Just a heads-up, next Friday you won’t hear from me as I’ll be moving countries. Because of my rescue dog Caramela, we’ll be driving from Portugal via Spain, France, Switzerland to Germany. She’s already got her country-by-country bandanas ready.

If you are curious, you can follow our journey on Instagram or TikTok. We’ll also be visiting Virginia Mouseler’s Beagles of Burgundy For those of you who don’t know, The WIT’s Virgina has been rescuing beagles from laboratories for almost 6 years now.

A week of transitions and movement ahead - which somehow feels fitting for a week where media itself is shifting shape again.

Here are the top 3 stories making waves this week:

1️⃣ YouTube leads the shift to repeat creator deals
2️⃣ Roku pushes creator led TV discovery
3️⃣ CazeTV wins LaLiga rights and creators enter distribution

Let’s dive in!

🌊 News that Made Waves

1. Repeat Partnerships Are the Most Effective Creator Campaigns, and YouTube Leads the Way.

   Is there a “right way” for brands to work with creators? The Influencer Marketing Factory looked to answer that question with its 2026 Brand Deals Report.

   The report produced a clear conclusion: Repeat creator partnerships produce stronger results than one-off collabs. That finding held true across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, but influencer campaigns on each of those platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses. If brands are going to prioritise recurring creator partnerships, YouTube is the place to go to execute those deals. Less than half of the YouTube posts measured by The Influencer Marketing Factory were one-off engagements, and nearly 20% of those posts were part of long-running brand ambassadorships. For comparison, on TikTok, more than 71% of the measured posts were one-offs, and fewer than 3% were part of ambassadorships. (Influencer Marketing Factory)

   

   💡Brands aren’t just optimising for reach anymore, they’re optimising for familiarity, and YouTube is emerging as the platform where that long-term creator–brand continuity is actually built.

2. Want to Find Creator FAST Channels on Roku? A New Hub Is Here to Guide You.

   Roku, one of the leading providers of free, ad-supported TV (FAST), has announced a creator hub stocked with the biggest names from platforms like YouTube and Twitch. According to The Hollywood Reporter, which cited Roku Media Head of Content Lisa Holme, Roku will support its new hub by adding to its library of creator channels. Licensed content from tastemakers like iShowSpeed, Jesser, and the Stokes Twins will join the offerings that can already be found (for free) on the Roku Channel. Roku, like many media companies in the streaming space, is hungry for closer relationships with creator communities. That desire is driven by statistical trends; earlier this year, Tubi found that 67% of consumers believe creators to be more authentic than traditional TV programmes. (Tubefilter)

   

   💡Roku’s new FAST creator hub signals that connected TV platforms are no longer just distributing creator content, they’re actually actively reorganising discovery around creators as primary programming pillars.

3. Tom Brady Launches Trading Card Trivia Format on YouTube and Social Media.

   NFL star Tom Brady’s production company Shadow Lion launched a celebrity interview format on YouTube this week that will also be edited for Instagram and TikTok. Chasers sees celebrities try to identify four cards through four questions, then go down the rabbit hole of how they are all connected. Aiming to be a “viral-friendly format,” it will be hosted by Kevin Bonner and drop bi-weekly on YouTube, with 90-second episodes following on Instagram and TikTok. Brady appears as the first contestant in the premiere episode. Brady said: “I’ve spent my whole life collecting, and now I’m in the business with my company CardVault by Tom Brady growing so fast. My team at Shadow Lion launching Chasers is the perfect way to keep the momentum rolling. The hobby has so much to offer, and this show meets people where they are.” The company is currently in production on more than a dozen projects including shortform, longform, vodcasts and advertising campaigns. The company is also developing unscripted projects with Amazon and Peacock. (C21 Media)

   

   💡Celebrity-led media formats are increasingly being engineered as cross-platform IP from day one, with YouTube anchoring the full version and short-form cutdowns designed to circulate across social platforms to maximise viral reach.

4. HBO Max Adding Podcasts in Europe to Serve up “Immersive Fandom”.

   HBO Max is now providing its subscribers in a key region with podcasts, unveiling on Tuesday that it is adding podcasts in Europe, something it has done in the U.S. since 2019. The news comes at a time when Netflix has been rolling out podcasts, including from Spotify, and amid reports that Paramount+ is also planning a push into podcasts. Of course, Paramount Skydance has agreed to acquire HBO Max parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. So, all signs point to podcasts becoming a growing content offering across streaming giants around the world. The move is “reinforcing the platform’s position as the ultimate destination for fans to immerse themselves even deeper in the worlds of their favourite series and franchises,” including Harry Potter and the various Game of Thrones shows, it said. The goal is to offer “companion experiences, behind‑the‑scenes access and creator‑led conversations alongside its series and movies,” kicking off “a new era of immersive fandom.” The European podcast push launched on Tuesday with Harry Potter: The Official Film Podcast, hosted by film critic and broadcaster Rhianna Dhillon, which offers “a joyful and insightful rewatch of the eight Harry Potter movies, featuring special guests, high‑level film discussion and deep dives into the moments that defined a generation of movie‑goers,” HBO Max said. (THR)

   

   💡Streaming platforms continue to extend their IP beyond the screen by adding podcasts as companion formats - turning shows into ongoing fandom ecosystems that continue between episodes and releases.

5. CazeTV Snaps Up LaLiga Rights in Brazil Until 2032.

   CazeTV, the Brazilian sports streaming channel run by YouTuber Casemiro Miguel, has strengthened its grip on the country’s sports scene by securing a major rights agreement covering Spanish soccer’s top-tier LaLiga. The deal, which covers the 2026-27 to 2031-32 seasons, will see CazeTV’s YouTube channel become the league’s main rightsholder in Brazil, which will provide live coverage of all games for the duration of the six-year contract. As part of the agreement, CazeTV will also gain the right to distribute ancillary content and highlights across its other social media platforms. CazeTV replaces media giant Disney, whose five-year rights deal, running between the 2020-21 and 2025-26 seasons, is coming to an end. Over the course of its contract, it has aired matches via its international sports broadcaster, ESPN, and the Fox Sports network. (SportCal)

   

   💡A creator-led broadcaster securing long-term LaLiga rights in Brazil shows that premium sports distribution is no longer reserved for legacy media companies, but is increasingly shifting toward creator-native platforms built on direct audience relationships.

🧠 Strategy Spotlight: The Era of Creator Infrastructure

As we have seen above, less than half of YouTube brand deals are one-offs. On TikTok, it’s more than 70%. That gap says less about creators - and more about how attention is being structured differently across platforms.

From Campaigns to Continuity

Across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, repeat creator partnerships are consistently outperforming one-off collaborations.

But the real signal is structural: YouTube has nearly 20% long-term ambassadorships in measured deals, while TikTok sits below 3%.

That gap reflects two different logics of attention.

TikTok is optimised for reach and velocity - fast bursts of visibility. YouTube is increasingly optimised for continuity - repeat presence, returning formats, and familiarity over time.

Brands are adapting accordingly. Not by abandoning one-offs entirely, but by layering in longer arcs of creator collaboration that behave more like media programming than advertising.

Creators, in this environment, are starting to function less like media placements and more like recurring infrastructure for attention.

TV Platforms Are Rebuilding Around Creators

That same logic is now visible in television distribution.

Roku has launched a FAST creator hub featuring digital-native personalities like iShowSpeed and Jesser.

This is not just about adding more content. It’s about changing how content is organised.

Instead of audiences browsing channels or genres first, they are increasingly being guided by creator identity. That is a discovery model imported directly from social platforms into connected TV.

In practice, it means creators are no longer outside the TV system. They are becoming one of the organising principles of it.

Creators Moving Into Distribution

The most concrete version of this shift appears in sports rights.

CazeTV, led by Casemiro Miguel, has secured LaLiga broadcast rights in Brazil through 2032, replacing legacy broadcaster Disney.

This is not a content collaboration. It is a redistribution of distribution power.

A creator-led company is now operating in the same category as traditional broadcasters for premium live sports. That signals a widening definition of who can own and operate media infrastructure at scale.

Media Expands Beyond the Screen

At the same time, streaming platforms are extending their ecosystems beyond video itself.

HBO Max is rolling out podcasts in Europe, following similar moves by Netflix.

The intent is consistent: keep audiences engaged inside the same story worlds even when they are not actively watching.

Podcasts, behind-the-scenes formats, and companion content are becoming extensions of IP rather than separate media categories.

What This Adds Up To

Taken individually, none of these moves are disruptive.

Brands are optimising campaign structure. TV platforms are improving discovery. Streaming services are expanding formats. Creator companies are scaling into new rights.

But together, they point in the same direction.

