The day YouTube became bigger than Disney

For those who don't know, MIPCOM is basically where the global TV industry gathers every year to make deals, buy shows, and figure out what's next.

It's the big leagues.

The traditional media establishment.

The place where billion-dollar companies decide what you'll be watching next year.

And this year, for the first time ever, creators weren't just invited to the table - they were the entire conversation.

YouTube completely took over MIPCOM.

Not as a side show.

As the centrepiece of the entire event.

Industry executives are calling it "the biggest step change in a generation" for the global television market.

And they're right.

Let me break down what actually went down, because the scale of this is hard to overstate.

Banijay, Fremantle, and BBC Studios - three of the biggest entertainment companies in the world - all announced major creator economy partnerships during the same week.

Banijay launched the Entertainment Creators Lab in France, giving top YouTubers €50,000 and full creative control to reimagine their dormant IPs.

They're literally handing creators their old show formats and saying "make this work for modern audiences."

One example - they're reworking Minute to Win It for workplace settings with creators leading the charge.

Banijay's CEO called it a "sandbox for creative cross-pollination" and they're planning to roll it out globally.

Fremantle partnered with Viral Nation to develop "creator-led, social-first formats" aimed at Gen Z.

BBC Studios is co-developing hybrid series that integrate their production quality with creator storytelling.

And…

YouTube is now the world's leading streaming platform, outpacing Netflix according to Nielsen in 2025 (YouTube generated $9.8 billion in ad revenue in just Q2).

Analysts at MIPCOM were genuinely suggesting YouTube could soon surpass Disney in media scale.

Read that again.

Wild.

This isn't traditional media trying to co-opt the creator economy.

This is them admitting they need to completely restructure around it.

The executives at MIPCOM weren't talking about creators as talent they could hire.

They were talking about creators as the core of their entire business strategy going forward.

One executive from Silver Berry put it perfectly: "Creators' speed and flexibility replace the old gatekeeper hierarchy." (paraphrasing)

That's not a small statement.

That's the entire power structure of entertainment being inverted.

For decades, studios decided what got made, who got access, what audiences wanted.

Now creators prove what audiences want first, then studios scale it.

The gatekeepers became the amplifiers.

And both sides know they need each other.

Creators have the audiences, the data, the cultural relevance, the ability to test and iterate rapidly.

Studios have the production capital, the IP rights, the distribution infrastructure, the ability to scale globally.

It's not competition anymore.

It's interdependence.

Matthew Gielen articulated this brilliantly - creators lack IP longevity and stability, while networks need cultural relevance and low-cost audience acquisition.

They're solving each other's problems.

What we're seeing is a completely new model emerging.

Creators anchor brand IP expansion into entertainment formats.

Studios offer creative infrastructure and distribution routes.

AI and tools like Unreal Engine lower production costs, enabling adaptations at scale.

It's venture investment applied to content - small, low-risk creative experiments with massive upside if something goes viral.

Studios like Banijay and Fremantle are positioning themselves as accelerators for creator concepts.

This is what I've been saying for years with Think Like A Creator.

The principles that make creators successful - understanding your audience deeply, moving fast, testing constantly, building authentic connection - these aren't just "creator things."

These are the fundamentals of how modern media works now.

And the biggest companies in entertainment are finally, finally getting it.

Ten years ago, if you'd told industry executives that YouTubers would be the centrepiece of the global TV market, they would have laughed you out of the room.

Five years ago, they would have been sceptical but intrigued.

Now? They're restructuring their entire companies around it.

That's capitulation.

That's the old guard admitting the new model won.

And it happened because creators didn't ask for permission.

They didn't wait for Hollywood to let them in.

They built their own thing, proved it worked, built audiences traditional media couldn't reach, and forced the establishment to come to them.

That's what thinking like a creator actually means.

So what does this mean for you?

If you're a creator, this validates everything you're building.

The biggest companies in entertainment are literally restructuring around what you do.

Keep going.

If you're a business owner, this proves that creator principles aren't a fad - they're the future of how all media and content works.

Apply them now or get left behind.

MIPCOM 2025 might be remembered as a pivotal moment traditional entertainment officially became the creator economy.

The inversion is complete.

Creators own audience demand.

Studios supply scalability.

That's the new model.

That's the future.

And honestly? It's about time.

If you fancy reading the full article around MIPCOM 2025, click here.

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.