have made at least $1.8 million.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

This holiday season, Spotter Studio is giving the gift of growth—and cash prizes—to Spotter Studio members!

Spotter Studio is celebrating the holidays with a creator giveaway. Beginning November 25, current and new Spotter Studio members can enter for a chance to win thousands in cash prizes:

• One creator will take home a grand prize of $20,000

• Five additional creators will receive $1,000

• Plus, all six winners will be awarded 1 year of Spotter Studio membership

• No purchase necessary to win

That giveaway isn’t the only reason to kickstart your Spotter Studio membership.

In addition to accessing a complete suite of AI-powered video ideation tools, Spotter Studio members receive access to membership exclusives including top-tier Creator Webinars and referral bonuses of $100 for every friend you refer (friends get $100 upon joining, too!).

Entry for the holiday giveaway closes on December 31, 2024, so sign up today:

Sign up today →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Have you heard? Ludwig is back on Twitch, Chick-fil-a’s streaming service is live, and Netflix is bringing Cobra Kai to Roblox. (Tubefilter)
  ​

• YouTube’s roundup of 2024 trends included shoutouts to artists and creators like Kendrick Lamar, MrBeast, and Sabrina Carpenter. (The Wrap)
  
  

• U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become the first person to reach 1 million followers on Bluesky. (Engadget)
  
  

• Threads has announced new search tools that will allow users to filter posts by criteria like date range and profile. (The Verge)

DATA • GOSPEL STATS 📈

Top 3 Branded Videos: Gordon Ramsay, Amelia Earhart, and the science of vaping

Gospel Stats’ latest weekly brand report is a solid mix of science and celebrities. All of the top three videos scored at least 4 million views, with edutainment hubs Veritasium and Kurzgesagt coming in just ahead of stars Gordon Ramsay and Matthew McConaughey.

🥇 #1. Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell x Ground News: Vaping Is Too Good To Be True (4.5M views)
In this week’s #1 vid, Kurzgesagt digs into the science of vaping to find out whether it’s really the better-for-you smoking alternative it claims to be. That exploration is backed by frequent YouTuber collaborator Ground News, which sponsored another 50+ videos this week alone.

🥈 #2. Veritasium x KiwiCo: The Physics That Could Have Saved Amelia Earhart (4.4M views)
Last week, Kurzgesagt came in second on Gospel’s list with 4.4 million views and a sponsorship from kids’ STEM/art subscription company KiwiCo. Now, the tables have turned: Kurzgesagt is at #1, while fellow edutainment hub Veritasium has dropped to take its place at #2 with a deep-dive into Amelia Earhart’s final flight.

🥉 #3. Gordon Ramsay x HexClad: Gordon Ramsay Teaches Matthew McConaughey How to Make the Ultimate Steak & Eggs (4.1M views)
Chef Gordon Ramsay has more than 21 million subscribers on YouTube, and this week he welcomed actor Matthew McConaughey for a cooking lesson themed around the movie Twister. While the two whipped up their dish, McConaughey spotlighted his and wife Camila’s just keep livin Foundation, an initiative that helps schools apply for federal funding. The video is (appropriately) sponsored by cookware brand HexClad.

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

LEGAL ACTION

Valkyrae is lawyering up over fake Stake-branded captions

The ecosystem: Anyone who’s been online knows YouTube’s decision to hide public dislikes). the internet is a more hostile place for women than men. In recent months, streamers like QTCinderella have spoken out about the rise of deepfakes and a study from the University of Zurich has demonstrated the consequences of “dislike attacks” against female creators.

Now, Valkyrae is calling attention to another harmful trend: the “sexualizing/defaming” of creators’ out-of-context clips “while monetizing with a certain logo.” In a recent tweet, the streamer (who has 4 million YouTube subscribers) revealed that she is lawyering up after a slew of Stake-branded X posts slapped fake captions on clips from her podcast:

The context: Clips like those taken from Valkryrae’s podcast have been circulating all over X lately. Most have outrageously fake captions geared to go viral on a site increasingly riddled with spam, sexual harassment, antisemitism, and racism. Other clips are also branded with the logo for gambling site Stake.

So far, it’s unclear whether Stake is involved in the posts or if posters are using its logo as a joke. The gambling site has yet to comment on the situation—but Valkyrae isn’t waiting around for an official statement. While the streamer didn’t specify what kind of legal action she plans to take, she did urge anyone who’s had their “content clipped out of context…with a certain logo” to contact her.

WATCH THIS 📺

Red Bull is killing it on YouTube Shorts

The sports destination: Red Bull isn’t just an insanely popular beverage brand—it’s also the owner of a viral sports hub on YouTube. In addition to bringing its branding to high-octane sporting events all over the country and the athletes that participate in them, the company has attracted over 20 million subscribers by posting high-stakes action shots on YouTube.

Uploaded yesterday, Red Bull’s latest Short—a nail-biting ride titled “He Nearly Fell Off the Cliff”—has earned more than 3.7 million views by showing “mountain biker Thomas Genon come back from a large crash at Red Bull Rampage.” With stakes like those, is it any surprise these are two of the video’s top comments?

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.