Creators are increasingly acting as the connective layer across fragmented media systems - the recurring presence that travels cleanly between platforms, formats, and screens.

Not because the industry redesigned itself around them. But because they were the only element that already moved naturally across it.

🎬 Inside Branded Entertainment: Branded Entertainment Is Shifting From Placement to Problem-Solving

Branded Entertainment is often still discussed in terms of placement - where a product sits, how visible a logo is, how seamlessly a brand can be woven into a story. But that framing is starting to feel increasingly outdated.

In my latest Behind Branded Entertainment feature on MIPBlog, Adam Puchalsky, President of the Brand Studio at Blink49 Studios, argues that the real opportunity sits elsewhere: not in adjacency, but in intent.

“Entertainment can solve business challenges in ways traditional advertising often can’t,” he explains - pointing to a growing shift where brands are moving from visibility goals to outcome-driven storytelling.

Instead of asking how a brand appears inside content, the better question may be what the content is actually trying to change - perception, behaviour, or understanding. That shift reframes Branded Entertainment from a creative execution problem into a strategic one, and it changes what “success” looks like entirely.

Read the full interview on MIPBlog.

☀️ Weekend Vibes

If something sparked a thought, or you think a friend would enjoy this, hit reply or forward it along. Sandra x

Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss this further or if you have any questions: sandra@tvfuturist.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

It looks like media is becoming more fragmented than ever. In reality, it’s fragmenting on the surface - but converging underneath.

Here are the top stories making waves this week:

1️⃣ Media is Shifting From Audience Building to Audience Access
2️⃣ Social Platforms are Splitting into Paid vs Data Economies
3️⃣ Legacy Digital Media is Reinventing itself as Video-First IP

Let’s dive in!

🌊 News that Made Waves

1. Prime Video Follows Netflix and Disney by Adding a TikTok-like ‘Clips’ Feed in its App.

   Amazon is adding a short-form video feed to the Prime Video app called “Clips,” the company announced. Rolling out first in the U.S., Clips will include… well, clips of shows on Prime Video that are designed to hook a viewer and get them to give the full show a try. From that clip, users can add a title to their watchlist, share it with a friend, or navigate to rent, buy, or access the title through their subscription. “Clips gives customers a whole new way to browse with short, personalised snippets tailored to their interests,” said Prime Video’s director of Global Application Experiences, Brian Griffin, in a press release. “Whether they have a few minutes to scroll or are looking for something to watch when they have more time, entertainment is just a tap away.” Amazon first tested this short-form feed during the NBA season, showing highlights that users can scroll through as though they’re watching TikToks. (TechCrunch)

   

   💡Streaming platforms are no longer competing just on what you watch - but on how they keep you scrolling between watches. The TikTokification of TV is officially becoming the default discovery layer for entertainment.

2. TikTok is Launching an Ad-Free Version in the UK.

   TikTok users in the UK are getting a way to get rid of ads, but it will cost them. On Monday, the social media platform introduced TikTok Ad-Free, a subscription-based version of the service that completely banishes ads. It’s a very simple affair: Pay £3.99 per month, and you will see no ads. If you don’t want to pay, you can continue to use TikTok with ads. The Ad-Free tier does not come with any additional benefits. From the company’s FAQ on the matter: “Whether someone chooses the ad-free subscription or continues with the free ad-supported version, their core TikTok experience remains the same. All users will continue to have access to the same features, creators, and content.” There’s another benefit to subscribing to TikTok Ad-Free; if you do so, your data will not be used for advertising purposes. Regular users will see ads personalised to their interests, but that means TikTok will collect some of their data to be able to serve those ads.

   According to TikTok, the Ad-Free option is rolling out “over the coming months” to UK users aged 18 or over. (Mashable)

   💡Social platforms are starting to split users into two economies: people who pay with money, and people who pay with data. TikTok’s ad-free tier turns privacy into a premium product.

3. Byron Allen Buys Controlling Stake in BuzzFeed.

   Media mogul Byron Allen, owner of Allen Media Group and Weather Channel, has acquired a controlling stake in Buzzfeed for $120m, with Allen taking over as CEO from current boss and co-founder Jonah Peretti who will instead move to a president role. Buzzfeed, once the darling of early Millennial Internet culture, now a castaway of clickbait cringe, was valued at $1.7bn by NBCUniversal back in its heyday of 2016, but has fallen on tougher times since, with the company posting a $15m net loss in its first quarter 2026. Allen has flagged plans to expand the company into free streaming video to take on rivals such as YouTube in the user-generated content space. HuffPost, which is owned by Buzzfeed, will also be included in the transaction. (tvinsider)

   💡BuzzFeed’s next chapter says a lot about media in 2026: surviving digital publishers are no longer trying to win the article wars - they’re trying to become video platforms.

   Thanks for reading TV Futurist! This post is public so feel free to share it.

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4. YouTube, BBC Kick Off Creator Economy Training Programme in the U.K.

   Creators in the U.K. have asked for more professional services that can help them level up their careers. And YouTube has answered the call. The video platform has teamed up with the BBC and the National Film and Television School (NFTS) to launch a multi-city training programme catered to creators and other digital media professionals. Through a nationwide slate of workshops and events, YouTube and the Beeb are aiming to incubate a new generation of polished personalities. The programme, which kicked off in Birmingham on May 14, will begin with a cohort of 150 pupils. Not everyone taking part in the training is a digital-native creator; TV producers and journalists are also taking part. (TubeFilter)

   💡The creator economy is becoming institutionalised. When YouTube, the BBC and film schools start training creators together, the line between “Internet Creator” and “Media Professional” officially disappears.

5. The Return to Long-Form: Why YouTube Is Winning Back Brands.

   While we know young people can’t get enough of short-form content, brands like Coach, Chanel, and Nike are also betting on long-form campaigns like behind-the-scenes or documentary-style videos on YouTube. The strategy is smart, considering 88% of Gen Z and Millennials use YouTube to discover new products, and 78% of Gen Alpha uses YouTube on a regular basis according to Vogue Business/Archrival. Brands are also noticing that building viewership and duration creates a sense of loyalty from their young audience. Coach has seen success with its investment into YouTube partnerships already. The brand took over YouTuber Haley Pham’s account last year for a campaign called “Dear Haley,” which drove a 60% increase in “global top-of-mind awareness among Gen Z.” The brand’s “Explore Your Story” campaign, which embraced long-form content with spots from celebs like Elle Fanning and Storm Reid, also saw 15M organic engagements across the board. (Vogue Business)

   

   💡Brands are realising that YouTube isn’t competing with TikTok on speed - it’s winning on depth, where longer formats quietly do the work of building real audience loyalty.

🧠 Strategy Spotlight: Media Is Shifting From Audience Building to Audience Access

For most of modern media history, success was defined by one central challenge: building an audience from scratch. Whether you were a broadcaster, publisher, or creator, the goal was simple in theory but difficult in practice - attract attention, retain it, and grow it over time.

That model is changing. But not in the way it’s often described.

We are not entering an era where audiences are simply “built-in.” We are entering an era where access to audiences is built-in - but ownership is not.

Platforms Have Become Pre-Built Attention Systems

The most important shift is structural. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and increasingly streaming services, no longer just distribute content. They actively structure how attention flows.

Users don’t arrive as blank slates. They arrive inside fully formed behavioural systems - feeds, recommendations, autoplay loops, and personalised discovery layers.

In that sense, audiences are “pre-assembled” in terms of available attention. But they are not assigned to anyone.

What these systems provide is not a guaranteed audience, but a constant supply of attention opportunities.

Discovery Is Now System-Led, Not Brand-Led

In the past, brands and publishers created destinations - TV channels, websites, magazines, shows - and then worked to pull audiences toward them.

Now, discovery is increasingly system-led. Algorithms decide what appears, when it appears, and in what format. The “front door” is no longer a brand homepage, it is a recommendation surface.

This is why short-form clips, previews, and algorithm-friendly formats have become so dominant. They are not just content types. They are entry mechanisms into attention systems.

Whether it’s a TikTok clip, a YouTube Short, or a streaming preview, the function is the same: reduce friction between interest and engagement.

The Real Shift: Reach vs Fandom

This is where the distinction becomes critical.

As Tom Payne, MD of Spud Gun Studios put it in Cologne: “Reach is rented. Fandom is owned.”

That framing captures the core tension of the current media landscape. Platforms can give you reach instantly - but only within their systems, and only as long as distribution flows in your favour. It is temporary, conditional, and externally controlled.

Fandom, however, behaves differently. It is slower to build, but more durable. It exists beyond a single platform’s algorithm, and it compounds over time through identity, habit, and emotional connection.

So while access to attention may be increasingly built-in, true ownership still sits with fandom, not reach.

