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It's Friday and Meta has warned employees that it's ready and willing to fire anyone caught leaking confidential info (at least, that's what the leaked memo says). |
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Today's News |
📈 Meta's Q4 results beat expectations 🥊 The Paul brothers teased a fight and gave us…a reality show? 🏈 YouTube replaces TikTok as the NFL's Tailgate sponsor 🏌️ A top golfer questions the impact of online content 💰 MrBeast reflects on the ROI of Beast Games
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REELING IT IN |
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After scoring $48.4 billion in Q4 revenue, Meta is ready to make Reels the next TikTok |
The quarterly results: On January 29, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta had exceeded projections and raised its topline revenue number by 21% year-over-year after scoring $48.4 billion in Q4 revenue. In response, the tech giant's stock price briefly reached a price of over $700 per share—an indication that 2025 will fulfill Zuckerberg's hopes for a "big year." |
"We're going to learn what's going to happen with TikTok, and regardless of that, I expect Reels on Instagram and Facebook to continue growing." | | | | Mark Zuckerberg |
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The next steps: So, how does Meta plan to bring that big year to fruition? Citing innovations like Meta AI, Zuckerberg predicted that new products will generate a "long-term advantage" powered by industry-leading scale. Many of those features will likely cater to users who upload and consume Instagram Reels—especially now that Meta is positioning Instagram as the natural successor to TikTok. In anticipation of a possible U.S. ban on its Bytedance-owned rival, Meta has already fortified Reels with a slew of updates that will align its user experience with TikTok's. |
So far, those changes have been supported by significant cash injections—in the form of direct payments to TikTokers—and a ranking boost for creators who successfully hack Instagram's Trial Reels feature. And that's only the beginning: Instagram's newest batch of tracking tools, which analyze videos through metrics like View Rate and Views Over Time, will likely incentivize more creators than ever to invest their time in and effort in Reels. |
The money maker: Instagram is becoming an increasingly important part of Meta's overall revenue. Zuckerberg's company doesn't split out the financials of the wholly owned subsidiary of Meta the same way Alphabet does for YouTube, but court filings indicate that in 2022 Instagram was responsible for 30% of Meta's global revenues. Emarketer now predicts Instagram will make up more than 50% of Meta's US ad revenues in 2025, totalling upwards of $37.13 billion. No wonder it's a priority. |
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰 |
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TAILGATE TOUCHDOWN |
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YouTube just replaced TikTok's as the NFL's Super Bowl tailgate sponsor |
The announcement: YouTube and the NFL's longstanding relationship has accelerated in recent years, with the platform snapping up rights to NFL Sunday Ticket and—just this week—unveiling a program designed to help former NFL players become "media moguls." Now, the duo have dropped another big announcement: YouTube is replacing TikTok as the official sponsor for the NFL's pre-Super Bowl event, the Tailgate Concert. |
The platform will produce a two-and-a-half-hour pregame "just steps away" from the Caesars Superdome, where the Kansas City Chiefs are set to take on the Philadelphia Eagles. The whole thing will be broadcast live from the NFL's YouTube channel, where fans can catch a performance from headliner Post Malone and segments from YouTubers Kristy and Desmond Scott, Chanen and Juwan Johnson, Monet McMichael, and Carter Kench. (Malone—who claims nearly 30 million YouTube subscribers—is also set to be a headliner at this year's Coachella, another event where YouTube has major involvement.) |
The details: The NFL's decision to end TikTok's four-year run as its Tailgate Concert sponsor is no real surprise. While the app is still technically allowed in the U.S., its fate is tied to a temporary ban extension from Donald Trump—an precarious position that likely cleared the way for YouTube to swoop in. |
With its ever-growing ties to the NFL, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Tailgate become a recurring part of YouTube's live event portfolio. As Deadline points out, the platform already has a possible advantage over TikTok thanks to the "multi-view" tech it introduced last year. That feature allows viewers to watch multiple stages in the same stream—something that could prove popular with fans if YouTube decides to leverage it during the Tailgate. |
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IN SPORTS NEWS… |
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Creators have turned golf content into an arms race. A top-ranked player thinks it's hurting the sport. |
The trend: Golf content is having a major moment on platforms like YouTube—and it has for a couple years. After getting millions of views and launching offline ventures in 2023, golf creators leveled up in 2024 by hanging out with PGA Tour stars and competing in tournaments of their own. Now, the PGA Tour has announced plans to host a trio of creator tournaments in 2025 and Saudi-backed LIV Golf has struck a deal with Rick Shiels (aka one of the most-subscribed golfers on YouTube). |
Some top golfers have enthusiastically embraced that buzz: pro Phil Mickelson, for instance, collaborated with YouTube star Grant Horvat shortly after the creator scored millions of views by teaming up with his long-time rival, Tiger Woods. |
The perspective: Those kinds of collaborations demonstrate the growing influence of social media content in the golf world—but not everyone is sure it's a positive change. Although sports creators may not get in the way of the games themselves, they do shift the balance of power toward individual athletes. |
Rory McIlroy isn't a fan of that trend. In an interview with the Fresno Bee, the former #1 player argued that golf creators have "diminished" the sport's core product. Though he admitted that upstarts like Horvat are "killing it" by making "really cool" content, he believes the on-course product deserves more attention: |
"I would much rather sit down and watch real golfers play real tournaments. To me, that's more entertaining. But I understand other people want something different, and that's totally fine as well. I think there's space for all of this." | | | | Rory McIlroy |
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WATCH THIS 📺 |
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MrBeast predicted that Beast Games wouldn't be "ROI positive." That doesn't mean it wasn't a success. |
The interview: During his latest sit-down with creator economy experts Colin and Samir, MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) went into detail about the marketing and costs associated with his Amazon Prime original. One of the biggest questions addressed in that interview: "Is Beast Games ROI positive?" |
Donaldson's answer was a resolute 'no.' But that doesn't mean Beast Games—which has since proven to be Amazon's most-watched unscripted series ever—wasn't a triumph. While his interview with Colin and Samir was filmed just before the first season dropped, Donaldson pointed to the size of Beast Games' spectacles and its ability to stand out from other game shows as signs of success beyond monetary profit. |
Tune in here to learn more about Donaldson's thoughts on the making of Beast Games. |
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. |
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