Flightpath CEO: Creators Are Reshaping Entertainment

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, October 20, 2025 | 7:11pm CT

Flightpath

Timely analysis written by Flightpath CEO Sean Howard, "Calling Creators 'Kids' Is How Legacy Media Lost the Plot," argues that the post-COVID entertainment slump isn't a temporary dip but a structural shift driven by creator-led video, platform innovation, and new direct-to-audience business models.

In the piece, Howard notes that traditional media's tendency to dismiss digital creators as "kids in their bedrooms" blinded the industry to its real competition. Platforms like Spotify-which now reports more than 270 million users watching video podcasts-and YouTube, which is opening its Digital Ad Insertion tech to creators, are fueling a massive redistribution of audience attention and advertising revenue.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), North American consumers now spend more time with creator-based content than all traditional media combined. Digital video ad spend overtook TV for the first time in 2024 and is projected to reach 58% of total spend this year.

Howard points to top creators building real media enterprises: MrBeast, whose brand exceeds $1 billion in value; Dropout TV, the subscription platform born from CollegeHumor that's nearing one million paid subscribers; and Mythical Entertainment, with over 100 employees and $36 million in annual earnings.

He also highlights trends in South Asia, where more than 90% of online video consumption occurs on YouTube, with production companies increasingly bypassing traditional broadcasters to go direct to viewers.

Howard concludes that media companies must now adopt new operational tools-including forecasting, pricing, and delivery systems-designed for the realities of a creator-driven marketplace. "We're not watching a cycle," he writes. "We're watching a transformation."