The Media Odyssey

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1. TURNING A NONPROFIT INTO A DIGITAL MEDIA POWERHOUSE

   5 november 2026 · 46 min

   Afspelen
   Jubilee Media started with a failed busking attempt in a New York subway station. Ten years later it has 12 million YouTube subscribers and has become a town hall for Gen Z, and a stop for politicians before traditional media. Lees meer

   This episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast features Evan Shapiro and special co-host Jamie Shapiro (sitting in for Marion Ranchet) in conversation with Jason Y. Lee, founder and CEO of Jubilee Media. They cover how Jubilee built viral YouTube formats like Surrounded, Middle Ground, and Spectrum, why YouTube on the TV screen matters, and how a 37-person team produces so much original content. They also discuss the creator economy and brand partnerships, the CNN town hall, and what comes next for Jubilee, including FAST channels, live events, and a new era of audience participation.

   Key Takeaways:

   1. From Haiti Fundraiser to Gen Z Town Hall
   Jason Lee left a consulting job at Bain to start the Jubilee Project, a nonprofit, after a YouTube video raised thousands for Haiti. The 2017 election inspired Jubilee Media as it exists today, a media company built to bring people together in conversation that feels authentic.

   2. Why YouTube Comes First
   Jubilee Media has 12 million YouTube subscribers and reaches roughly 200 to 300 million views a month. Jason says YouTube is the hardest place to build an audience but the stickiest, with Surrounded episodes averaging over 45 minutes of viewing and more people watching on TV.

   3. Build Formats, Not One-Off Viral Videos

   Jason explains why a viral format that produces 100 videos beats a single viral hit, and how hackathons, quick pilots, and a “batting average” mindset drive the process. Fast feedback from digital audiences is the advantage.

   4. Low Production Costs, High Authenticity
   A team of about 37 puts out at least three original videos a week, and the stripped-down sets came from budget limits, not genius. Evan argues that Hollywood confuses production value with quality.

   5. Politics, Partnerships,…

2. THE SECRET TO HALLMARK'S BILLION-MINUTE FANDOM

   29 oktober 2026 · 30 min

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   Hallmark makes 100 movies a year in two to three weeks each, has a 70,000-person waitlist for its annual cruise, and received 84 million views in its first year on YouTube. The 116-year-old, family-owned brand shows how fandom, formula, and a “One Hallmark” ecosystem keep audiences loyal across TV, streaming, and live events. Lees meer

   This episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast, recorded live at MIPCOM, features hosts Evan Shapiro and Marion Ranchet with Jon Sichel, head of distribution for Hallmark Media. They discuss Hallmark’s YouTube strategy and the launch of Hallmark Movies on YouTube, the Hallmark+ streaming membership, and the Hallmark Channel turning 25. They also cover the brand’s global expansion and licensing strategy, the Hallmark movie formula, and why sticking to a clear brand identity and putting fans first beats trying to be everything to everyone.

   Key Takeaways:

   1. YouTube Finds a Younger Hallmark Fandom
   Hallmark Movies launched on YouTube in October 2025 and has already seen 84 million views and about 2.6 billion minutes of viewing time. Jon Sichel explains why the audience skews younger than the typical TV viewer.

   2. One Hallmark: The Fan Flywheel
   From 1,000 retail stores to Hallmark+ to a cruise with a 70,000-person waitlist, Hallmark moves fans across every part of its business. YouTube viewers are pointed to Hallmark+, the streaming service, where members get store discounts, free cards, unlimited e-cards, and access to events like a Kansas City Christmas Experience that draws 100,000 visitors. It’s more a membership than a subscription.

