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If you’re finding value in our Creator Economy newsletter, I encourage you to consider subscribing to The Information. It contains exclusive reporting on the most important stories in tech. Save up to $250 on your first year of access. Happy July! The TV streaming market is getting awfully crowded! Last week, Kalley and I broke the news that Instagram and TikTok are both working on versions of their video apps better suited for TV screens, following YouTube’s success in the living room. It’s easy to understand why these social media companies want to get in the game. Advertisers generally pay more for ads that show on TV screens than smartphone apps. TV streaming is also an opportunity to reach new users, especially older ones. TikTok and Instagram now want a slice of the action. But competition for those TV streaming ad dollars is fierce—and free services are now suffering, as my colleagues Catherine and Sahil reported on Monday. That may not bode well for Instagram and TikTok’s smart TV hopes. Free ad-supported television, better known as FAST channels, are facing greater competition for ad dollars from high-profile paid subscription services, including Amazon Prime Video—which began selling ads early last year—in addition to Netflix and Disney+. After a boom over the past five years in the number of these channels, some FAST channels have seen a falloff in ad revenue of as much as 50% so far this year. More FAST channels have also been inking deals with creators, such as former NASA engineer Mark Rober and YouTuber Dhar Mann, as they hope to attract viewers to their services by bringing on popular videos from creators. Still, it was inevitable that Instagram and TikTok would try to win more TV viewers. Social networks have a long history of copying each other’s features, especially the most successful ones, like short-form video or disappearing Stories. Now, it’s TVs as YouTube has emerged as a dominant force. As of April, YouTube made up more TV-watching time than any other ad-supported streaming or subscription service in the U.S., including Netflix and Paramount, according to Nielsen. TikTok has actually been on TV screens before, though it never promoted it as heavily as YouTube has. TikTok launched a TV app in 2021, but appeared to pull it from smart TV providers such as Sony and Apple TV last month as it gears up for a fresh push. Besides fierce competition for advertising, Instagram and TikTok will need to solve how to make the short-form videos they’re known for look appealing on a bigger screen. YouTube has had to face this issue with Shorts, but it also has plenty of horizontal, long-form video that is perfectly suited for TVs. Instagram and TikTok may also need to take a page out of YouTube’s playbook and fight for sports rights (think NFL Sunday Ticket) and incentivize creators and media publishers to make more videos designed for the TV screen. It won’t be easy, but YouTube’s success is now too big for them to ignore. Here’s what else is going on… • The TikTok ban news cycle is back after President Trump said “we have a buyer for TikTok” which he claimed he’d identify in about two weeks. Trump said the buyers were a “group of very wealthy people,” during an interview with Fox News that aired on Sunday. He acknowledged that he needed the approval of the Chinese government but said he expected Chinese president Xi Jinping would probably approve the deal. A TikTok spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment. However, an investor in TikTok parent ByteDance didn’t find much credibility in the president’s declaration, noting that “two weeks” has become a timeframe seemingly favored by Trump on a range of issues, such as the Iran nuclear crisis. (Last month, Trump said he will decide in “a couple of weeks” whether to strike Iran and pulled the trigger on bombing the country’s nuclear facilities just a day after those remarks.) • The ongoing threat of a ban isn’t scaring off media buyers, according to Digiday. Brand spending on TikTok increased to $588 million in May, up from $542 million in April, according to estimates from MediaRadar, which analyzes advertising spending. • TikTok is testing a new feature called “bulletin boards,” which allows creators and brands to share messages with their followers. The feature is similar to Instagram’s broadcast channels tool. See The Information’s Creator Economy Database for an exclusive list of private companies and their investors. Google appears to be getting ready to bring YouTube Create, its competitor to ByteDance’s CapCut editing tool, to iOS devices, according to job postings seeking engineers to work on the effort. YouTube’s video editing app launched in 2023, but only on Android devices. A company spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment. Slipstream Music, a music licensing service, partnered with media company WexWorks to distribute and commercialize rights to “Funny Song,” a viral tune by British composer Thomas Hewitt Jones. The audio clip has amassed more than 42 billion views on social media apps and is the second most-played song on TikTok, according to Slipstream, which owns the track. ShopOS, which develops AI-based software to help e-commerce companies set up online marketplaces, raised $20 million in new funding led by Three State Ventures. MrBeast pulled a tool that used AI to create thumbnails for YouTubers after backlash from creators, who said it “stole” work from creators. “I definitely missed the mark,” he said in a video posted to X. MrBeast charged for the tool as part of a subscription plan for his analytics offering Viewstats. Instead, he’s offering a page where creators can hire a professional (human) to create thumbnails for their videos. Dude Perfect will kick off its “Hero” live tour on Wednesday in Colorado Springs, which will go to 20 U.S. cities. It also announced the tour will integrate Samsung Galaxy devices as well as Google’s Gemini AI. Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo renewed an exclusive advertising partnership for their comedy podcast “Giggly Squad” with independent podcast network Acast. Nick DiGiovanni, a food creator and former “MasterChef” contestant, is now a Feastables official “brand partner” as MrBeast’s chocolate snack company expands its sponsorships with other creators. Creators in Action, an annual event that recognizes a creator and executive in the industry, announced this year it will honor streamer Valkyrae and Pocket.Watch founder and CEO Chris Williams on September 8. Proceeds from the event, which is co-chaired by Mythical president Brian Flanagan and CAA exec Brent Weinstein, benefit the Saban Community Clinic, which provides free healthcare in Los Angeles. Nikita Bier announced he joined Elon Musk’s X as the head of product. Bier previously sold anonymous messaging apps to Meta Platforms and Discord. TikTok is hiring for a Los Angeles-based creator manager focused on news influencers, according to a job posting. The Information’s Women in Tech, Media and Finance Summit is back October 28-29 in Napa Valley. As AI reshapes business, markets swing wildly, and political instability grows, WTF brings together bold women leading through uncertainty to navigate change and shape what’s next. Reserve your spot. Thank you for reading the Creator Economy Newsletter! I’d love your feedback, ideas and tips: kaya@theinformation.com. If you think someone else might enjoy this newsletter, please pass it forward or they can sign up here: https://www.theinformation.com/newsletters/creator-economy | 
