The Frenemy Report: Crowning the Top Creator

Pretty soon, you won't need Prime to enjoy The Man in the High Castle -- Amazon plans to distribute ad-supported streaming channels.While yesterday was the dreaded "Demonetization Day" for many YouTube creators, at least they can find refuge in Snapchat's new analytics for influencers.Lots of players, but who are the ballers? Tubular Labs just announced their annual VideoAces Awards-- 2017's top media company in online video was BuzzFeed, followed by Time Warner, LADBible, Disney and UNILAD.BuzzFeed Had 65 Billion Video Views In 2017. But What Does That Mean For Ad Dollars? [Variety]According to Tubular Labs data, just 8% of BuzzFeed’s Tasty food channel views in 2017 were sponsored content. That’s still impressive: Tasty — which represents the biggest single BuzzFeed video property — delivered about 1 billion branded-content views, capturing the No. 1 spot among Facebook branded-content partners, but that was out of a total of 12.6 billion Facebook video views. Following BuzzFeed on Tubular Labs’ 2017 leaderboard among media companies was Time Warner, with 25.0 billion Facebook and 18.7 billion YouTube views. LADbible, a U.K. entertainment community targeting millennials, took the No. 3 spot with 51.3 billion Facebook views but just 31.6 million on YouTube.Amazon will soon distribute ad-supported streaming channels [Digiday]In the U.S., the Amazon Channels program offers subscriptions to top networks, including HBO, Showtime and CBS.Facebook Watch is not a TV network of the future [Digiday]But that doesn’t mean Watch is a TV network of the future — mostly because that ignores the fact that Facebook doesn’t want to be a TV network. Don’t forget, Watch is a product test to get people to spend more time on Facebook — this time, with professionally produced video shows. What’s forgotten in all of this is that Facebook has given no indication that it wants to be a TV programmer in the style of Netflix or HBO.Vimeo wants to power Facebook, Twitch and YouTube livestreams [Engadget]Publish to Social also comes with stats and a performance dashboard, so creators can see at a glance how their videos are performing across platforms. Both features are available to members of specific Vimeo payment plans, and more social platforms are slated to be added soon.Snap gives influencers analytics as everyone else rages about Snapchat's redesign [Mashable]Beginning Wednesday, the company is rolling out a new "insights" feature that allows verified accounts and other influential users to see detailed stats about their followers. The stats include demographic information, like age and locations, as well as contextual details comparing their followers to others on Snapchat.YouTube Outlines New Official Punishments For 'Egregious Cases' [Forbes]In a Creator Blog announcement titled "Preventing Harm to the Broader YouTube Community," Vice President of Product Management Ariel Bardin detailed the new disciplinary actions which span from monetization privileges through to the trending algorithm.YouTube currently has a three strike policy under which creators' channels can be terminated following copyright or community guidelines violations, however, Bardin explained the need for "a broader set of tools...that can be used more quickly and more effectively."TBS Premieres ‘Final Space’ on the Front Page of Reddit [Variety]Turner has experimented with similar online premieres on YouTube and elsewhere in the past. However, this is the first time any TV network has premiered a show on Reddit, which speaks to the growing pop-culture influence of the service that also likes to call itself “the front page of the internet.” Reddit claims to have over 330 million monthly active users, and regularly drives huge amounts of traffic to sites that are linked to on its front page.Adaptive Studios Closes $16.5 Million Funding Round Led By AMC Networks [Tubefilter]The production company behind HBO’s Project Greenlight and the Netflix feature Coin Heist will allocate funds to produce new traditional and digital projects. To date, Adaptive — which was founded by Marc Joubert, Perrin Chiles, and TJ Barrack (pictured above) in 2013 — has created programming for Verizon, Miramax, FX, YouTube Red, Fox Animation, Lionsgate, and Blackpills.Hulu Lands Streaming Rights to 'Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter' Roundtable Series [THR]More than 30 episodes of Close Up are now available to stream on Hulu, with roundtables including discussions with Golden Globe-, Emmy- and Academy Award-caliber stars such as Sterling K. Brown, Emma Stone, Christopher Nolan, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Allison Janney, Mahershala Ali, Barry Jenkins and Elisabeth Moss.Apple Renews 'Carpool Karaoke' for Second Season [THR]Since these shows were ordered, Apple has switched gears, hiring Sony TV veterans Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to oversee worldwide video programming.