   3. The Playbook Behind 100 Movies a Year
   Hallmark makes about 100 movies annually, roughly 40 of them holiday films, shot in two to three weeks each. The company doesn’t spend $30 million per film, and Jon Sichel says tax credits, tight budgets, and a tried-and-true production approach make the volume possible

   4. Going Global
   Hallmark licenses select content to Netflix and Peacock, including earlier seasons of The…

3. WHY BROADCASTERS ARE PARTNERING WITH THE PLATFORM THEY ONCE FEARED

   22 oktober 2026 · 31 min

   Afspelen
   Three years ago RTL Deutschland had no relationship with YouTube. Today, 200 old episodes of a 1996 action series are driving 123% more first video views and 26% more subscriptions on RTL+. This YouTube and RTL partnership case study shows how legacy TV can monetize its back catalog and grow streaming subscriptions. Lees meer

   This episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast features Evan Shapiro in conversation with Pedro Pina (Vice President of YouTube EMEA) and Stefan Schmitter (CEO of RTL Deutschland). They discuss how RTL treats YouTube as a partner of equals instead of a threat, and why the cannibalization fear doesn’t hold up. They also cover YouTube monetization and revenue share, the Cobra 11 catalog strategy, Ad Alliance and the packaging of YouTube, linear TV, and streaming ad inventory, creator collaborations, and news on YouTube. Together they make the case for a “third golden age of television” built on thinking like a creator.

   Key Takeaways:

   1. YouTube Is a Partner, Not the Villain
   RTL had no YouTube relationship three years ago and now treats it as an additional channel with a clear role, strategy, and room for trial and error. Stephan argues that audiences increasingly live in “bubbles” (YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, TikTok), so a traditional media house needs partnerships to reach younger age groups. On the other hand, YouTube doesn’t produce content, so it only succeeds when its partners do.

   2. Cobra 11 Turns a Burnt-Out Catalog into a Subscription Funnel
   RTL put about 200 full episodes of the action series Cobra 11 (on air since 1996 and sold to 120 countries) on YouTube after they had run out of value in its own ecosystem through repeated reruns. The episodes earned around 30 million views in 365 days from an audience that is 83% male and about 30 years old on average. The content produced 123% more first video views on RTL+ and about 26% more RTL+ subscriptions, and Evan notes it all happens one click away from the YouTube app on the TV screen.

   3. Ad Alliance …

4. FINDING YOUR AUDIENCE FROM THE COUCH TO THE TOILET

   15 oktober 2026 · 33 min

   Afspelen
   Premium streaming lost 89% of the subscribers that signed up for new subscriptions last year, and the audience it’s chasing is watching video in the bedroom, on the bus, and on the toilet. Evan Shapiro’s keynote makes the case that media has to redefine broadcast and follow the whole consumer. Lees meer

   In this keynote episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast, recorded on stage at Jupiter Festival in Miami, Evan Shapiro unveils the newest Media Universe map and the Creator Ecosphere map. He walks through cross-screen attention data from 23 regions, including why YouTube, TikTok, and vertical video are winning the phone-first audience, how the creator economy is shifting toward the affinity economy, and why the “cannibalization” fear is a myth, using World Cup viewership as proof. He also covers streaming retention, the rise of advertising over subscriptions, vertical premium television, employee-generated content, and how brands and media companies can win by thinking like creators in the user-centric era.

   Key Takeaways:

   1. The User-Centric Era Is Here, and the Phone Is the Remote Control
   81% of the world’s population is 54 or younger, and phones beat television sets for video time by more than two to one in the US and more than three to one in Brazil and Mexico. In the 23 regions surveyed, the bedroom was the top place to watch video, and 75% of the Indian Premier League cricket final was watched on phones.

   2. YouTube Wins by Serving the Whole Consumer
   The new de-duplicated cross-screen attention index (index.eshap.tv) puts YouTube first in the US because it is the only platform on both television sets and phones, with a vertical product. Among under-55s TikTok ranks second, and among under-25s TikTok wins total attention in the US.

