Good morning. MrBeast uploaded his first video to BiliBili (one of China's largest video-sharing platforms) on Tuesday, already topping 4 million views as of this morning. Between sharing videos on X and a rumored Amazon show deal, the creator's 2024 strategy appears to be go big or go home.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

VidIQ Acquires Airrack’s Creator Now Program

YouTube analytics company vidIQ has acquired Eric “Airrack” Decker’s creator education program, Creator Now.

Why it’s a win-win: vidIQ is looking to focus on community and broaden its platform beyond analytics tools. And Creator Now’s students will now be able to access more tools to enhance their video operations.

• “vidIQ has hundreds of thousands of authenticated YouTube accounts and the data they’re sitting on is enormous,” Creator Now cofounder Zack Honarvar told us. 

• “I think together we could build the Duolingo of the creator economy, where you get both the solo player and multiplayer experiences.”

Zoom out: Creator Now, which has offered education workshops from big names like Yes Theory, Ryan Trahan, and Zach King, is part of a growing creator education space—from university programs to immersive camps. The merger with vidIQ will give Creator Now a competitive advantage, Decker told us.

What’s next: Creator Now will continue to function as a standalone brand and platform with Decker, Honarvar, and fellow cofounder Kate Ward staying in their respective roles.

“We want to create something that can be a multi-million, billion-dollar company in the space, and we felt like if we do that alone it’s going to take decades,” Honarvar said. “But aligning ourselves with a company that’s already been doing it for a decade-plus allows us to potentially skip a whole bunch of steps in order to get there, and we may not have had that opportunity had we not been creator-founded.”

Speedrunning Streamers Raise $2.5 Million for Charity

Speedrunning streaming marathon Awesome Games Done Quick raised over $2.5 million last week for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, parent organization Games Done Quick (GDQ) announced over the weekend.

GDQ has raised more than $48.9 million for various charities in the 14 years since it launched, according to Engadget.

What’s speedrunning? Completing video games (such as Minecraft or Super Mario Odyssey) as fast as possible, often competing with other “runners” and livestreaming the attempts online. Speedrun YouTube content tallied north of 7 billion views in 2021, per YouTube.

How GDQ started: A small group of friends (and speedrunners) organized the inaugural charity stream in 2010, raising $11,000 via Twitch ads and direct donations.

• Their company now streams IRL marathons to over 3 million combined followers on Twitch and YouTube.

• GDQ orchestrates the largest individual fundraising events globally for both the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Doctors Without Borders USA.

Why it matters: From John Green educating his audience on tuberculosis to Critical Role hosting a star-studded charity board game, GDQ is one of many creator-powered organizations mobilizing their communities for good causes.

“Such an amazing achievement…[this year’s GDQ] was a great production and very entertaining,” fan page Zelda Universe tweeted. 

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Food Creator Tilly Ramsay Lands Cooking Show with Amazon

Food and lifestyle creator Matilda “Tilly” Ramsay will host a new cooking show called Dish It Out on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming platform, Deadline reports.

Context: Ramsay has grown an audience of 10+ million followers on TikTok, where she cooks her favorite recipes and does viral challenges with her dad, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

Worth noting: Producer Larry Fitzgibbon told Deadline that Amazon was the “perfect platform” for “premium lifestyle programming” such as Dish It Out, which “inspires people to take real action”—indicating the possibility for ecommerce tie-ins.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Phil Edwards talks about his in-depth video research process with Patreon founder Jack Conte.

• TikTok lays off about 60 employees.

• Netflix announces new broadcast rights to WWE Raw—the streaming platform’s biggest investment in live entertainment yet. 

• Gaming streamer Kyedae parts ways with 100 Thieves.

• Get 50% OFF for 1of10, the new tool that helps you find that one idea that will skyrocket your channel by tracking millions of high-performing YouTube videos.*

• Travel creator Damon Dominique starts making social commentary videos.

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