Strategy Is Becoming About Access Points, Not Audience Size

If audiences are no longer fixed assets, then traditional growth metrics become less meaningful on their own.

What matters more is positioning inside attention systems:

• Where does discovery happen?

• How often does your content appear in recommendation loops?

• How easily can interest convert into deeper engagement?

In this environment, strategy becomes less about scale and more about placement. Being visible at the right moment inside a system matters more than building a static audience outside of it.

This is why media companies are converging on similar tactics: short-form clips, personalised feeds, “trailerised” content, and algorithm-first distribution thinking.

They are not chasing audiences. They are navigating access.

What This Actually Means

We are not moving beyond audience building - we are changing where it happens.

Discovery is increasingly shaped by platforms, but meaning is still created by the relationships that form after attention is earned.

⏪ ICYMI: From Ads to Entertainment Worlds

If there was one thread connecting all 10 insights from the Branded Entertainment Summit in Cologne, it’s this: we’re no longer just talking about advertising tactics.

A new media system is taking shape, where brands, creators, and studios are all working within the same entertainment logic.

What stood out most wasn’t a single big prediction, but the consistency of direction. Whether it was i&u’s long-term IP thinking, creators building worlds instead of audiences, or the shift from campaigns to recurring formats, everything pointed toward the same conclusion: attention alone is no longer enough.

Meaning, belonging and repeat engagement are becoming the real currencies.

I broke down all 10 insights - including Tom’s “Reach is rented. Fandom is owned.”

If you missed it, it’s worth reading HERE as the foundation for everything that’s coming next in Branded Entertainment.

☀️ Weekend Vibes

If something sparked a thought, or you think a friend would enjoy this, hit reply or forward it along. Sandra x

Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss this further or if you have any questions: sandra@tvfuturist.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

The most interesting thing about Branded Entertainment in 2026 is that it no longer behaves like advertising. Increasingly, it behaves like the entertainment industry itself.

That became very clear at the Branded Entertainment Summit in Cologne, where producers, creators, agencies, strategists and legal experts all circled around the same underlying shift:

Media, marketing and entertainment are converging into the same business model: fandom-driven IP

And audiences? They no longer separate content, commerce and community the way the industry still does.

What stood out for me personally: seeing OG Branded Entertainment players like Red Bull in the room - a reminder that this isn’t a new trend, but an evolution of something that’s been building for years.

Here are the 10 biggest lessons I took away from the summit. 👇

#1 Reach Is Rented. Fandom Is Owned.

One of the strongest lines of the summit came from Tom Payne, Managing Director of Spud Gun Studios:

“Reach is rented. Fandom is owned.”

That perfectly captures the current shift in media.

Views are becoming less valuable on their own. What matters now is whether audiences:

• return

• participate

• advocate

• buy

• subscribe

• belong

As Payne explained through the story of acquiring YouTube channel Mashed from Channel 4, the real value wasn’t the subscriber number.

👉 It was the emotional loyalty behind it.

The future belongs to companies that own communities - not just impressions.

#2 Brands Are Becoming Entertainment Companies

A recurring theme across multiple presentations was that brands are increasingly operating more like studios, producers and media companies than traditional advertisers.

The old model:

• sponsor a show

• run ads around it

• maybe secure a product placement

👉 The new model:

• build formats

• develop recurring IP

• create entertainment ecosystems

• operate creator networks

• think in franchises

The shift from branded content toward entertainment IP was one of the clearest strategic trends discussed throughout the summit.

#3 Cultural Relevance Cannot Be Bought

The NicNac’s “Nac’s Level” presentation by Christina Müller, Head of Brand Communications, Lorenz Snackworld, made this point incredibly well.

You cannot simply borrow a culture because it’s trending.

Their Hip-Hop strategy wasn’t treated as an aesthetic exercise. It was approached as participation in a community with values, rules and gatekeepers.

The presentation repeatedly stressed:

• authenticity

• consistency

• humility

• community

One line from the presentation summed it up perfectly:

“Cultural relevance cannot be bought or briefed.”

And honestly, that’s probably the new framework for cultural marketing in general.

#4 Entertainment Works Best When the Brand Becomes Part of the Story

The creator examples from Philip Grabow, Head of Development & Branded Entertainment, i&u TV showed that audiences accept brands surprisingly well - if the integration feels native to the format.

👉 Not interruption. Integration.

The best examples included:

• branded challenges

• creator collaborations

• products naturally embedded into the narrative

• entertainment formats designed around brand worlds

Formats like TWENTY4TIM: Love Hunter demonstrated how brands can become part of the entertainment experience itself rather than simply appearing around it.

The key difference is whether the brand feels additive or disruptive.

#5 Raw Often Beats Polished

Tom Payne also made another point that came up repeatedly throughout the day:

👉 High production value alone no longer guarantees emotional connection.

He openly admitted that some of the more polished content he produced connected less strongly than rawer, more intimate creator-led formats.

Meanwhile, unscripted podcasts and looser digital formats exploded.

That doesn’t mean quality no longer matters.
It means audiences increasingly value:

• honesty

• personality

• intimacy

• access over perfection.

Especially younger audiences.

On a side note: I recently interviewed Christian Meinberger, Chief Digital Officer at LEONINE & MD i&u TV Produktion, about the making of BRABUS: One Second Wow and the broader evolution of Branded Entertainment and he also spoke about the significance of raw moments.

Full article coming soon to MIPBlog.

#6 From Creator Economy to Creator Communities

One of the strongest observations from Sebastian Niemann, CEO, EQUOLOT, wasn’t actually about Branded Entertainment itself. It was about how the creator economy has evolved.

For years, creators built audiences through reach and personality. Now they’re increasingly building communities, worlds and recurring formats around identity and belonging.

That evolution changes the role of brands entirely.

Because if creators already function like entertainment ecosystems, brands can no longer behave like outside sponsors interrupting the experience. They have to become part of the world itself.

That’s why the most successful collaborations increasingly feel less like advertising and more like shared culture.

#7 Attention Is No Longer the Scarce Resource. Meaning Is.

This was another sharp strategic observation of the summit.

As Livio Ponzetta & Kim Theibach, Founder, Out of Office Stories put it:

“Output used to be the bottleneck. Today, output is background noise.”

Every brand can now produce:

• videos

• creator content

• AI assets

• social edits

• always-on content

But audiences:

• don’t have more time

• more patience

• or more attention

Which means the next competitive advantage is no longer production capacity. It’s actually meaning.

Or as they framed it:

“The next competition is not a production competition. It’s a competition for significance.”

That’s an incredibly important shift in the AI era.

#8 Native Advertising Is Becoming Harder to Define

One of the most interesting sessions came from media lawyer Anna Kellner, Senior Associate, SKW Schwarz Rechtsanwälte, discussing Schleichwerbung - known in English as native advertising, undisclosed advertising or sometimes covert advertising, depending on the context.

What makes this topic fascinating today is that entertainment and branding are becoming deeply intertwined.

Shows like The White Lotus can massively elevate the desirability of luxury hotels and destinations without functioning like traditional advertising at all.

So where exactly is the line between:

• storytelling

• aspiration

• cultural influence

• tourism marketing

• and advertising?

That line is becoming blurrier every year.

👉 And as Branded Entertainment evolves, regulation will likely become a much bigger conversation globally.

#9 Long-Term Platforms Outperform One-Off Campaigns

One slide from the NicNac’s presentation said:

“A spot creates attention. A programme creates meaning.”

That may have been one of the most important strategic insights of the entire summit.

Again and again, speakers moved away from campaign thinking toward ecosystem thinking.

The smartest players are building:

• recurring formats

• repeatable worlds

• creator universes

• entertainment franchises

👉 Not just seasonal activations.

As Sven Labenz, Managing Director, Serviceplan Culture framed it:

“Culture operates in years - not quarters.”

#10 The Future Belongs to Brands That Understand Belonging

The summit repeatedly returned to one central idea:

People no longer just buy products.
They join worlds.

The brands succeeding right now are creating:

• identity

• participation

• emotional connection

• community

• fandom

• cultural belonging

In many ways, modern brands are starting to function more like media franchises. And media franchises are increasingly functioning like communities.

👉 That convergence may define the next decade of entertainment.

🎯 What Actually Matters Now

Belonging > visibility
Community > audience
Meaning > output
IP > campaigns
Worlds > ads
Participation > interruption
Cultural relevance > media spend
Fandom > reach

📌 The Bottom Line

Nothing at the Branded Entertainment Summit felt like a temporary trend.

The industry is no longer experimenting with the convergence of media, marketing and entertainment. It’s just reorganising around it.

Because in today’s market:

Attention can be bought.
But voluntary time has to be earned.

And the brands winning that time are no longer behaving like advertisers.

They’re behaving like entertainment ecosystems.