   3. Premium Streaming Is Plateauing as Advertising Overtakes Subscriptions
   In the past year SVOD added 175 million subscribers and lost 156 million, a net retention of just 11%. PwC data shows advertising surpassing subscriptions in global reven…

5. HOW TO FIX KIDS CONTENT

   8 oktober 2026 · 49 min

   Afspelen
   YouTube built the kids content economy, then broke its own monetization pipeline. Now it's time to fix kids content. Lees meer

   This episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast features hosts Evan Shapiro and Marion Ranchet with kids media analyst Emily Horgan (The Kids Streamersphere), breaking down her latest Netflix Kids Content Performance Report. They dig into why Netflix isn't building new kids IP, YouTube's broken monetization pipeline for children's content, and how what's actually working for creators and franchises in a brutally competitive kids' content landscape can be the roadmap to fixing kids content.

   Key Takeaways:

   1. Netflix Is the Stage, Not the Lab
   Netflix's recent kids hits (Gabby's Dollhouse, Creature Cases) mostly originated five-plus years ago, and newer breakouts like Ms. Rachel and the digital-first animation flooding Netflix (Sheriff Labrador, ChuChu TV) were built elsewhere, mainly on YouTube. Emily Horgan argues Netflix is "North Starred on streaming" rather than franchise-building, licensing proven IP (Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Miraculous Ladybug) rather than developing new characters from scratch.

   2. YouTube's Kids Monetization Pipeline Is Broken
   Advertising revenue for kids content on YouTube has collapsed over the past five years following FTC regulation (COPPA enforcement) and cooling advertiser appetite even though kids content represents roughly 15% of platform usage. This has throttled the pipeline that once produced hits like Cocomelon, making it far harder for "the next Ms. Rachel" to emerge.

   3. Old IP Still Dominates (But Legacy Live-Action Is Resurging)
   Decade-old Nickelodeon live-action shows like The Thundermans and Sam & Cat continue to perform strongly on Netflix, a trend Emily Horgan's team began tracking closely around the Paramount-Warner Bros merger. Shows like SpongeBob and Bluey show that durable franchises, often 20+ years old, dominate the kids top 10. New entries can take 28 months or more to build an audience.

   4. AI's Double-E…

6. THE END OF THE PARAMOUNT SAGA AND THE TECH-BROS OF THE APOCALYPSE

   1 oktober 2026 · 54 min

   Afspelen
   An Anthropic engineer warned AI could destroy humanity, but Silicon Valley's sudden AI "safety" panic looks a lot like a marketing campaign. Lees meer

   This episode of the Media Odyssey Podcast with Evan Shapiro and Marion Ranchet breaks down how California's attorneys general settled in the Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger, what the deal's mandates actually require, and why the AI industry's sudden doomsday messaging conveniently coincides with OpenAI and Anthropic's IPO troubles. Plus a look at how Europe is positioning itself in the AI race.

   Key Takeaways

   1. The AI "Safety Panic" Marketing Campaign
   A former Anthropic engineer's viral tweet warning that AI companies were racing toward "recursive self-improvement" was quickly echoed throughout Sillicon Valley. But the timing argues the timing (right as OpenAI delayed its IPO citing cash problems and Anthropic prepared to raise at a $2 trillion valuation) makes the warnings look more like hype-driven marketing than genuine risk.

   2 Meta's Muse Shows the Gap Between Hype and Reality
   Meta's new AI app Muse became the top downloaded app in app stores days after launch, despite requiring access to users' email, texts, and banking information. But within a single day, security researcher Patrick Wardle hacked his own instance of Muse and planted malware.

   3. Europe's AI Position: Enterprise Over Frontier Models
   Mistral has pivoted away from competing directly with OpenAI and Anthropic on frontier models, focusing instead on enterprise distribution and infrastructure. Marion Ranchet notes Mistral's most recent $3 billion funding round, led by Samsung, values the company at $21 billion, a fraction of Anthropic's and OpenAI's valuations, but Europe is still finding places for its own AI.

