Good morning. Merriam-Webster’s 2025 word of the year? “Slop.” It’s defined as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.”

With Dictionary.com picking “six seven” and Oxford picking “rage bait” as word of the year, it’s truly the battle of the brainrot.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

From YouTube’s TV app makeover to Netflix’s podcast play, it feels like every platform is trying to stake its claim in your living room. 

Here’s what to know about the industry-wide play for television watchtime:

What’s behind the platform pivot to televisions? 

First: Connected TV ad spend is growing at a faster rate than social video ad spend, according to a recent IAB report.

Second: YouTube Shorts viewership is increasing among TV viewers. And creators are taking notice. Smooth Media creator partnerships manager Ben Weiss told us creators Smooth represents have noted their Shorts viewership is increasing on TV as well.

“It doesn't feel intuitive to us that short-form content would be consumed on TVs,” Weiss said. “But since it is, all short-form players would be smart to have the most native possible experiences for their users to consume content on TV.”

Ever wondered how your favorite lofi beats, ASMR, and white noise YouTube channels earn revenue without mid-roll ads? Hank Green gave a peek under the hood, showing the analytics of his 12-hour white noise video that gained 555K views over the course of eight months.

Here’s the breakdown →

Zoom out: Many YouTube channels that upload ambient content forgo mid-roll ads (and the resulting AdSense earnings) to maintain a cohesive viewing experience. Green followed this formula, placing only a single pre-roll ad in the beginning of the video. 

The experiment is a part of Green’s new white noise channel, Zonderia. He’s donating revenue from the channel to nonprofit organizations like Partners in Health, which provides healthcare to underserved communities.

DraftKings cofounder Matt Kalish just launched HardScope, a media company that partners with creators to provide “c-suite” consulting services and strategy, match creators with brands, and offer production support to scale creator content.

So far, HardScope has partnered with gaming creators like JasonTheWeen and Stable Ronaldo to support livestream production.

Worth noting: HardScope helped FaZe Clan relaunch and spin off its esports business into FaZe Holdings last year. Kalish invested $11 million in the now-separate FaZe Media and has 49% ownership.

Big picture: Sports betting companies including Stake, FanDuel, and DraftKings are prominent ad partners among streaming creators and comedians. TBPN creator Jordi Hays recently called gambling sponsorships the “UBI (universal basic income) for people that are funny online.” Could businesses like HardScope help more creators in these niches grow beyond one-off deals into more sustainable businesses?