Creators are leveraging CTV channels as added value for sponsorship deals

"In recent months, CTV channel operators from Samsung TV Plus to Tubi have significantly expanded their creator offerings, standing up dedicated FAST and AVOD channels to serve creators' videos. In addition to splitting ad revenue from the channels with the operators, creators are looking to profit from their CTV partnerships in more creative ways. Four creators and creator talent managers that had recently signed CTV licensing deals told Digiday that they were planning to leverage their expansion onto TV to charge higher rates for sponsored content."

""It allows you to talk to more premium brands," said Courtney Hirsch, the CEO of the creator collective Jomboy Media, which signed a licensing deal with Tubi in August. The CTV presence has come up in renewal conversations and "is a value-add that we talk about to lock in these premium, one-year or multi-year sponsorships." Hirsch pointed to Jomboy Media sponsors such as T-Mobile and Corona, which have already shown up alongside Jomboy Media on CTV channels via the licensing of Jomboy shows like " Talkin' Yanks.""

"Licensing content backlogsis not a new revenue stream for creators. The creator services company Spotter, for example, has been licensing YouTubers' back catalogs for years, paying them an up-front lump sum in exchange for the ad revenue generated by those videos over a certain time frame, rather than an ongoing revenue split. CTV licensing deals are not mutually exclusive with Spotter's creator licensing"

CTV channel operators such as Samsung TV Plus and Tubi have launched FAST and AVOD channels to host creators' videos, expanding creator distribution onto television. Creators commonly license backlogged content to these CTV channels while retaining initial broadcast rights for new content on their own social platforms. Beyond ad-revenue splits with operators, creators are leveraging CTV presence to negotiate higher sponsored-content rates and to attract premium brand sponsors, with some using CTV as a renewal bargaining chip. Existing services like Spotter have long licensed creators' back catalogs, and CTV licensing deals can coexist with those arrangements.

Read at Digiday