Whether famous or infamous, 20th Century FOX sold its entertainment assets to the Walt Disney Company in 2019 to focus on news and sports. With a simple process, industry observers would be forgiven for thinking this is the last time Fox will become a relevant media powerhouse. But to paraphrase the same famous studio independence dayChoose Don’t go quietly at night.
While legacy media battled over franchises, New Focus was betting on the creator economy. January deal Fox Entertainment and YouTuber Dhar Mann Studios (163 million followers, 20 billion views across platforms for his long-form scripted content) to create a video List of small dramas It is a microcosm of a company’s strategy. The acquisitions of free, ad-supported TV (FAST) streaming service Tubi in 2020 and end-to-end digital media company Red Seat Ventures last year illustrate what Fox is aiming for. The question is whether the target is worth hitting or not.
Bet on creators to lead the future of entertainment
As the observer previously reportedearly versions of Superman (2034), Batman (2035), Joker (2036), and Wonder Woman (2037) enter the public domain in the next fifteen years. These are not the only examples. It’s a reminder that a studio’s reliance on major intellectual property rights must compete with increasing outside competition, including from creators with access to famous faces. Fox, having sold its intellectual property library, is trying to build something different, especially with the NFL’s rights dwindling More than 25 Percentage of Fox’s annual content spend.
Tubi accounts for 2.1 percent of U.S. TV time, more than Peacock (1.8 percent) and WBD’s streaming operations (1.4 percent), according to Nielsen. The service had a breakthrough moment when it became profitable in Q3 2025, surpassing more than 100 million monthly active users (MAUs), and reaching $1 billion in annual revenue. While its impressive catalog of Hollywood content is a driving force, FAST’s library also consists of 16,000 episodes of creator content. This ranges from MrBeast’s non-exclusive licensed feeds to original scripted entertainment featuring popular creators like TikToker Noah Beck’s marginalwhich became the most viewed title on the platform.
“Viewers want long-form entertainment built on authenticity and cultural relevance more than big stars,” Tobi CEO Anjali Sood said. He said at an event Hosted by the Paley Media Council in New York in March.
Working in the Service’s Favor: Most FAST services prioritize browsing pre-scheduled linear channels, while Tubi has focused on its on-demand component. In this way, it became a free, ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) service behind YouTube. Creator-driven content has not become must-watch outside of children’s media (even Amazon.com). Monster games It is more than a Hit the ratings base rather than a home run), but emotional niches can help justify properly budgeted programming here.
“It’s not always about the size of their reach. It’s about the depth and passion of the fanbase,” Sood said of creators without legions of followers who still achieve strong viewership on Tubi.
The potential of the audience that the content creator activates
There is an audience for a creator’s content across media. YouTube has 202 million adult users in the United States, who are 7 percent more likely than the average consumer to watch live streams, according to Green light analyticsWhere I work as the Director of Insights and Content Strategy. Nearly 98 percent of Gen Z TikTokers also use YouTube. Platforms don’t compete. They share it, making it easier to target businesses.
These are the audiences that can be monetized (with a caveat, we’ll get to that). About 38 percent of consumers say they sometimes or often make purchases based on influencer recommendations. There are 6.6 million Young moviegoers driven by social media Who are more likely to be influenced by content creators and subscribe to multiple streaming channels. Creator recommendations serve as cultural currency for this group. that it the Fox radio audience catches up.
The second aspect of the company’s influencer campaign is Red Seat Ventures, which helps creatives build direct-to-consumer media businesses. Both conservative-leaning public figures who have left traditional media and standard creators have chosen to launch efforts with Red Seat. Fox acquired the company in 2025.
Red Seat has engineers who will build home studios for creatives to be coordinated by remote control rooms. They provide editorial, marketing, advertising sales team, and general talent development and management services. The company emphasizes “monetizing creators” above all else, CEO Chris Balfe said on the same panel with Sud last month. This is revenue from audio and video streaming, short-form content, branded content, subscriptions, off-platform projects, etc. Balfe argues that the benefit of the D2C model over standard Hollywood is that it enables the talent itself to “control destiny in the long run. You own it.”
Red Seat grows relationships and builds business, while Tubi delivers a growing audience.
Where is the real money in the creative economy?
But is there enough money to be made in the creator economy to justify this intentional interest? There are arguments to be made in both directions.
Linear TV still generates more than $120 billion in annual revenue in the U.S., while FAST’s revenue is expected to be “only” high. 17 billion dollars By 2029. It’s growing, but streaming is not expected to grow Replicating the generous economics of pay TV. Migrating audiences from creator-driven platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc.) to expanding corporate destinations is a whole other headache. A fixed conversion path has not yet been created.
The creators haven’t spared themselves from the universal law that shapes traditional entertainment: content is historically game-heavy. only 4 percent of creators They earn at least $100,000 a year, while half of all creative people Make less From $500 per month. Media analyst Doug Shapiro He argues Less than 1 percent of creator content accounts for 99 percent of revenue.
“It’s still early days among Fortune 100 companies,” Sood said of Creator Economy ads among top brands. “Madison Street is very traditional.” Red Seat only serves top-tier creators, as long-term revenue democratization for lower-tier creators has not been achieved.
One obvious hurdle is attribution. Understandably, advertisers want to know that their campaigns are reaching and engaging the right audiences before turning in the big dollars. While streaming offers more opportunities for customization than linear, formally tracking this kind of cause and effect remains difficult outside of affiliate links. Media spending on Internet-connected TVs It can be notoriously ineffective.
Then there is the public wealth gap. Yes, social media consumers are willing to spend. But 52% of adult TikTok users in the US have an annual household income of less than $50,000, according to Greenlight. This speaks to her younger audience. Until a more direct line of communication is established with higher-income audiences, higher-tier advertisers may remain cautious.
There’s a logic behind choosing to sit out the fray between the 37th Marvel Cinematic Universe film and the 12th Fast and furious Franchise premium. After failing to acquire Warner Bros. In the 2000s, Lachlan Murdoch, the head of Fox, took stock of the deep-pocketed tech companies roaming Hollywood and decided enough was enough.
Now, Fox’s bet is to differentiate on a smaller scale — swapping creator-related content for the blockbuster IP model. The audience is there, and it’s growing. But ad dollars are volatile, the infrastructure is still evolving, and we don’t yet know how scalable it is in niche areas. Can my favorite pop culture comic strip artist or NFL analyst TikTokers support custom channels on different media? Time will tell whether the financial opportunity will keep pace with the ambition. Fox is betting that the gap between the audience and the business model will continue to narrow. I bet it would be fun to watch either way.