Now the only question remaining is:

At what point do we stop calling this “Branded Entertainment” and just call it…entertainment?

Sandra x

Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss this further or if you have any questions: sandra@tvfuturist.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Before we dive in: I’m excited to share that I’ll be speaking at NEM Dubrovnik 2026, one of the leading media industry events in the CEE region. Looking forward to insightful discussions, new connections, and seeing many of you in Dubrovnik this June.

Instead of opening platforms and deciding what to watch, content is now finding its way into micro-moments across the day: in scrolls, prompts, feeds, and algorithmic suggestions that increasingly do the deciding for us.

So, here are the top stories making waves this week:

1️⃣ Netflix Launches “Clips” Feed as Discovery
2️⃣ From Destination Viewing to Ambient Entertainment
3️⃣ MrBeast’s Latest Legal Clash

Let’s dive in!

🌊 News that Made Waves

1. Netflix Doubles Down on Vertical Video on Mobile, Launches ‘Clips’ Feed.

   Netflix is doubling down on vertical video, launching an entirely new feature on mobile phones called “Clips” that is meant to drive both engagement and discovery for its users. Vertical video is not new to Netflix. It launched Previews in 2018, and then Fast Laughs in 2021, but Clips is a significant expansion of that concept, encompassing all genres and with a heavy focus on personalisation, more akin to TikTok or YouTube Shorts than what came before. At launch it will include clips from Netflix’s library and some new programming, with a regular cadence of clips expected to be added on a regular basis. Eventually clips from podcasts and live events will be added to the Clips feature as well. There will also be themed collections based on genres and formats. The personalised algorithm means that two users who enjoyed the same film or show could end up seeing very different clips. Of course, Netflix isn’t TikTok, and it isn’t trying to be. The goal with Clips is ultimately to get people to watch a film or TV show on Netflix, most likely on their TV screen. But with people choosing to watch vertical videos on their phones while on the go, Netflix needs to scratch that itch too. (THR)

   

   💡Netflix’s new Clips feed isn’t about turning the platform into TikTok, it’s about accepting that discovery now happens in short-form, while long-form remains the destination. The real shift is that streaming platforms are no longer competing just on content, but on how effectively they can capture attention in the moments between watching.

2. YouTube Hits Nearly $10 Billion in Q1 Ad Revenue.

   Alphabet‘s stock jumped more than 6% in after-hours trading following a strong quarterly earnings call–a call that multiple times gave credit to YouTube for driving growth. Q1 2026 earnings showed YouTube brought in $9.88 billion, a 10.7% year-over-year increase from Q1 2025. The figure was slightly shy of analyst expectations ($9.99 billion), but still an enormous jump from where the platform was pre-COVID - and a sizable portion of Google’s total ad revenue, which came in at $77.25 billion for the quarter, a 15.5% increase from this time last year. Alphabet also nodded to YouTube as one of the core components driving the company’s overall paid subscriptions to 350 million. This follows a late 2025 announcement that revealed YouTube Premium hit 125 million subscribers. (Tubefilter)

   💡YouTube’s nearly $10 billion quarter shows that it’s no longer just a video platform sitting inside Google, but it’s becoming one of the most powerful media businesses in the world, successfully monetising both attention and subscriptions at a scale traditional TV networks can’t match.

3. More Than Half of Gen Z Users Cancel and Renew Streaming Services for a Single Title, Won’t Purchase Full-Price Video Games, New Study Finds.

   According to the newly released “Generations In Play: 2026 Audience Insights Report,” which was published by Dentsu and IGN Entertainment, 59% of Gen Z users surveyed actively subscribe and unsubscribe to streamers to “chase a single title.” The report asserts this means “platform loyalty is effectively dead.” Additionally, the data finds 62% of Gen Z won’t pay full price for video games, 71% have stopped buying physical music, and 70% no longer buy hard copies of TV shows and movies. A bright spot for Hollywood in the study says Gen Z is the most theatrical generation with 13% more likely to attend opening weekend than older movie-goers. (Variety)

   

   💡Gen Z isn’t rejecting entertainment, they’re rejecting ownership and long-term commitment. They’ll still show up for experiences that feel culturally urgent, like a major theatrical release, but loyalty to platforms, formats, and even pricing models is rapidly disappearing in favour of flexible, title-by-title consumption.

4. Netflix Plans First Wide Theatrical Release With ‘Narnia’.

   Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, directed by Greta Gerwig, will be released in theatres on February 12 and then become available for streaming on April 2. Netflix has been moving away from releasing movies exclusively on its platform slowly, from post-release screenings to same day, limited releases in theatres. This next change signals that they might finally be warming up to theatres as a full piece of their model - a smart move considering young people are the driving force behind a resurgence in moviegoing. And while Netflix said that there aren’t any changes to the company’s long-term theatrical strategy, the change is good news for theatres and filmmakers who are trying to usher in higher box office sales. (NYT)

   💡Netflix’s wider theatrical push with Narnia suggests the streaming wars are entering a new phase: platforms are realising that cultural impact doesn’t start on the homepage - it starts with events. A strong cinema release can create the kind of anticipation, conversation, and prestige that streaming alone still struggles to replicate.

   Thanks for reading TV Futurist! This post is public so feel free to share it.

   Share

5. M6+ Launches Inside ChatGPT.

   Groupe M6 has launched its streaming service M6+ within ChatGPT, marking a new step in the use of conversational AI for TV content discovery. The integration allows users to search for M6+ programmes through natural language queries, rather than browsing through menus or recommendation rails. Viewers can ask for content by genre, mood, theme or title, with ChatGPT surfacing relevant suggestions and linking through to the M6+ platform. M6+ is the group’s free, ad-supported streaming service, bringing together programming from M6, W9, 6ter and Gulli, alongside originals, boxsets and catch-up content. The move makes M6+ one of the first European broadcasters to use ChatGPT as a discovery layer for streaming. For M6, the launch is designed to improve content discoverability and extend the reach of its AVOD platform beyond its own app environment.

   The development also underlines a broader shift in streaming, as broadcasters experiment with AI-driven interfaces to help audiences navigate increasingly large catalogues. (BTN)

   

   💡 M6+ launching inside ChatGPT signals a bigger shift in streaming: discovery is starting to move away from apps and towards AI assistants. In the future, platforms may compete less on interface design and more on whether their content can surface naturally inside conversational ecosystems where audiences already spend their time.

🧠 Strategy Spotlight: The Shift From Destination Viewing to Ambient Entertainment

Earlier this week, NEM asked me to answer one of their “burning questions”: What’s something that is overlooked in streaming?

My answer was simple: habit.

For years, the streaming wars have been framed around content libraries, pricing, and technology. But one of the most important factors behind audience behaviour is much more human than that.

Entertainment consumption is deeply tied to routines, rituals, and moments throughout the day.

And this week’s news cycle showed exactly why that matters.

Entertainment Is No Longer a Destination

Streaming platforms used to operate like destinations. You consciously opened Netflix, browsed for something to watch, pressed play, and settled in for the evening.

But audience behaviour has changed dramatically.

Today, entertainment is increasingly ambient. It surrounds us continuously throughout the day across phones, social feeds, recommendation algorithms, podcasts, YouTube clips, AI assistants, and live cultural moments.

People no longer move through entertainment in a linear way. They drift in and out of content constantly.

That’s why Netflix launching its new vertical “Clips” feed matters far beyond short-form video itself. Netflix understands that discovery no longer starts on the TV screen. It starts during fragmented moments: standing in line, commuting, scrolling before bed, or checking your phone between meetings.

The platform is adapting to audience habits instead of trying to force audiences back into old viewing behaviours.

The New Discovery Layer

The same shift is visible in M6+ launching inside ChatGPT.

This may sound like a small product update, but strategically it’s significant. It signals that discovery is moving beyond apps entirely.

For years, streamers competed on interface design: better homepages, recommendation rails, autoplay previews. But increasingly, audiences may not begin their entertainment journey inside a streaming app at all.

Instead, discovery could happen through AI assistants, social conversations, creator recommendations, or algorithmic feeds elsewhere online.

In other words: the entertainment ecosystem is becoming decentralised.

Habits Matter More Than Loyalty

This also helps explain why Gen Z behaves so differently toward subscriptions.

The latest study showing that over half of Gen Z users subscribe and unsubscribe for a single title isn’t simply about price sensitivity. It reflects a broader behavioural shift.

Younger audiences are building entertainment habits around flexibility, immediacy, and cultural relevance rather than long-term platform loyalty.

They don’t feel emotionally attached to a service in the same way previous generations did with cable packages or even early streaming brands.

They follow moments.

The Companies That Win

This is why YouTube’s nearly $10 billion quarter is so important.

