Have you heard? Creator ‘Jeopardy!’ returns, Baby Shark meets Dr. Seuss, and Electrify powers up.

Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

This week, creators are responding in the form of a question (again), a children’s icon is dressing up as a shark for Halloween, and a funding firm is charging up with some new hires.

Pop culture minute

The “YouTube edition” of a beloved quiz show is back for Double Jeopardy. For the second time, Ken Jennings will host a special edition of Jeopardy! contested by YouTube creators. Michelle Khare, Mythical Josh, and Angela Giarratana of Smosh will compete for charities across a gauntlet of internet-themed trivia. If Khare wants a challenge worthy of her YouTube channel, she should try to outdo Jennings’ 74-game Jeopardy! winning streak.

iShowSpeed and the Obamas are bringing a documentary to theaters for a one-day event. After touring West Africa, Speed is now shining light on Ghanaian filmmaker Chris Hesse and his effort to save videos related to African independence movements. The resulting documentary, The Eyes of Ghana, will screen across major theater chains as part of an effort assisted by Speed — as well as Barack and Michelle Obama’s media company.

Creator commotion

Children’s touchstones from different generations collide as Dr. Seuss meets Baby Shark. Pinkfong, the Korean company behind the most-watched video in YouTube history, delivered some Halloween-themed mash-ups alongside iconic Seussian characters. The animated personalities joining Baby Shark in the YouTube collabs include family faves like the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, Thing 1, and Thing (doo-doo-doodoo-doodoo).

Grace Helbig delivers positive update after successful brain surgery. After previously enduring a breast cancer diagnosis, Helbig had an operation to remove two tumors from her brain. As she recovered, she gave her fans the thumbs up and thanked them for her support. The creator once known as Daily Grace seems to be in good spirits, though she did note that she will be postponing the remaining dates of her This Might Get Weird tour alongside longtime collaborator Mamrie Hart.

Lilly Singh continues her YouTube revival with a return to sketch comedy. A year after she ended a long-term hiatus from her channel, YouTube’s “Superwoman” is returning to her roots. Her first new sketch in five years satirizes the chaotic life of a professional creator, and few people know that grind as well as Singh does.

The biz

Electrify brings in YouTube, VICE vets to continue creator funding push. U.K.-based Electrify has become a major player in the creator economy by backing YouTube hitmakers like Veritasium. Its new hires will look to continue the winning streak. Al Brown, VICE’s former programming head, will steer Electrify’s editorial brand. Patrick Walker, formerly the head of YouTube’s operations in EMEA, will be put in charge of strategy.

Billion Dollar Boy levels up on LinkedIn with Creator Authority acquisition. Billion Dollar Boy will expand its capabilities across social media by picking up Creator Authority, the marketing firm co-founded by Brendan Gahan and Cassie Jackson. Creator Authority gained notability as a LinkedIn Marketing Partner, a status that has helped it execute B2B influencer campaigns alongside brands like Amazon, Adobe, and IBM.

Around the world

YouTube takes action against 39 more channels linked to Russian propaganda. YouTube is not backing down from its effort to curb misinformation related to the war in Ukraine. One of the channels hit in the latest sweep is linked to Masha and the Bear, an animated franchise that has delivered some of the most-watched videos in YouTube history — and has generated controversy for the nationalistic themes in some of its videos.

Endemol Shine heads to Brazil to adapt more game show formats. The Dutch media company produces some of the world’s biggest competition series and has a long history of activity on YouTube, so it’s no surprise to see Endemol jumping on the trend of game shows hosted by creators. In Brazil, the creator group Podpah will adapt Endemol’s Temptation Island, bringing a 25-year-old reality format to a new generation of viewers.

Programming notes

Jasontheween is hosting a competition inspired by sour candy. The streamer is teaming up with sweets brand Sour Jacks for the Sour Jacks Showdown, an episodic series that airs this fall. The competition aims to emulate the layered flavor of the titular candy by pitting four rising streamers against one another across a variety of gameplay challenges. The winner will walk away with a $25,000 prize and a “Jack of All Games” title.

ESPN joins the junior varsity team on YouTube. Can sports brands use social media to connect with kids? ESPN is going to try. Its new channel, ESPN JV, features animated characters who are obsessed with all things sports. Among other pieces of programming, ESPN JV will test young viewers trivia knowledge, making it a channel I would have been obsessed with when I was a kid.

Agency dealings

Canadian comedy duo Slushy Noobz gets representation via UTA. Both Martin Andrijasevic and Hamzah Al-Emad took off on TikTok before they teamed up to create a channel that reaches a seven-digit following. With their UTA deal, they’ll look to leverage their growing fanbase across a variety of ventures. The rise of Slushy Noobz has touched the worlds of events (Andrijasevic and Al-Emad are influencer boxing vets) and audio (they have a podcast), so those are two areas where UTA can seek expansion.

UTA is also getting into business with Maurice Kamara of The People Gallery. By documenting the eclectic fashions that show up on the streets of New York City, Kamara has turned himself into a digital age answer to Bill Cunningham. By teaming up with UTA, he’ll look to build on a following that has already reached seven digits on the People Gallery Instagram account.

The internet is a strange place

Russian streamer k0lixx can perform customer service and stream Counter-Strike 2 at the same time. I barely have enough multi-tasking power to talk to teammates while playing video games, but k0lixx is way ahead of me. He is able to perform his job at a package pickup center while still streaming (and winning!) a round of CS2 at the same time. There should definitely be a special achievement for that.

The Tinder Swindler is launching a dating app. After committing so much fraud on dating apps that he got his own Netflix documentary, the so-called Tinder Swindler is launching an app that he says will protect women from people like him. Fool me once, shame on you…

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