How Creators Make Money: Digital-Native Leaders on What Drives Audiences and Brands in the Attention Economy

On the latest episode of Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast, leaders of top digital-native firms discuss the factors that are funneling viewership, fan engagement and brand deals in the creator economy.

Aaron Doades, senior VP of product management for Comscore, Zach Miller, president of JesserCo., Jarret Myer, CEO of Uproxx Studios, and Shaun Newsum, CEO of Culture Genesis, gathered in Los Angeles in September for a session held as part of Variety‘s annual Entertainment and Technology Summit. This session, and much of the day, was devoted to examining how creators and social video platforms are rewiring our world, especially when it comes to marketing and advertising.

Myer, a digital media veteran, argues that the rise of superpowers in the creator economy (including sports influencers such as Jesser and IShowSpeed) is a movement back toward a monoculture environment. That’s a counterintuitive take given that the disintermediation of media is driving the upheaval across traditional Hollywood (exhibit A: the newly created Skydance colossus).

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“The idea that a creator, an event, a movie, a song can have a moment in culture that everyone’s talking about is happening more and more,” Myer says. “The creator economy is bigger than most people assume it is. They think it’s maybe someone who started a channel in their bedroom, but it’s studios, it’s artists, it’s creators that are all happening outside of the traditional Hollywood formation. More and more, these people are creating the monoculture moments that everyone is talking about. Missing out on that is missing out on the point of entertainment and culture.”

Newsum, who leads a creator talent management firm, echoed Myer’s sentiment.

“These moments of collective mass consciousness. At Culture Genesis, we call them mini-Super Bowls and they’re happening all the time. And you just don’t know about it,” Newsum says. “The creator economy is always on. There’s content being produced all the time.”

Comscore’s Doades pointed to data showing that YouTube is becoming a preferred spot for marketers to find “pockets” of younger viewers who are increasingly hard to find on linear channels, outside of sports.

“A lot of folks consume content almost exclusively on creator media. Now, when you’re looking at TV versus creator, the incrementality is massive,” Doades said. “We know that in March of 2026, Jesser had a greater unique reach than 14 live NBA games and the incrementality was 99% — meaning 99% of that audience did not tune in to those NBA games.”

Miller in his role helps lead the charge for Jesser, the sports influencer who has enormous cachet with young NBA fans and the league itself. Miller has deep roots in traditional media but he sees no turning back for the content marketplace.

“If you’re a marketer and you’re trying to reach a younger audience, you’re going to have a really hard time finding them on television. They’re just not watching TV unless they’re watching live sports,” he says. “But on YouTube, you can find these pockets of audience. The question for advertisers becomes, do you want to spend the money on the traditional media channel that has always been the place to spend it and cross your fingers and hope to find younger audiences there? Or do you need to broaden your strategy, swapping some of that spend on TV for digital channels that will allow you to reach that audience. Or at least expand the spend so that you reach your core audience that you’ve been historically reaching on TV.”

(Pictured above, l. to r.: JesserCo.’s Zach Miller, Culture Genius’ Shaun Newsum, Uproxx Studios’ Jarret Myer and Comscore’s Aaron Doades)

“Strictly Business” is Variety’s podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, SoundCloud and more.