Executives from Meta, Sidemen Entertainment, Tubi, Snap, and BBC Studios made clear at IBC 2026 that the creator economy is no longer a side show — it has fundamentally reshaped how media companies operate.
Creators have become studios
The message from a packed IBC Conference panel was unambiguous: creators have become studios, studios have adopted creator logic, and audiences increasingly reward authenticity over scale.
Will Pithers, Strategic Partner Manager for Sport at Meta, described the inversion in live sport: “Historically live was at the top, but this has been flipped. Athletes themselves now hold the power. The most valuable thing in sport now is the behind-the-scenes stuff… you can provide access and intimacy in a way nobody else can.”
Tim Haubeil, Channel Director at Sidemen Entertainment, spoke about the group’s transformation from “a bunch of friends making YouTube videos” into a 70-person production company delivering long-form shows, live events, and Netflix commissions.
“The more creative freedom we have, the better the performance and conversion,” Haubeil said. “Creators know their audience better than anyone.”
Tubi’s creator-first model
Sami Qasem, Director of Creator and Content Partnerships at Tubi, described how creators are increasingly functioning like full production companies — pitching original series, running studios, and retaining ownership of their intellectual property.
“They’re becoming producers, directors, and writers,” Qasem said. “We step back and let them create for their audience. They retain ownership, which means they put everything into it.”
Snapchat’s raw authenticity
Jorrit Eringa, Head of Content Partnerships for Benelux and Nordics at Snap, said creators succeed on Snapchat when they lean into raw, unpolished formats and repeatable concepts. “Creators with strong concepts — like street interviews — build really engaged communities,” he noted. “Behind the scenes content is also strong. People want to see what creators are up to.”
For BBC Studios, the creator economy is now central to its digital strategy. Interim VP of Content & Creators Helen O’Donnell oversees more than 150 social accounts across brands including Bluey and Doctor Who.
“Creators are creatives,” O’Donnell said. “They’ve built their muscle. They know how to edit, how to engage, how to tell stories. Mutual respect is the key.”
Bluey’s data-driven fandom strategy
Simon Clarke, Director of Digital at Bluey (BBC Studios Digital Brands), presented “Fandom First: How Are Alliances Expanding Reach and Retention?” at the IBC Conference. He unveiled some surprising statistics and a fascinating look under the hood of the much-loved children’s character.
“Bluey is truly exceptional,” Clarke said. “The storytelling is warm. It’s funny. It’s relatable, and I think from the moment that people meet Bluey, there’s a real engagement from that whole audience. But scale conceals strategy. Affection is not the same as fandom, and popularity is not the same as having a strategy.”
Bluey had 1.5 billion hours of watch time in 2025, despite no new episodes being created that year. This is no accident, according to Clarke: “The first thing that we do for Bluey is we follow the audience. The starting label for Bluey was always preschool, but we quickly realised through those data signals that the audience behaviour told a much richer story. Children were watching, but parents were also watching, and they weren’t just supervising — they were participating.”
YouTube has been a crucial component of this multi-channel, multi-touchpoint strategy. Clarke emphasised: “For Bluey, this means having a full channel strategy with different entry points for different interests. It’s important for us to take a step back and to look at the power of YouTube. Connected TV viewing is soaring. We know that, but connected TVs are now a number one viewing device across all our YouTube channels. YouTube really is driving that discovery, and it’s really key to finding a new brand or a new product.”
The Bluey YouTube ecosystem now spans 27 channels in 19 different languages. 77% of US parents co-view YouTube with their children. “We saw older children growing with the brand, and we saw adults quoting, creating content, and sharing content. We saw emerging audiences on TikTok and jumped on that straightaway,” Clarke added.
Why this matters for the industry
The creator economy shift represents more than just a change in distribution channels — it’s a fundamental rethinking of how media is produced, distributed, and consumed. As Clarke put it: “Great IP doesn’t automatically create fandom. Great IP doesn’t decide which platforms to enter, doesn’t recognise an emerging adult audience, and doesn’t brief a creator.”
The brands and studios that succeed in this new landscape will be those that embrace creator logic — authenticity, direct audience relationships, and rapid iteration — rather than trying to retrofit old production models onto new platforms.
I am Luca Berton, AI and Cloud Advisor. I work at the intersection of cloud security, platform engineering, and enterprise AI deployments. Book a consultation.