   4. The Paramount-Warner Bros Deal's Mandates
   Attorney General Rob Bonta settled the merger under political pressure, securing commitments including 30-32 theatrical film releases per year, a $25 million independent film fund, mandatory sepa…

7. THE AFFINITY 100: THE MOST IMPACTFUL CREATORS OF 2026

   24 september 2026 · 20 min

   Afspelen
   Blair Imani just beat MrBeast on a brand-new ranking of creator influence and and the metric behind it could change how brands spend their money on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Lees meer

   This episode of The Media Odyssey Podcast, recorded outside at IBC, features hosts Evan Shapiro and Marion Ranchet with special guest Shira Lazar. They unpack the newly released Affinity 100, a ranking of the most impactful creators of 2026 built on a new metric called the Affinity Quotient, developed with Whalar Group and Foam.

   Key Takeaways:

   1. A New Way to Measure Influence
   The Affinity Quotient weighs likes and comments, adds shares at double weight, and divides by views to measure engagement per view rather than engagement per post. It captures depth of impact rather than raw reach.

   2. Blair Imani Tops the List, MrBeast Ranks 85th
   Educator and historian Blair Imani (fewer than 1 million total followers) ranked #1, while MrBeast, the world's biggest creator with half a billion followers, landed at 85. The list shows a shift from "creator economy" to the "affinity economy," where depth of engagement matters more than scale.

   3. Indie and Expert Creators Are Rising
   The list highlights "indie creators" and niche experts (a finance guru, a film reviewer, a makeup artist turned inclusivity consultant) showing that creators with as few as 10,000-50,000 highly engaged fans can build sustainable, meaningful businesses.

   4. Brands Still Chase Follower Counts Despite the Shift
   Even as the industry talks about quality over quantity, brand briefs still specify minimum follower counts (e.g., "250K-plus"). Shira Lazar argues B2B and knowledge creators are starting to shift that mindset, since the people following niche experts are often the ones making purchasing decisions.

   5. The Creator Ecosphere Map Returns in October
   Evan Shapiro will unveil the second edition of the Creator Ecosphere Map on October 8th at the inaugural Jupiter Festival in Miami, sponsored by YouTube. The new version will …

8. 80% WEEKLY REACH, SHRINKING BUDGETS: EUROPE'S PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA

   22 september 2026 · 26 min

   Afspelen
   Europe's public broadcasters are losing over 5% of their funding on average, and some budgets are being slashed by up to 70%. It's not because of economics, but ideology. Lees meer

   This bonus episode, recorded live at SME Live 2026 in Amsterdam, features Marion Ranchet with Serge Schick (France Medias Monde), Lieven Vermaele (VRT), Christophe Chantraine (RTBF), and Bastiaan Toering (NPO), discussing the funding pressures and strategic countermeasures reshaping European public service media.

   Key Takeaways
   1. Public Service Media Reach Is Massive, But Funding Is Shrinking

   PSM reaches over 80% of Europeans weekly (close to 70% among 15-24 year-olds) at a cost of just €3.60 per citizen per month. At the same time, average funding fell more than 5% between 2019 and 2024, with some countries like Switzerland cutting budgets by 70% despite no public deficit, reflecting political and ideological pressure rather than economics alone.

   2. Broadcasters Are Cutting Costs to Protect Content
   RTBF is reducing its workforce by 10% over four years mainly through attrition, cutting a radio station, and some sports rights. VRT is rationalizing its brand portfolio down to three core digital platforms (news, sport, audio-visual) while keeping 65% of its budget tied to content production.

   3. SVOD and Partnerships Are New Revenue Levers
   NPO's NPO+ SVOD service, launched in 2016, has driven a decade of added revenue, and its co-production "Wolven" with Disney+ shows public broadcasters increasingly open to streamer partnerships. This mindset shift wouldn't have happened five years ago, contrasting with France's failed Salto SVOD venture.

   4. YouTube Strategy Varies by Broadcaster
   France Médias Monde treats YouTube as essential reach across 18 markets it can't cover alone, RTBF uses release-window delays to protect its own platform while benefiting from a large audience halo effect outside Belgium, and NPO/VRT build YouTube-native content designed to funnel viewers back to their own platforms.

