Good morning. We weren’t joking in December when we said to expect more events from us. If you’ll be in Austin for SXSW, join us on the morning of Saturday, March 8, for a Texas-sized Coffee With Creators to hear from Colin and Samir (plus special guests) and meet some cool new people. RSVP here.

— Hannah Doyle 

Nick DiGiovanni Hosts 7-Day Subathon

Chef Nick DiGiovanni wants to be the biggest food creator on YouTube. At 23.5 million subscribers, he is 8 million subs away from the top spot (currently held by ASMR food creator Zach Choi).

So today, he’s starting a seven-day subathon on YouTube Shorts. Every day for the next week, he’ll share an incentive or giveaway for fans who subscribe. First up: For every subscriber DiGiovanni gets today, he’ll donate one meal to someone in need via the Farmlink Project.

 “We noticed [IShow]Speed and Kai [Cenat] were able to create tons of momentum and excitement doing something like this on Twitch, and we noticed that to our knowledge, no one had ever done something like this on YouTube before,” DiGiovanni’s Head of Content Zach Blank told us.

• Cenat’s recent 30-day Twitch subathon landed him north of 700,000 subscribers, generated tons of buzz, and set a platform record.

• Though DiGiovanni’s subathon doesn’t include a live component, his team wanted to bring the same appointment viewing to YouTube, so they’re uploading every day at 12pm ET.

Big picture: Discoverability can be tough on YouTube, but some creators have found success driving subscriber growth with Shorts. That’s what DiGiovanni and team are banking on—with a Twitch-like twist. “Our thesis is that we’re looking for mass discovery and mass reach, and YouTube Shorts is the best way to achieve that,” Blank said.

Overheard at On Air Fest

Yesterday, we stopped by the On Air Fest podcast conference in Brooklyn, NY. Podcast creators and media leaders chatted about venture capital, AI, and what to expect for 2025.

Here are some of our top learnings from the event →

On the reality of signing with a network: “I actually think in the past couple years, things have changed so much. It’s way easier to produce your own stuff, and you really don’t need those places for distribution,” independent journalist and creator Taylor Lorenz said. “In fact, it can be a liability because if you tie yourself to a brand, you have exposure with them [...] and they can end up hurting your brand.”

Impact > size. Carly Baker, media partnerships lead at HubSpot Media Network, said “size is not a qualifier” when identifying creators with whom to partner on content. Impact is no longer measured by audience size alone—it’s about depth, not breadth.

Curation is an art, not a science. Subway Takes creator Kareem Rahma shared how the short-form show books guests who resonate with its audience: “It’s really based on a vibe. In the same way a newsroom would choose who to cover or who to feature, it’s not a science. There’s not an algorithm. It’s an editorial choice,” Rahma said.

Twitch Enforces Storage Limits

Keeping a catalog of videos on Twitch is about to become a lot harder. This week, the platform announced that it’s implementing a 100-hour storage limit for Highlights (clips from past broadcasts) and Uploads starting in April.

Why? Twitch says Highlights haven’t been effective in streamer discovery, and storage is costly. 

Streamers seem to be disappointed in the change:

• “This will be devastating to the Speedrun community,” Twitch partner Bawkbasoup said on X. “Tons of world records & times will just vanish.”

• “If [Twitch is] focused on a loss of revenue, they should be focused on making a user experience where people want to use their app to consume the ads,” Gamer Squeex said in a video, noting that Twitch’s mobile and TV apps often malfunction. 

Big picture: Cost-cutting has been a theme for several platforms in recent weeks—for example, Meta is now deleting Facebook Live videos after 30 days. 

🔥 Press Worthy

• RackaRacka is releasing another A24 horror movie.

• Tinx's first novel, Hotter in the Hamptons, is being adapted into a TV series by the Foster sisters.

• With Central Talent Booking’s expertise, Theo Von landed one of comedy’s most elusive stars on his podcast—resulting in over 9M views. See how CTB’s 25+ years of experience made it happen.*

• Jubilee founder Jason Y. Lee signs with UTA.

• Grand Theft Auto shares plans to become a creator platform.

• Tech creator Jacklyn Dallas celebrates 10 years on YouTube.

• MrBeast’s baguette Short becomes the most-liked video on YouTube.

^{*This is sponsored content.}

📚️ Thank You For Pressing Publish

The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.

• Read: Writer Caity Weaver recounts the twists and turns of her one-week attempt to quit sugar and explores the personal ties that go beyond sweet treats for NYT Magazine.

• Watch: Music creator Mandelbro makes a compelling case for optimism, with a melodic interlude.

• Listen: Mel Robbins’ “let them” theory is reaching a fever pitch across social media. To hear where it all started, listen to her podcast episode explaining the concept.