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Today’s lineup:

1) OpenAI acquires tech livestream TBPN
2) Mythical Kitchen shares how they make Last Meals
3) One microdrama studio seeks to revamp the genre

Earlier this year, daily tech news show TBPN, hosted by business creators John Coogan and Jordi Hays, anticipated reading 5,000 ads in 2026—making $30 million in ad revenue this year. Now, that number is 0. 

Yesterday, OpenAI announced that it bought TBPN for “low hundreds of millions of dollars”—effectively shuttering its ad business and ushering in a new era for the tech show.

How they got here: Coogan and Hays started TBPN 17 months ago, generating $5 million in ad revenue in 2025 from their three-hour daily livestream. 

TBPN has only 62K YouTube subscribers and 324K followers on X, made up of tech professionals from startup CEOs to software engineers. Our own Samir Chaudry describes TBPN as the "luxury brand of the creator economy," a small but influential audience with high-purchasing-power. 

TBPN has a cool factor too—selling merch with ad logos like an F1 team, and packaging business announcements like trading cards. Guests include Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Cuban, and OpenAI founder Sam Altman.

Worth noting: The OpenAI connection runs deep →

Going forward: TBPN's daily format isn't changing. Coogan and Hays say they have full editorial independence but will no longer run ads—instead spotlighting exclusive OpenAI news. 

Some have questioned what this means for editorial integrity, though Hays and Coogan don’t see themselves as journalists.

“Even when companies have approached us and said, ‘We’ll give you the exclusive,’ [...] we actually want [them] to go talk to the journalists,” Hays said on stream. “And then come contextualize it with us,” Coogan added.

“They are marketing geniuses, and I’d love to have better marketing,” Altman told Axios.

Big picture: OpenAI recently shut down Sora, its AI video generator, subsequently ending its billion dollar deal with Disney. But OpenAI is still growing exponentially—raising $122 billion in its latest funding round.

So what’s the draw of buying a creator company? Potentially, good faith with the tech community. Other tech companies have purchased media outlets in the past, like Robinhood buying Snacks Daily and Hubspot buying The Hustle. In the face of Anthropic’s cheeky Super Bowl ads, is this OpenAI’s way of repositioning its brand image?

Last week Mythical Kitchen released its 100th episode of Last Meals, its YouTube show interviewing celebrities and creators on the food they'd eat before they die.

Over its four years, the show has become the channel's most-viewed series (200M+ views) and a staple in the celebrity press cycle, featuring guests like Tom Hanks and Post Malone. 

But before all the talk about mortality and dishes like pistachio pie and Karaage chicken, there's 15 people and weeks of work that go into each hour-long episode. We talked to host Josh Scherer and creative producer Annaliese Kassebaum on how it's made →

Last Meals, a recipe:

Why does the team go to such lengths—tracking down family recipes, grilling whole fish on set, recreating three-Michelin-star plating routines—when the viewer can’t taste it? Kassebaum says it’s all part of guest experience—and if the guests like being there, that results in a better show. 

“I think that’s what continues to separate YouTube from other media,” Kassebaum said. “The earnestness is the sauce. The joy in the process does come through.”

For the next 100 episodes, Scherer is more interested in perfecting the show than scaling it. "If you build a bar with your friends and you enjoy showing up to work every single day, you don't have to immediately think about how to franchise it," Scherer said.

Microdramas are growing into a $26 billion industry, with platforms like ReelShort and MyDrama skyrocketing in popularity. Now, producers from the creator world are teaming up with Hollywood to build out the genre. 

Producers Matthew Ko and Chris Crema—who’ve worked with companies like A24 and Unwell—recently launched Knockout Shorts, a microdrama studio producing drama, comedy, and reality series. 

Its goal? Elevate microdramas beyond soap operas to include more genres, hire Hollywood and creator talent, and reach a younger demographic.

“It's a very high volume business and low cost, so some companies are producing 300 of these a year. They're really focused on just getting the content as fast as possible,” Ko told us. “When working with [SAG-AFTRA] on our most recent project, it elevates those standards—which we’re really excited about.”

Zoom out: Ko describes the average microdrama user as a middle aged woman with expendable income, but if microdrama studios want to sustain their longevity, they may have to think broader.

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