Are creators a plaster over leaky pipe?

Before we get into it - this week's Community Service podcast just dropped yesterday and it's a good one.

Grace and I are diving into everyone's favourite buzzword: authenticity.

We're talking about Olivia Colman serving chips, Jake Paul skirting legal limits (again), and our new favourite graph.

Check it out here →

Creators are all over the TV screen right now.

Niko Omilana on The Traitors.

George Clarke on Strictly.

KSI on Britain's Got Talent.

And everyone's celebrating these as huge milestones for creators breaking into mainstream media.

But I think people are getting it a little twisted about who really wins from this.

Traditional media needs creators way more than creators need traditional media.

And the numbers prove it.

BGT averaged 4.6 million viewers earlier this year.

The average Sidemen Sunday gets 8 million views.

The guys are getting more eyes on their own content, on their own channels, on their own terms than one of Britain's biggest TV shows.

They've already made it. They don't need the validation. They don't need the exposure. For them, it's a bit of fun. Something different. A chance to make their mums proud.

But these shows?

These shows desperately need them.

Because their audience is aging and they know it.

The stats are brutal - 95% of people over 65 watch TV daily.

For Gen Z, that number has dropped to 48%.

And even when Gen Z does watch TV, they're only watching for 20 minutes.

There's just too many other options now.

Better options, in my opinion.

Gen Z is spending three times as long watching YouTube and TikTok.

And guess who they're watching? Creators.

The same creators that traditional TV is now begging to come on their shows.

This is the real story.

Gen Z's attention has been claimed by creators, so if traditional media wants even a slice of that pie, they have to bring creators onto their shows.

It's not creators getting a lucky break into mainstream media.

It's mainstream media borrowing the audiences that creators built.

And look, I get why this is happening.

If you're a TV executive watching your viewership numbers drop year after year, especially with young audiences, you're panicking.

You need to do something.

So you look at who actually has young people's attention and you try to bring them into your world. It makes sense as a strategy.

But is this a plaster over leaky pipe?

Because I think the fundamental issue is the format itself.

It's the fact that appointment viewing doesn't work for a generation raised on on-demand everything.

It's the fact that TV ads are painful when you're used to skipping them.

It's the fact that traditional TV just doesn't fit how young people consume content anymore.

All in all…

Maybe everyone's a winner here.

The creators get a different experience and maybe introduce their parents' generation to who they are.

The TV shows get a temporary boost in young viewership and some social media buzz.

But long term?

This isn't solving traditional TV's problem.

It's just highlighting it.

Every time a creator appears on a TV show and performs well, it proves that the talent isn't the issue - the medium is.

Every time a creator's video outperforms a TV show's viewership, it proves where the audience has gone.

Every time a Gen Z viewer tunes in for the creator but tunes out after, it proves that borrowing audiences doesn't build them.

The real question isn't whether creators should go on traditional TV.

It's whether traditional TV can adapt to survive in a creator-led world.

And based on what we're seeing - bringing in creators as guests rather than fundamentally rethinking how content is made and distributed - I'm not convinced they've figured it out yet.

But hey, at least the guys are having fun.

And their mums are proud.

Sometimes that's enough.

Remember, the creator mindset is all you need to grow 🌱

Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here to get the next one straight to your inbox.

If this email landed in your spam or promotions folder, move it to your primary inbox so you never miss an update from me.