Good morning. Last night, political commentary streamer Hasan Piker held the second most-watched livestream of election coverage—after NBC.

With 200K+ concurrent viewers, he had a larger audience than ABC, CBS, and MS Now’s YouTube streams combined.

— Syd Cohen

Today’s lineup:

Comedy creator Druski just signed a multi-year deal to produce content exclusively for Netflix—starting with Collect and Praise, a “semi-scripted” comedy series based on his viral megachurch sketch.

Why it matters: As creators have more ambitious ideas for scripted content, the platforms willing to fund production will win distribution rights.

Collect and Praise is the second comedy series Netflix has picked up from a YouTube video in the past month, following American High’s Minimum Wage. This trend points to how important acquiring internet-native IP has become for Netflix. 

So, what does this mean in context with the streaming wars?

Last week, Nielsen reported that 15.8% of all TV time is spent on YouTube, compared to Netflix’s 7.7%. But without insight into how this time on YouTube is spent (i.e. top genres, channels, or formats), we won’t truly know how much “premium content” is being watched on the platform.

While there are reports that YouTube is paying creators to stay exclusive to YouTube, the promise of brokering brand deals may not be enough for creators looking to make something with a bigger budget. 

Big picture: YouTube is losing YouTube-exclusive creators to platforms that will help fund their projects. But if the best thing platforms can do for creators is to help fund their ideas—and as YouTube passes 150M premium subscribers (up 20% from last year)—is there a future for narrative scripted content on YouTube?

In September, comedy creators Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo signed a four-year, reportedly $160M deal with SiriusXM to exclusively distribute their podcast, Giggly Squad.

This is the latest in a series of creator podcast deals struck by SiriusXM in recent years, following those with Alex Cooper, Trevor Noah, and Crime Junkie.

Rewind the tape: SiriusXM was born from a dying medium. In the early 2000s, traditional radio was losing listeners to iPods and the internet, and two rival startups—Sirius and XM—bet that people would pay for radio if it was national, ad-free, and built around talent you couldn’t hear anywhere else. 

The two companies merged in 2009, and since then have expanded the definition of “radio” across music, talk shows, podcasts & more by buying the voices people will follow anywhere.

Fast forward to today: The morning talk shows and Top 40 countdowns that built radio have been replaced by podcasts built by creators who have a deep relationship with their audience.

Just weeks after the SiriusXM deal was announced, the Giggly Squad duo sold out Madison Square Garden in 30 minutes, becoming the first female podcast to headline the venue in a sold-out show. 

The duo was named in TIME100 Creators 2025, and since then, Berner and DeSorbo’s Giggly Squad multiverse has expanded beyond their weekly show to live events, a NYT bestselling book, weekly newsletter, solo comedy tours, and product lines.  

In a recent interview, SiriusXM SVP of podcast content Adam Sachs talked about where the future of podcasting is headed:

“When we’re making these deals, we are increasingly thinking about a podcast as audio, video, social, and live. It’s those four legs of the stool, and we want to be a part of all of it,” Sachs said.

In other words: What appears to just be SiriusXM collecting creator shows is really a long-term strategy in building the deepest possible relationship with an audience everywhere that audience wants to show up—through your car radio and beyond. 

Laura Jayne Lamb, the creator behind @costcohotfinds, has broken the traditional brand deal model by finding a new way to make money posting about her favorite store.

The business of brand deals: Historically, the main way creators made money was as distributors. A brand pays for access to your audience and in exchange, you make and publish an ad.

But partnerships are evolving. Today, brands work with creators as talent, directors, consultants, and in Lamb’s case: as shoppers. 

The business of being a Costco superfan: Despite her username, Lamb isn’t paid by or affiliated with Costco. Instead, companies that sell there, like SharkNinja and Procter & Gamble, sponsor Lamb’s posts for her to shop their products at her local warehouse.

Some lock in long-term deals, but demand for exposure to her audience of over 5.7M is high enough that her management team turns down most offers.

Why brands come calling: According to its latest annual report, Costco carries fewer than 4K products per warehouse. Items that don’t sell fast enough risk losing their spot. Well-timed content from Lamb not only sells products, but secures shelf space.

For example, after posting about an Esprit crewneck sweater in mid July, Dallas-area managers fielded hundreds of calls about it the next day. A week later, the sweater sold out on Costco’s website.

Why creators should take note: Brands will pay a premium to protect their placement in critical retail locations. Millions of followers trust Lamb to curate their next Costco run shopping list, which means she gets paid to shop for her favorite brands at her favorite store.

For creators pitching their next partnership, your favorite store might not pay you, but its shelves are stocked with plenty of brands that might.