Why live streaming is the next creator goldmine ft. Taylor Craig

Taylor Craig (0:00)

Content has never been consumed more than any other time in history than it is right now. But when you look at the live stream views, it is the most engaged viewer imaginable. Somebody who is there every second of the way, listening to what you're saying.

Francis (0:14)

How do you measure a live stream audience?

Taylor Craig (0:16)

We're so early in the game when it comes to live streaming and niche casting. The biggest measurement and the biggest sale to advertisers is authority. Having one particular industry and saying, I own this.

Francis (0:28)

You said, there are four revenue pillars you want, you've only built two so far.

Taylor Craig (0:32)

We have a lot of creative ways that we can make money. The platforms themselves understand that the live viewer is so valuable. So they're pushing that and that retains audience engagement. It doesn't have to be these massive, like Mr. Beast numbers to really be a viable business model for these creators.

Francis (0:49)

Is anyone else doing what you're doing?

Taylor Craig (0:51)

At present, at the present time, no.

Francis (0:56)

Your primary thesis is that audiences want to have power over their media, and this will increasingly become a non-negotiable interactivity. So when did you first crystallize and entrench this belief? Was this when you were still working at CNBC, which was your last job before starting this company? When did you really glom on to this as a thesis?

Taylor Craig (1:20)

You know, when my time at CNBC ended, I had a show that got canned. That's a very much less eloquent way to say it.

You know, all I did was I spoke to the smartest people I knew in media, and I spoke to these people that had been around the block, and there was just this dropping off that everyone was seeing in cable news viewership. And that's not news, and that's not a surprise. But, you know, all this doom and gloom, and we'd hear in the control room about what's going to happen to TV, what's going to happen to what we do. And, you know, I'd always had skepticism about that belief because content has never been consumed more than any other time in history than it is right now. So with that understanding, and also looking at where this content was being consumed, one of the key things was interactivity, comments, shares.

Like, literally, now it's not about the post anymore on Instagram. It's about who has the highest rated comment that's going to make you bust out laughing. Immediately, when you see a good post, you go to the comments, because you know that's where all the good stuff is. So characters attached to content, that's just sort of where that belief crystallized, as I was getting a little bit disillusioned with everything I was taught in the old model, but still believing that there was a model for what we do.

Francis (2:47)

Yeah, this particular mode of broadcast television perhaps is ending, but audiences are still there. In early March of this year, The Hollywood Reporter published a piece by Andy Zucker titled, As Broadcast Slowly Dies, Niche Casting is on the Rise. This is you, I imagine a lot of your perspectives are summed up here. So I wanted to read back like seven or so, like the core points here and see if it tracks with your thinking. So Broadcast TV, Morning Show audiences are down nearly half compared to 15 years ago. Cheddar, your former employer as well, Cheddar and CBSN tried this in mid 2010s, but the new operators are far more niche and are publishing on platforms like X, LinkedIn and YouTube. Many of these new shows are modern day trade magazines. TBPN has paved the way with their stated focus on only a very specific niche, no interest in a large audience.

Many of these niche castes are free, provided that the audience is there, ads work because it's live and you can't skip them, compared to podcasts where you can easily skip them. Some of the engagement, here's your point, stems from interactivity, which is the most crucial difference from podcasting, the ability to interact with viewers live.

And finally, the shows benefit from eclipse-based afterlife. Eclipse audience is typically larger than the live audience. So to me, this is the best, most efficient summary of this trend at this moment in time. Is there anything in here that you disagree with, or is this basically your entire thesis as well?

Taylor Craig (4:19)

Zuckert nails it on the head there. I mean, that's essentially what we're seeing. And in that piece, one of our shows, Daily Dealer Live, an automotive show was mentioned. And that's the focus that when it comes to niche casting is having that very select audience. We are three times a week at 1 p.m. Car dealership people show up to watch this show. They are in the comments. Shout out Lauren Klein. Shout out Igor Kay. The people in the comments that are showing this show love and understanding like they are a part of it. And every time they chime in, they can change the course of it. Yeah, that interactivity, the unskippable ads are extremely valuable to advertisers.