How Samsung TV Plus & Tubi Are Selling Scale

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YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have long defined the creator economy. They’re still the backbone of distribution, but a shift is underway: the biggest creators are moving into connected TV (CTV).

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 14: Dhar Mann attends YouTube Brandcast 2025 at David Geffen Hall on May 14, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for YouTube)

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From Social Feeds to TV Screens: Why Creators Are Moving Into CTV

For marketers, this is a window of opportunity. Even a creator with 20 million followers depends on algorithms to surface content. In CTV, the top creators appear in channels, a curated environment that looks and feels like television. That makes it easier for audiences to find them and brands to buy in.

Creator shows are beginning to scale like TV programming with sponsorships, integrations, and media packages available, but now with loyal, intentional audiences built in. For forward-thinking marketers, moving early means shaping the playbook while the market still takes form.

Samsung TV Plus: Michelle Khare and Dhar Mann Lead the Charge in FAST TV

At the IAB NewFronts in June 2025, Samsung TV Plus announced that creators will be a core part of its programming strategy including signing Dhar Mann Studios to produce their first creator original, a 13-episode scripted series.

Sarah Nelson, Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships for Samsung TV Plus, said the company aims to put creators on equal footing with traditional entertainment. “We’re creating a space where creators can have dedicated channels alongside traditional TV, which feels like a leap forward in how their content is valued.” She described creators as “the next generation studios,” producing premium-level content with audiences that are already deeply engaged.

Nelson noted, “For 88 million monthly active users, Samsung TV Plus is their default live TV experience and often the only way cord-cutters access this content.”Nelson added, “There’s a misnomer that FAST is for older viewers. Compared to the broader population, we over-index millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X. We have a very strong 18-to-49 audience.”

The new slate features Michelle Khare, Mark Rober, Smosh, The Try Guys, The Sorry Girls, and Donut Media, joining existing Samsung TV Plus creator partners such as Mythical (Rhett & Link), MrBeast, and Hot Ones.

One of the flagship examples is Michelle Khare’s Emmy-balloted long-form series Challenge Accepted. The show blends cinematic storytelling with high-stakes challenges. Her next project, I Tried Tom Cruise’s Deadliest Stunt, is the series’s most significant project. Khare explained, “We’ve always aimed for our show to be viewed by families in the living room. Our largest viewership device on YouTube is television, so we’re looking forward to making our way into even more living rooms on Samsung TV Plus.”

Nelson also highlighted Samsung’s ability to offer brands more than just media placements. “We control the platform, the service, and the channels. That means we can offer brands everything from integrations within the content to prerolls, shoppable elements, and sponsorships at the platform level.”

Social platforms typically monetize by selling media adjacent to creator content, which makes scaled integrations difficult. Samsung is charting a different course, building opportunities for brands to integrate directly with creators inside programming

Tubi Scales Creator Content With 5,000+ Episodes and Gen Z Audiences

Fox-owned AVOD platform, Tubi, is also moving quickly. Its “Tubi for Creators” program launched in June 2025 with six YouTube creators and 500 episodes. Just months later, it has grown to more than 50 creators and 5,000 episodes, with creators including MrBeast, Alan’s Universe, Jomboy Media, CelinaSpookyBoo, and Steven He.

Additionally, Tubi also announced the appointment of former Global Head of Creator Marketing for TikTok, Kudzi Chikumbu, as the company’s new VP of Creator Partnerships

Rich Bloom, GM of Creator Programs and EVP of Business Development at Tubi, emphasized the platform’s scale and reach: “Tubi now has over 100 million monthly users streaming a billion hours a month, with more than a third aged 18–34 and nearly half multicultural.”

He explained why that matters: “What makes us unique is our young, multicultural audience — a hard-to-reach group that is incredibly appealing to both creators and advertisers.” More than half of Tubi’s viewers are Gen Z or Millennials, and 65 percent are cord-cutters or cord-nevers, making them especially valuable to marketers struggling to reach these demographics through traditional channels.

Bloom framed the strategy: “Our audience has been clear. They want more original IP and stories, and the number one source they point to for that is creators

Audiences validated that demand with Sidelined: The QB and Me, a teen drama starring TikTok’s Noah Beck that became Tubi’s most successful original. Tubi Studios has since invited nearly 2,000 creators to pitch. Fans voted projects into production, and Tubi greenlit four as originals — “evidence that audiences want more independent voices,” Bloom said.

For advertisers, the appeal is clear. “Tubi is a brand-safe, TV-first environment where creator content is curated, not infinite. That makes it easier for advertisers to sponsor, integrate, and confidently reach engaged audiences,” Bloom said. The first example is PepsiCo’s Starry, which will appear in a creator-driven diner series, kicking off what Bloom calls “many more opportunities like this.”

Why Marketers Can’t Ignore the Creator Economy on CTV

Sean Atkins, president of Dhar Mann Studios and former president of MTV, is bullish on what comes next. He sees the rise of creators in CTV as more than a distribution shift; Atkins believes it’s a fundamental change in how marketers can approach working with creators.

“Marketers always say they want direct access to talent, premium environments, and long-term relationships where they can pivot on creative,” he said. “But the way the system works today, by the time the opportunity reaches a creator, it’s often reduced to, ‘Will you hold my product for $10k?’

CTV changes that by curating a smaller slate of proven creators on brand-safe platforms. Instead of a one-off product placement, marketers can scale partnerships in ways closer to television deals than influencer posts.”

He argued that FAST and AVOD platforms solve the problem of scale and fragmentation. “Instead of millions of creators to sort through, you get a curated list of talent on TV platforms that marketers already understand how to buy. That makes it much easier to plug into creators in a way that feels familiar.”

The bigger opportunity, he stressed, comes from trust. “We ran a survey and found that if Dhar endorsed a product, the trust was 80 percent. If the same message came from a brand, even a marquee brand, it topped at 5 percent. That’s the value of creator partnerships.”

Atkins believes marketers shouldn’t wait for precedent. “If you’re a smart CMO, you don’t wait for case studies. You commit now to combining your media dollars with a real allocation to creator integrations across platforms. That’s where you’ll find the arbitrage and the upside.”

Working with creators in CTV also means extending their reach everywhere. “Creators don’t just bring content, they bring an already engaged audience. That’s something marketers can’t manufacture with traditional media buys.”

He urged brands to think beyond one screen. A car company, for example, could partner with Dhar so the integration spans the CTV show, YouTube behind-the-scenes clips, TikTok highlights, and Instagram storytelling, with the car as a constant presence.

And his closing advice was blunt. “If you’re waiting for someone else to create the playbook, you’ll miss the first wave of opportunity.”