YouTube has become deeply embedded into everyday behaviour. It isn’t just a streaming platform people intentionally visit for premium viewing. It exists across search, learning, fandom, short-form discovery, podcasts, connected TVs, and creator culture.

It fits naturally into modern audience habits. And that may become the defining competitive advantage of the next entertainment era.

⏪ ICYMI: 10 Ways Content Europe Was a Reset, Not a Revolution

One week after StreamTV Europe, Content Europe revealed a different industry mood. Not a focus on what’s changing - but on how the business is adjusting. There was no big “next thing” in Lisbon. Instead, the conversation centred on execution, formats, and making ideas work in a more constrained market. It didn’t feel like a leap forward - it felt like a reset.

Formats are now the system, not the safe option. With most unscripted commissions built around them, the bar has shifted from “good idea” to “scalable solution.”

Simplicity is back, proven IP is leading, and every concept is being judged on whether it can travel, adapt, and sustain attention across platforms. Add to that more fragmented audiences, social as part of the format itself, and AI quietly refining pitches - and a clear picture emerges: creativity is being held accountable like never before.

The takeaway? This isn’t an industry chasing disruption - it’s one locking into what actually works.

👉 Read the full breakdown and all 10 shifts HERE.

👀 Format Migration Watch: When Creator Agility Meets Studio Reality

MrBeast’s latest legal clash, this time a $5M dispute with Media HQ over Beast Games, feels less like an isolated production hiccup and more like a textbook case of format migration friction.

What started as a creator-led mega-format is now operating at full-scale TV level - complete with upfront payments, shifting production hubs, and contractual fallout when plans change.

In essence, the same agility that powers YouTube success is colliding with the rigidity of traditional production economics.

This is where Beast Games becomes more than just a headline-grabbing project. It’s a live experiment in what happens when a creator-native format scales into a studio-grade operation. Moving production from Toronto to Atlanta might make strategic sense on paper, but in a multi-vendor ecosystem it triggers the kind of disputes legacy TV has long been built to absorb. MrBeast isn’t just producing content anymore - he’s managing a global supply chain of production partners, and that comes with very different rules.

For Format Migration Watch, the takeaway is clear:

The leap from platform-native formats to TV-scale franchises isn’t just about budget and reach - it’s about infrastructure.

Creators can bring fresh IP and audience gravity, but once formats hit nine-figure territory, they inherit the same legal, operational, and logistical complexity as any major studio production.

Beast Games is proving that the future of formats may be creator-led - but it won’t be creator-simple.

🚀 From Learning to Building: Inside my c-tv Marketing Course

This is what happens when students stop “learning” and start building.

Back in March, I kicked off the c-tv marketing course at USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten. Now, just a few weeks later, it’s no longer just a course.

The conference - which the students are organising - is coming up in June, the first social posts are live, and you can clearly feel the shift from theory to execution.

In between, there’s been a lot of work:
❇️ Ideas turning into formats
❇️ Formats being challenged, refined, and pitched
❇️ Long Miro sessions mapping concepts, timelines, and connections

My favourite part is seeing students move from “this could be interesting” to confidently owning and presenting their ideas.

Now we’re heading into the final phase: making it all happen.

If you want to follow the journey (and see what this next generation of creators builds), follow us on Instagram 👇
https://www.instagram.com/ctv.ustp.at

☀️ Weekend Vibes

If something sparked a thought, or you think a friend would enjoy this, hit reply or forward it along. Sandra x

Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss this further or if you have any questions: sandra@tvfuturist.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

One week after StreamTV Europe took place in Lisbon (you can read that recap HERE), Content Europe felt like a very different kind of industry gathering.

Not because the conversations were completely different, but because of where the emphasis was.

Where StreamTV Europe showed how streaming, platforms, and creator dynamics have already reshaped the landscape, Content Europe focused on what the industry is doing about it now. Less about change, more about adjustment.

There was no big “next thing” dominating the conversation in Lisbon. No new model emerging.

Instead, the focus was on formats, execution, and the practical realities of making content work in a more constrained market.

It didn’t feel like a step forward. It felt like a reset.

Across panels, meetings, and side conversations, the same themes kept repeating themselves. Not as predictions, but as decisions the industry has already made.

Content Europe didn’t feel like a glimpse into what’s next.

It felt like the industry recalibrating around what actually works.

Here are 10 ways that showed up 👇

#1 Formats Moved From Trend to Default

Formats didn’t feel like one topic among many - they were the market.

Whether it was the Format Futures Forum, the Global Formats Pitch, or the buyer briefings, everything pointed in the same direction:

Formats are no longer the safe option. They are the operating system.

That aligns with the broader market reality. Around 85% of unscripted commissions in Europe are now format-based. At that point, it’s not a genre anymore, it’s infrastructure.

And you could feel that shift in Lisbon. The “format people” had the busiest schedules, the most meetings, the most momentum. Other parts of the market felt quieter by comparison.

#2 “We Don’t Just Want an Idea - We Want a Solution”

That line came up more than once - and it’s probably the clearest signal of where commissioning is right now.

A good idea used to be the starting point. Now it’s just the entry ticket.

Formats are expected to arrive fully formed: how they scale, how they travel, how they get produced, how they engage audiences beyond the core show.

“We want not just a good idea but a solution.” - Vasha Wallace, EVP Global Acquisition and Development at Fremantle said.

You could see that thinking in formats like Holey Moley, which is less a show and more a replicable production system, complete with international hubs (including in Portugal).

The creative pitch has quietly turned into a business case.

#3 Scalability Became the Creative Brief

“Scalability” was easily the most repeated word of the week - and not in a vague, buzzwordy way.

It’s now the filter through which ideas are evaluated.

Formats need to work across territories, across budgets, and across production realities.

That can mean large-scale hub productions - like Channel 4’s Tempting Fortune being filmed in Malaysia for multiple markets - or smaller, flexible formats that can be adapted quickly and cheaply.

As Myriam Lopez-Otazu, Senior VP International Unscripted Content & Global Networks EMEA at Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA put it:

“I need budgets I can scale up or down.”

That’s the brief now.

Not just: Is this a good format?
But: How many different versions of this format can exist?

#4 Simple Formats Are Winning Again

“The best formats are the most simple.” James Townley, Chief Content Officer, Development at Banijay Entertainment stated.

That line came up almost casually, but it explains a lot.

In a market where attention is fragmented and audiences are harder to hold, complexity becomes a liability. Simplicity travels better. It’s easier to pitch, easier to localise, and easier to understand instantly.

You can see that in formats like The Laughing Throne - a stripped-back, musical chairs-style comedy competition. No complicated world-building. Just a clear mechanic and strong execution.

After years of trying to make formats bigger, louder, and more layered, the industry seems to be rediscovering the power of simplicity.

#5 Proven IP Is Back in Control

If there’s one area where the “reset” is most visible, it’s commissioning.

Proven IP is back at the centre.

Reboots, revivals, and long-running franchises are doing a lot of the heavy lifting. From So You Think You Can Dance being revived for new regions to Let’s Dance still pulling major audiences decades in, familiarity is winning.

And the data supports it: renewals continue to outpace new formats across Europe.

As Myriam Lopez-Otazu put it:

“Something that’s new needs to work really hard to grow an audience.”

New ideas aren’t gone - but they’re entering a much tougher environment.

#6 The Audience Today Is “the Most Unfaithful Ever”

That quote came up in one of the sessions, and it stuck.

“The most unfaithful audience ever.” - so Margarida Pereira, Director of Acquisitions, Sales & International Programming at TVI.

It sounds dramatic, but it reflects a real shift. Viewers don’t stick around in the same way. They move between platforms, formats, and content faster than ever.

Which means formats can’t rely on habit anymore.

They need to continuously earn attention - episode by episode, platform by platform.

That’s a fundamental change. And it’s driving a lot of the other shifts we’re seeing.

#7 Social Is Now Part of the Format Itself

“Social has become the fourth platform.” Sumi Connock, EVP of Creative Network and Formats at BBC Studios stated.

Not a promotional layer. A structural one.

Formats are now designed to live beyond the broadcast. That can mean TikTok live streams before the show airs, creator-led conversations during the week, or second-screen experiences that extend the narrative.

The example of Dancing with the Stars in the US captured this well: audiences engage with the format across multiple touch-points, often never consuming the full experience in one place.

This aligns with broader industry trends, where the creator economy and short-form content are reshaping how audiences discover and engage with entertainment .

Formats are no longer episodes. They’re ecosystems.

#8 Creators Are Entering the Format Pipeline

Another subtle but important shift: where ideas come from.

“We are open for business from partnerships because not all good ideas are coming from Banijay”, James Townley from Banijay Entertainment pointed out.

That openness reflects a growing recognition that creativity isn’t limited to traditional production companies.