   …

9. THE STREAMING PLATFORM RATIO

   17 september 2026 · 29 min

   Afspelen
   Streaming platforms are spending anywhere from 9% to 30% of revenue just to run their tech stack and a new study finally puts real numbers behind the guesswork. Lees meer

   Don’t miss this special episode recorded on stage at Streaming Made Easy Live with Jonas Engwall (CEO of Bedrock Streaming), Bjarne Andreas Myklebust (NRK, Norway's public broadcaster), and Rowan de Pomerai (CEO of the DPP). They unpack the new Streaming Platform Ratio study benchmarking 16 European platforms against Netflix, why public broadcasters are outperforming commercial ones on tech efficiency, and the coming wave of premium vertical video.

   Key Takeaways:

   1. The Streaming Platform Ratio Benchmark
   Bedrock and the DPP surveyed 16 mostly-European streaming platforms to measure tech spend as a percentage of streaming revenue, anonymizing all results. They used Netflix as the public baseline and its publicly disclosed tech and development spend comes out to roughly 10% of revenue, a figure that's held steady for the past five to six years.

   2. Scale Is the Biggest Cost Driver
   Platforms with revenue above roughly $100 million showed nearly half the proportional tech cost of smaller platforms. Public broadcasters performed slightly better than commercial players overall because larger organizations benefit from fixed costs spread across more revenue.

   3. Legacy Broadcasters Are Still Paying Two Bills
   NRK reports that traditional DTT distribution still consumes about 90% of its budget, while OTT already accounts for 20-25% of consumption. Public broadcasters that started streaming early (echoing BBC's iPlayer) built in competitive advantages like NRK running three CDNs with annual price competition to control distribution costs.

   4. Buy, Don't Build
   Panelists agreed that most platforms are shifting from CapEx to OpEx, buying software and licensing CDN capacity rather than building in-house infrastructure, since content is where broadcasters create value. The DPP noted that no broadcaster builds its own t…

10. WE KNOW WHAT MEDIA DID THIS SUMMER

    10 september 2026 · 51 min

    Afspelen
    The 2026 World Cup shattered streaming records worldwide, Paramount and Warner Bros are locked in a multi-billion-dollar antitrust standoff, and Meta just settled a landmark child-safety case for $18 billion. The Media Odyssey podcast is back and we know what you did last summer. Lees meer

    This episode marks the Season 3 premiere with hosts Evan Shapiro and Marion Ranchet catching up after their summer break. They cover all the biggest news of the last month including the World Cup's record-breaking viewership clip culture, ESPN’s faulty sports rights math, and Disney’s stale IP. They also discuss how the Paramount-Warner Bros merger battle with 12 state attorneys general suing to block it and Meta's $18 billion child-safety settlement with state AGs.

    Key Takeaways

    1. The World Cup's Record-Breaking, Clip-Driven Reach

    CazéTV in Brazil broke the world concurrent-streaming record five times, peaking at 24 million concurrent streams, while Globo drew 70 million live TV viewers. In the US, TikTok clip culture (24 billion hours watched) dwarfed YouTube's full-match viewership (2.4 billion hours), signaling that conversation and clips now outpace matches themselves.

    2. Paramount-Warner Bros Heads Toward Trial

    Twelve state attorneys general are suing to block the merger under the Clayton Act, citing monopoly concerns in cable and film. Paramount owes a $7 million-per-day ticking fee starting October 1st and a $7 billion breakup fee if the deal collapses — and Larry Ellison's $40 billion personal backing puts the whole deal at risk.

    3. Meta's $18 Billion Child-Safety Settlement

    Meta admitted to feeding harmful, addictive content to minors and agreed to structural changes: capped scrolling time, blocked notifications during school hours, and no app access for minors overnight. The hosts debate whether the settlement (the largest child-safety settlement in history) meaningfully changes behavior or just avoids public disclosure of internal wrongdoing.

    4. Disney's Aggregation E…

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