Today's News

📱 MrBeast phones it in
🎉 VidSummit approaches
🐤 Sesame Street hits YouTube
🚐 Facebook Marketplace gets mobile
🇺🇸 Druski goes full 'Merica

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

MrBeast wants to start his own mobile network

The plan: MrBeast's legions of fans already snack on Feastables bars, bring Lunchly meals to recess, and clamor for Swarms figurines at the toy store. Now, according to a leaked pitch deck, the creator known offline as Jimmy Donaldson also wants people to drink MrBeast-branded beverages, manage their money with MrBeast-branded fintech, level up in MrBeast-branded games, indulge in MrBeast-branded wellness, and plug their cell phones into the MrBeast mobile network.

That last venture might seem a bit out of place, but Donaldson wouldn't be the first celebrity to launch his own cell company. There's SmartLess Mobile from Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, Mint Mobile from Ryan Reynolds, and—most recently—Trump Mobile for the MAGA fans out there.

The details: Those celebrity networks all have one thing in common: they rent airspace from major cell companies like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T while selling under their own names and branding. In other words, MrBeast doesn't need to spend billions on infrastructure to become a new nationwide carrier; instead, his new biz will just be a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).

By going that route, the MrBeast team won't have to shell out for hardware maintenance and will likely be able to outsource for things like customer service and billing since MVNOs are becoming more common. The outsourcing process starts with snagging a deal from one of the aforementioned major carriers.

The numbers: A mobile network would give Beast Industries a little extra oomph as it seeks fresh funding at a $5 billion valuation. Bloomberg previously reported the company has made most of its profit (around $20 million) from $270 million in Feastables sales. The video half of Donaldon's business—which covers his YouTube channels and Prime Video's Beast Games—was $80 million in the red as of March 2025.

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Dubai's 1 Billion Followers Summit is launching a $1M AI movie contest

In 2025, the 1 Billion Followers Summit brought together 30K+ attendees and 420+ speakers for an unparalleled creator expo in Dubai.

Next year's summit will offer an even wider range of initiatives, including the world's largest award for AI-generated films.

The grand prize: $1 million.

In partnership with Google Gemini, the 1 Billion Followers Summit will host a competition supporting the production of short films that use AI tools to convey humanitarian messages. The winner will be honored at the summit, where 10 finalists are set to be showcased.

Learn more about the 1 Billion Followers Summit

Organized by the UAE Government Media Office, the 2026 edition of the 1 Billion Followers Summit will take place from January 9-11 at Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai International Financial Centre, and the Museum of the Future. Early bird tickets are available now.

Visit the website to find out more:

Explore the Summit →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

VidSummit will return from October 7-9, bringing creator keynotes, expert-led workshops, and Creators in Fashion to the Irving Convention Center. (Tubefilter)
TikTok now claims over 200 million monthly users in Europe, a total that adds up to "roughly one in three citizens on the continent." (Reuters)
Threads has instituted "several changes that display threaded posts more clearly," including a "view more" label. (Engadget)
Late last week, the Nepalese government ordered internet providers to shut down access to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, and several other major social media platforms. (TechCrunch)

YOUTUBE KIDS

"Hundreds" of Sesame Street episodes are headed to YouTube

The creator: Sesame Street lays claim to one of the oldest branded hubs on YouTube. Since launching in January 2006, the franchise's official channel has attracted 28 billion lifetime YouTube views and nearly 28 million subscribers. Now, Sesame Street is taking that digital presence to the next level.

Thanks to a multifaceted deal between the Sesame Workshop and its longtime host platform, YouTube will add "hundreds of full episodes" of Sesame Street. That slate includes some "classic" installments of the 56-year-old educational TV franchise, alongside YouTube-exclusive content produced by Sesame Workshop.

The educational aspect: YouTube's Sesame Workshop partnership will also extend to its creator community. The nonprofit—which performs extensive research related to topics like childhood development and early education—plans to offer seminars that will teach channel owners how to produce "content that is entertaining while also promoting learning."

The context: Deals of this nature are uncommon for YouTube, as the platform isn't known for buying scripted shows that previously premiered on linear networks. Changing times, however, require changing strategies.

Deals like Netflix's agreement with Ms. Rachel and the Disney+ CoComelon coup show that major streaming services are eager to poach top-performing children's shows from YouTube. By teaming up with Sesame Street, the Google-affiliated video platform likely hopes to preserve its reputation as a favorite destination of Gen Alpha consumers while also fending off regulatory intervention.

With statutes like COPPA in effect, platforms like YouTube are increasingly committing to measures that will steer kids toward wholesome content. And what's more wholesome than Sesame Street?

ROAD TRIP

Facebook Marketplace is hitting the road in a custom Airstream

The cross-country tour: Meta is giving Facebook Marketplace its own Antiques Roadshow moment. Representatives from Facebook have hopped into a custom blue Airstream van for a six-city road trip highlighting the platform's community-focused features.

That tour kicked off at Melrose Trading Post in Los Angeles with an event that offered a mix of Marketplace deals and activities led by creators. Sellers like Justin Miller hawked vintage wares that are typically sold through Facebook's popular ecommerce hub, while photographer Thalía Gochez used cosmetic Marketplace purchases to refresh attendees' profile pictures.

Attendees who visit the Facebook Airstream at upcoming stops in Boulder, Dallas, Nashville, and New York City will be able to step into a Remix Lab, where dated garments can be refashioned into upcycled looks.

The context: Facebook's emphasis on Marketplace is no surprise, especially when you consider efforts by other platforms (including Pinterest) to cater to Gen Z's affinity for secondhand shopping. But Meta's branded roadtrip also fits into a recent wave of multi-city event series led by platforms and digital media companies like Culture Media, which recently kicked off a college campus tour.

The increasing frequency of these tours speaks to the widespread nature of today's creator industry. Content hubs are no longer contained to Los Angeles and New York; cities like Dallas are becoming creator hotbeds as well, and companies are hitting the road to meet those communities wherever they are.

WATCH THIS 🎙️

Druski's whiteface skit was certainly something

Makeup moment: Druski doing whiteface makeup (and doing it unbelievably well) wasn't on our 2025 bingo card, but we can't deny that the creator's skit livened up NASCAR season.

Between fake flag tattoos, a good old-fashioned farmer's tan, and an impressive mullet, Druski pulls off a convincing "guy who is just proud to be American." In fact, we're pretty sure it doesn't get more 'Merica than this.

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