YouTube formats, creator-led concepts, and digital-native IP are increasingly being explored as scalable TV formats.

Projects like Stop the Train by French YouTube megastar Squeezie - which Banijay acquired - show how ideas can move from a YouTube channel into a larger, more structured format.

The pipeline is expanding - but carefully.

This isn’t a full creator takeover. It’s more like a controlled integration.

Helen Greatorex, Head of Format Acquisitions at Banijay Entertainment explained All Star Hide & Seek is another example of that shift.

Creators are used to sharing everything. In traditional TV, you’re not allowed to say anything. For this project, however, creators were actually encouraged to post about it while it was happening.

A small but telling shift: less control, more visibility.

👉 Release the control.

#9 AI Is Shaping How Formats Are Pitched

AI came up across the market - but not in a “this will change everything overnight” way.

Instead, it’s quietly embedding itself into the process.

In the pitching masterclass led by Format Doctor Justin Scroggie, the focus was on how AI can help refine ideas: sharpening concepts, visualising formats, and aligning pitches more closely with buyer expectations.

It’s less about generating ideas - and more about making them clearer, faster.

Formats aren’t just being created anymore. They’re being optimised before they’re even pitched.

Editor’s Note: Nice night out with Justin in Lisbon 😉

#10 “Be Commercial With Your Creativity”

If there was one line that captured the mood of Content Europe, it was this.

“Be commercial with your creativity.” Danny Fenton, CEO and Executive Chairman at Zig Zag Productions emphasised.

It sounds obvious - but it reflects a real shift in mindset.

Formats are now evaluated through multiple lenses:
👉 Can they return?
👉 Can they scale?
👉 Can they travel?
👉 Can they generate engagement beyond the show?

Even funding models are evolving, with brand-funded content becoming a larger part of the ecosystem - sometimes accounting for up to 50% of a project.

Creativity is still there. It’s just being held accountable in new ways.

🎯 What Content Europe Showed Us

• Execution > ideas

• Scalability > originality

• Systems > formats

• Control > chaos

• Sustainability > disruption

📌 The Bottom Line

Content Europe didn’t feel like a market chasing the future. It felt like a market accepting the present.

👉 Less risk.
👉 More structure.
👉 More focus on ideas that can actually sustain themselves.

Or, as many of the speakers put it:

“It’s about scale - up or down.”

That flexibility - creative, financial, and strategic - is becoming the defining characteristic of the industry right now.

Not everything needs to be new.

But everything needs to work.

Sandra x

Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss this further or if you have any questions: sandra@tvfuturist.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

I’m back from Cologne. And as we all know: if there’s no picture, it didn’t happen - and no, that wasn’t a green screen in the background.

I still owe you a proper recap of Content Europe and the Branded Entertainment Summit - that’s coming next week.

For now, here are the top stories making waves this week:

1️⃣ Vine Is Back - But As a Constrained, Anti-AI Format
2️⃣ Short-Form Video Is Fragmenting Into Three Distinct Formats
3️⃣ Fan-Made TikTok Content Is Reshaping Movie Marketing

Let’s dive in!

🌊 News that Made Waves

1. Vine Reboot App Divine Arrives With a Ban on AI Slop.

   Remember Vine? The short-form video app from back when people were sharing creative things just for fun and not primarily to maximise engagement and make more money? It’s back, thanks in large part to Jack Dorsey, who was chairman of Twitter when it bought Vine a few months before it debuted in 2013. Divine - a rebooted version of the app with no affiliation to Vine, Twitter or X - is now available for iOS and Android. As with Vine, users create and share looping videos with a maximum length of six seconds. However, access is invite-only for now, with creators gradually bringing in friends and followers before a broader rollout. Old-school viners such as Lele Pons, JimmyHere, MightyDuck and Jack and Jack have reclaimed their accounts. Some users are already posting vines and you can view these on the Divine website. (Engadget)

   

   💡The return of Vine via Divine reflects a broader swing back toward constrained, creator-first formats that prioritise originality and human expression over scale-driven, AI-assisted content production.

2. France’s National Public TV Broadcaster Is Bringing the News to YouTube.

   France Télévisions is serving the growing number of consumers who get their news from social media. The Paris-based company, which serves as its home country’s national public TV broadcaster, has announced a partnership with YouTube that will bring breaking headlines online. As a result of the partnership, thousands of hours of France Télévisions news coverage will make its way to YouTube each year. National and regional news outlets will be part of that push, and YouTube viewers will also gain access to daily and weekly current affairs programmes. France Télévisions is also plotting some original formats that will be developed with YouTube in mind. (Tubefilter)

   💡News distribution is no longer a destination (TV or website) but a platform-native product, with institutions now designing journalism directly for social feeds rather than adapting it afterwards.

   Thanks for reading TV Futurist! This post is public so feel free to share it.

   Share

3. TikTok Pushes Further Into Original Scripted Series With Sam Morgan & Vanessa Von Schwarz-Led Romantic Drama.

   TikTok is keen to get further into the original series game with vertical dramas. The social media platform has recently become a haven for original scripted vertical series and is pushing further into the genre with a new romantic drama starring Sam Morgan and Vanessa von Schwarz. The untitled series stars Morgan and Von Schwarz; Morgan plays Andre Voss-Emerson, a free-spirited Silicon Valley playboy who has secretly loved supermodel Clara Murphy (Von Schwarz) since high school - just never out loud. When she re-enters his life on his brother’s arm, he must decide whether risking everything is worth finally being chosen. The series will launch for free in a newly launched originals section within the TikTok app; most vertical dramas on the social media platform are paywalled. (Deadline)

   💡TikTok’s introduction of free scripted vertical series inside a dedicated in-app originals section - likely tied to the launch of their micro drama app “PineDrama” in the US and Brazil - signals a move to use narrative programming as a retention layer within the platform, rather than relying solely on creator-led short-form video.

4. How Devil Wears Prada 2 Designed a ‘Fashion Collection’ of Brand Partners.

   The Devil Wears Prada 2 is being promoted through a coordinated set of brand partnerships structured as a “fashion collection.” Participating brands include H&M, e.l.f. Cosmetics, TRESemmé, L’Oréal Paris and Crocs. Rather than relying on standard product placement, these partners are integrated across the film and its marketing, including custom campaign content, social media activations and physical experiences tied to the movie’s world. Each brand developed its own assets inspired by the film’s themes, characters and fashion setting, with executions timed around the release window. These include digital campaigns, retail tie-ins and experiential activations, designed to run across multiple platforms and extend beyond the theatrical launch.

   The campaign brings together entertainment, fashion and advertising into a single framework, with each partner contributing content and distribution through its own channels. (Marketing Dive)

   💡The Devil Wears Prada 2 brand partnerships show a shift from traditional product placement to pre-designed, multi-brand campaign ecosystems where entertainment IP is used as a structured framework for coordinated, cross-platform marketing activations.

5. The Secret to a Box Office Hit? Fan-Made TikTok Videos.

   By now, this should be no surprise. According to new data from TikTok, movie reviews, scene reenactments, and trailer reactions made by content creators are the key to generating hype around a new release and drawing in wider audiences. Half their users say they discovered a new movie through the platform, and many of those users are being driven to ticket purchases. Fan-driven content can (and does) outperform traditional marketing tactics, with one Warner Bros. exec saying it’s doing three times better. Creator content even acts as a major predictor of long-term box office performance. Some studios like Warner Bros. have partnered with TikTokers to market their films and create more buzz around a new release past opening weekend, too - playing on the engagement from those who have already seen it, not just the anticipation before. (NPR)

   💡Movie marketing is increasingly being shaped after release by fan-driven TikTok content, shifting influence from studio-led campaigns to creator-led amplification that determines a film’s cultural and commercial momentum.

🧠 Strategy Spotlight: Short-Form Is Becoming a Format Spectrum

The surprise of the week: Vine is back. Sort of.

Divine has launched as a spiritual successor to the original Vine, bringing back the iconic 6-second looping video format. It’s invite-only for now, with early creators already posting, and even some original Vine-era personalities returning.

The core idea is simple: short, fast, creative videos designed to loop - a format that once defined Internet culture before longer, algorithm-driven feeds took over.

From One Format to a Spectrum

What makes this interesting isn’t just nostalgia. It highlights how much the definition of “short-form” has changed - and how it’s now splitting into three very different directions. What used to be one category is becoming a range of formats with very different logics.

On one end, you have ultra-short, low-production formats like Divine. These are built for speed, creativity and immediacy.

The barrier to entry is low, the time investment is minimal, and the payoff is often about a single idea landing perfectly within seconds. It’s closer to Internet culture in its rawest form - quick jokes, visual gags, remixable moments.

The Rise of Structured Vertical Storytelling

On the other end, platforms are pushing short-form in the opposite direction: toward structure, narrative and higher production value.

TikTok is doubling down on vertical scripted series, commissioning original shows designed specifically for mobile viewing. These aren’t just clips, they’re episodic stories with characters, plot arcs and recurring audiences. In some cases, they even mimic traditional TV formats, just compressed into vertical video and shorter runtimes.

Professional Content Moves Into the Feed

And then there’s a third layer emerging: professionally produced content adapted for social distribution.

France Télévisions, for example, is bringing thousands of hours of news programming directly to YouTube, including original formats designed specifically for the platform. This isn’t user-generated content, it’s institutional media rethinking how it packages and distributes itself in a social-first environment.

What This Means

Put together, this creates a much more complex landscape than the catch-all term “short-form video” suggests. It’s no longer a single format competing for attention, but an ecosystem of formats serving different needs - from instant, idea-driven clips to structured storytelling and professional media adapted for social platforms.

⏪ ICYMI: The Real Shifts in Branded Entertainment

Branded Entertainment is usually talked about as a creative evolution - new formats, new platforms, new ways of telling stories. But as I explored in my essay earlier this week, what’s actually happening is more structural than creative.

We’re seeing a shift from campaigns to systems. Instead of asking “what should we make?”, brands are increasingly focused on what they are building over time - formats, IP, and repeatable structures that can live beyond a single release window. Creators are also changing role, moving from distribution partners to embedded ecosystems with their own audiences and formats already in place.

The result is a different way of working altogether: projects are no longer just produced and launched, but assembled - with brand, creator, platform and production aligned from the start. In that context, success is less about the strength of a single idea, and more about the durability of the structure around it.

Read the entire essay HERE.

☀️ Weekend Vibes

If something sparked a thought, or you think a friend would enjoy this, hit reply or forward it along. Sandra x

Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss this further or if you have any questions: sandra@tvfuturist.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

There’s a tendency in our industry to talk about change as if it were primarily creative. New formats, new platforms, new storytelling approaches.

But what’s happening in Branded Entertainment right now is not a creative shift. It’s a structural one.

And like most structural shifts, it doesn’t announce itself loudly. It shows up in small inconsistencies: projects that get approved faster than expected, formats that quietly return for a second and third season, creators being brought in earlier - not as talent, but as partners.

Individually, these moments don’t look like a pattern. Together, they are one.

From Output to Ownership

For a long time, Branded Entertainment behaved like an extension of advertising. The goal was output: a campaign, a series, a piece of content that performed within a defined window.

That model is starting to erode.

More brands are no longer asking, “What should we make next?” but rather, “What are we building that lasts?” The difference sounds subtle, but it shifts the entire logic of how projects are evaluated.

Formats begin to matter more than executions. Repeatability becomes more valuable than originality. And intellectual property - once a byproduct - moves to the centre of the conversation.

The Rise of Embedded Systems

At the same time, the role of creators is quietly being redefined.

They are no longer just distribution channels or amplification partners. In many cases, they function as pre-existing systems: they bring an audience, a format, a tone, and a feedback loop that has already been tested in public.

This changes the starting point.

Instead of developing something from scratch and then finding distribution, brands are increasingly plugging into environments that already work. The “idea” becomes less of a starting point and more of an adaptation layer.

It’s one of the reasons why certain collaborations move faster than traditional pitches. Not because they are simpler, but because more of the uncertainty has already been resolved.

Packaging Becomes Strategy

Another shift is happening slightly further upstream, and it’s less discussed.

Projects are no longer simply funded; they are assembled.

Brand, creator, platform, production - multiple stakeholders aligning early, each bringing a different form of value: capital, audience, distribution, execution.

The result is not just a project, but a structure in which risk, ownership, and upside are distributed from the beginning.

In that context, the strength of an idea matters less than the strength of the model supporting it.

Or put differently: the best idea without a viable structure struggles. A solid idea within a strong structure moves.

Discovery Changes What Gets Made

Finally, there is the question of distribution - or more precisely, discovery.

Content is no longer simply released into the world. It is surfaced, filtered, and scaled by platforms whose logic increasingly shapes the formats themselves.

You can see this most clearly in the rise of short-form episodic content designed for feeds rather than schedules, where structure, pacing, and even narrative arcs are influenced by how content is discovered, not just how it is watched.

This doesn’t replace long-form or premium formats. But it does introduce a parallel system - one that rewards consistency, adaptability, and an understanding of how attention actually flows.

What This Means in Practice

Taken together, these shifts point in the same direction.

Branded Entertainment is moving:

👉 from Campaigns to IP
👉 from Reach to Relationships
👉 from Gatekeepers to Creators
👉 from Production to Packaging
👉 from Distribution to Discovery

Not as trends, but as structural changes in how the system operates.

And that has a very practical implication:

The advantage is moving away from individual ideas and toward the ability to build - and operate - systems that can sustain themselves over time.

I’ll be unpacking these five shifts in more detail this Wednesday at the Branded Entertainment Conference in Cologne, looking at how they play out in real projects and what they mean for producers, creators, and brands navigating this space today.

Because the interesting question is no longer just what we make.

It’s how the system we’re making it in is changing - and who that system is starting to favour.

Sandra x

Branded Entertainment Summit:
Ownership, Finanzierung & Machtverschiebung
Hosted by HMR INTERNATIONAL – moderiert von Wolfgang Link & mir

📅 29. April 2026 | 10:00–17:00
📍 Monkey Bar, 25hours Hotel The Circle, Köln

Warum ihr kommen solltet:
✅ Verstehen, wie IP-Ownership neu gedacht wird
✅ Lernen, wie Marken zu Content-Produzenten werden
✅ Einblicke in Finanzierungsmodelle & Plattformstrategien
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I’m back from 2016 - not literally of course, but mentally.

After StreamTV Europe last week, I had the feeling the industry had finally caught up to ideas I’ve been working with for years. Then I went to Content Europe, and it felt like a time shift in the other direction - back into a more linear TV mindset. The contrast betwee…

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I used to think conferences were about learning something new.
That’s how I measured them.

Did I learn anything new at StreamTV Europe last week?
Not really.

But that’s not a bad thing.

If anything, it means I’m finally on the same page as the rest of the industry.

Because for the past decade, I’ve been talking about how Gen Z’s beha…

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The line between advertising, entertainment, and distribution is basically gone - and this week’s news show what that actually looks like in practice.

Also: I’ll be at Content Europe next week - meet me there if you’re around!

Here are the top stories making waves this week:

1️⃣ Mazda Turns Brand Campaigns Into Film Universes
2️⃣ S…

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It’s been a busy week at StreamTV Europe - lots to unpack. I’ll share a full breakdown on Monday, but for now, let’s continue our conversation about Branded Entertainment.

Last week, I wrote that most Branded Entertainment doesn’t fail because the idea is bad. It fails because it doesn’t move.

Which raises a more interesting qu…

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This week, everything in entertainment seems to be converging on the same question: who controls the moment when we decide what to watch, play, or engage with next.

Also a quick note: I’ll be at StreamTV Europe next week, so if you’re there too and want to meet or grab a coffee, just reply - would be great to connect in person!

H…

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Branded Entertainment has become the topic of my year - more producers are reaching out about brand deals, I’m writing about it for MIPBlog, and at the end of the month I’m hosting a conference on it in Cologne.

It also made me realise how much confusion still exists around how it actually works - so I’m starting a short Subs…

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The way audiences engage with content is changing fast. Brands are moving beyond ads, creators are building formats for social reach, and IP is becoming the currency of attention. This week, we’re seeing how storytelling, strategy, and ownership are converging - and what it means for anyone who wants to make content that ac…

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This week, the creator economy is showing us where the real value lies: not just in the viral hits, but in the middle, in the pivots, and in the experiments that bypass the old rules entirely. From platforms chasing creators just before breakout, to lessons in career zig-zags, to theatrical experiments that skip Hollywood’s gate…

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Globally, we spend over 500 billion minutes a day watching videos online - and yet, somehow, we’re still obsessed with making it shorter and smarter. This week’s news are all about my two “favourite” topics - AI and Micro Series.

Here are the top stories making waves this week:

1️⃣ Streaming Becomes a Daily Companion
2️⃣ AI Hits t…

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If you spend enough time talking to producers across Europe right now, you’ll hear the same phrase again and again:

“Nobody is commissioning.”

Development pipelines are full.
Pitch decks are polished.
Markets are busy.

But greenlights feel increasingly rare.

The question is whether this is just industry pessimism or whether something structural has actually changed.

Let’s look at the numbers.

📉 Production Growth Has Stalled

After more than a decade of expansion, the European TV fiction market has clearly slowed.

According to the latest report from the European Audiovisual Observatory (December 2025), production has now declined for two consecutive years.

In 2024:

• The number of fiction titles produced in Europe fell by 5%

• The number of episodes dropped by 3%

• Total production hours stagnated

That may not sound dramatic, but after years of “Peak TV” expansion, it marks a clear turning point.

Across the EU, the UK, Norway and Switzerland, Europe still produces roughly:

• 1,200 fiction titles per year

• 23,000 episodes

• 15,000 hours of content

But the trend line has shifted from growth to contraction.

And the reason is not hard to identify.

📺 The Streaming Boom Has Slowed

For most of the 2018–2022 period, global streamers were the main driver of commissioning growth.

Platforms were expanding internationally and building local catalogues at scale.

That phase is now over.

Streamer-commissioned fiction titles in Europe fell 7% in 2024, continuing a downturn that began after the 2022 peak of 214 titles, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.

This reflects a broader strategic shift.

Streaming platforms are no longer chasing subscriber growth at any cost.
They are now focused on profitability, cost control, and fewer high-impact titles.

In practice, that means:

• Fewer new shows entering development

• Smaller slates

• Tighter commissioning filters

For producers who built their pipelines during the streaming boom, this feels like the ground suddenly moving.

🏛️ Europe Is Still Broadcaster-Driven

Another reality that often gets overlooked in industry discussions:

As you can see above, Europe’s production ecosystem is not actually dominated by streamers.

Despite the global attention around platforms, most European commissioning still comes from broadcasters.

According to the same Observatory report:

• Public service broadcasters commission 56% of European fiction titles

• Commercial broadcasters commission 30%

• Global streamers commission only 14%

This means that even during the streaming boom, the backbone of European commissioning remained:

• National broadcasters

• Public funding systems

• Local market economics

Which also means the market behaves very differently from the US.

Europe’s industry is structurally conservative - and much slower to expand or contract.

🏭 A Highly Fragmented Production Market

Another structural factor is competition.

Europe has an enormous number of production companies relative to the number of commissions available.

Between 2015 and 2024:

• More than 2,000 production companies produced at least one fiction title

• But only 3% managed to produce a title every single year

That statistic reveals something important.

Most European producers are not operating on continuous production slates.

Instead, the market is characterised by:

• Irregular commissioning cycles

• Project-based survival

• Intense competition for limited slots

In other words: Even in good years, the European commissioning market is structurally tight.

⚙️ Fewer Episodes, Smaller Orders

There is also a quieter shift happening inside commissions themselves.

Series are increasingly:

• Shorter

• More limited

• Designed as one-season events

In part this reflects rising production costs.

But it also means fewer hours commissioned per title, which reduces the total amount of work flowing through the system.

According to industry analysis, high-end series production has already begun shrinking after the post-pandemic boom, with some markets seeing a 6% drop in fiction titles and fewer episodes per season.

For producers, the impact is simple:

Even when shows are greenlit, they often generate less production volume than before.

❓ So Why Does It Feel Like a Crisis?

Put those structural shifts together and the picture becomes clearer.

The European commissioning landscape is changing because:

1. Streamers are ordering fewer shows

2. Broadcasters remain cautious buyers

3. Production companies are numerous and highly competitive

4. Series orders are getting smaller

None of these factors alone explains the feeling of a commissioning freeze.

But together they create a market where:

• Development activity remains high

• Commissioning activity slows

• Competition intensifies

Which leads to the feeling many producers describe today.

Everyone is pitching. But fewer projects move forward.

🔓 Behind the Paywall: What’s Actually Driving Commissioning Decisions

The data explains why commissioning volume is tightening.

But it doesn’t explain how commissioners are actually making decisions in this new environment.

Behind the paywall we’ll look at:

• Why risk aversion has increased dramatically

• How inflation changed the economics of TV production

• Why co-productions are becoming structural rather than optional

• Why development pipelines are now dramatically over-supplied

• And what producers can realistically do about it

Because the commissioning crisis isn’t just about fewer shows.

It’s about how the entire decision system around TV production is shifting.

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This week, the media landscape is showing us just how powerful open platforms have become and how traditional players are responding. From record-breaking YouTube revenues to Netflix tightening its content walls, the tension between reach and control is shaping the strategies of creators, streamers, and studios alike.

Here are th…

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Before we dive in, a few quick updates from me. It seems like 2026 is shaping up to be all about Branded Entertainment for me. After realising last year that many producers reach out to brand managers on LinkedIn - but often get little to no response - I decided to put together a Branded Entertainment Playbook to explain how to …

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A week ago in Weekend Waves, we talked about governments trying to ban or heavily restrict Social Media.

Australia raising age limits.
European policymakers debating tighter platform controls.
Politicians framing TikTok as a national security threat rather than a cultural one.

The instinct is understandable:
If something feels chaotic, regulate it.
If something feels dangerous, remove it.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

In an AI world, banning platforms doesn’t solve the problem.
Because the problem isn’t access.
It’s literacy.

And literacy can’t just be mandated, it has to be built!

🧠 Truth Is No Longer a Default Setting

For most of broadcast history, truth was infrastructural.

If something aired on television, it passed through:

• Editors

• Fact-checkers

• Legal teams

• Institutional accountability

Now?

Content flows first.
Verification comes later - if at all.

Add AI to that equation and the environment shifts again:

• Photorealistic images generated in seconds

• Synthetic voices indistinguishable from real ones

• Deepfake videos that don’t look “fake” anymore

We’ve moved from a world where truth was filtered to a world where truth is forensically reconstructed.

💡Truth isn’t a given anymore. It’s a skill. A skill we all need to learn.

🇩🇪 When Even Public Broadcasters Get It Wrong

And what I’m saying here isn’t theoretical.

Just last month, German public broadcaster ZDF faced criticism after an AI-generated image was used in a segment on news show heute journal. The visual was meant as illustrative material, but it wasn’t clearly labelled as synthetic. Viewers could reasonably assume it was real footage.

The backlash was immediate. ZDF apologised and removed the image, but the damage wasn’t about one picture. It was about trust.

This is exactly the point:
Even institutions built on editorial standards can stumble in the AI era.

💡When synthetic media enters trusted news environments, clarity isn’t optional, it’s structural.

🚫 Why Regulation Feels Powerful (But Isn’t Enough)

Let’s move on to Social Media. When governments try to ban or limit Social Media, they’re reacting to symptoms:

• Misinformation

• Polarisation

• Algorithmic amplification

• Youth exposure

But banning access doesn’t teach discernment.

A 14-year-old who is blocked from one platform will still:

• Encounter AI content elsewhere

• See manipulated visuals

• Receive synthetic audio

• Navigate algorithmic feeds

The distribution layer changes, but the literacy requirement doesn’t.

💡You can regulate platforms. You can’t regulate perception.

🏷️ Watermarking Won’t Save Us Either

There’s a growing belief that AI watermarking will restore order.

Label the image.
Tag the video.
Signal what’s synthetic.

That helps - technically. But it assumes two things:

1. That labels won’t be removed or faked

2. That audiences automatically understand what the label means

Watermarking addresses origin. But it doesn’t build interpretation skills.

In fact, we’re entering a paradoxical phase: The more “AI” is labelled, the more unlabelled content may feel implicitly authentic - even when it isn’t.

💡Trust can’t be automated.

🔍 Pre-Bunking > De-Bunking

Therefore, I would argue: One of the most promising shifts isn’t technological, it’s educational.

Pre-bunking builds pattern recognition.
Instead of reacting after deception spreads, it teaches audiences how manipulation is structured, so they can spot it in real time.

So, instead of saying: “This video is fake.”

You teach:
👉 “Here’s how fake videos are structured.”
👉 “Here’s how outrage gets engineered.”
👉 “Here’s how visual framing alters perception.”

This builds cognitive friction and friction is healthy. Because in an AI-saturated world, speed is the enemy of truth.

📱 Why Gen Z Feels Confident - But Is Structurally Vulnerable

Gen Z often scores high on digital confidence.

They know:

• How to edit

• How to remix

• How to detect obvious memes

• How to navigate online culture

But AI changes the game.

The next wave of misinformation isn’t low-effort Photoshop.
It’s high-resolution, emotionally engineered content.

The vulnerability isn’t stupidity. It’s overconfidence. Because when you grow up fluent in the medium, you assume mastery of the message.

💡Digital natives are not automatically AI natives.

🔓 Deep Dive: The New Truth Infrastructure

Behind the paywall, we move from diagnosis to strategy:

👉 The 3-layer system that will define media trust in the AI era
👉 Why regulation will plateau while literacy compounds
👉 What this means for TV platforms
👉 How brands should operate when credibility becomes scarce

This is where the structural shift begins.

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