Future of TV Briefing: The creator economy needs a new currency for brand deals

Search has been such a money magnet for advertisers, in no small part, because it has a really clear, differentiated pricing model: cost-per-click. Creators don’t have that – but a year from now, they might.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau is working on developing guidelines around the measurements on which creator-brand deals are purchased, i.e. the currency underpinning those transactions. That effort is being handled by a measurement sub-stream within the industry organization that is being co-led by Jamie Gutfreund, founder of creator marketing firm Creator Vision.

“None of us would be bold enough to say that we’re going to come up with one definitive metric. We’re going to do our best to come up with currency measurement that people can agree on,” Gutfreund said during a Q&A session with reporters following a virtual event that IAB held on Tuesday.

Asked when those guidelines are expected to be available, Gutfreund said, “we would like to have something by next September.”

Just in time for advertisers’ annual budget planning season, which seems to be the point. Advertisers are spending significant amounts of money on creators, but the economic foundations for those deals aren’t as robust as the budgets.

This year advertisers are projected to spend $37 billion on creators, a 26% increase year over year, with nearly half of U.S. ad buyers categorizing creators as a must-buy marketing category, according to stats shared by IAB’s Experience Center vp Zoe Soon during Tuesday’s event.

“The volume of spend going into creators rivals CTV. It’s not emergent anymore,” said JiYoung Kim, COO for North America at WPP Media, during Tuesday’s event.

What has yet to emerge, though, is a metric singularly suited to creator-brand deals a la search and CPC. 

There are metrics available. Brands can pay creators based on how many people a sponsored video may reach or how many impressions it may elicit. But those metrics don’t necessarily match the value creators bring to the table. Reaching a ton of people is great, but the selling point for creators is their connection to their audience.

“It’s been many, many years in a row at various conferences – Cannes and others – when people are walking around saying, ‘Why are people still spending so much on TV?’ Even CTV and all these other things, we know they’re sort of impactful, but not as much as 1000 microinfluencers who have an incredibly engaged audience literally endorsing something,” said Mike Sepso, advisor at esports company ESL FACEIT Group, during Tuesday’s event.

A CPM can’t really capture that impact, though. So what can? As the representative ad buyer in the Zoom room on Tuesday, Kim’s answer to that question was “some sort of an engagement metric, whether that is a completed view – which is something that already exists in video metrics. Could I transact based on a completed metric?” 

Perhaps by next fall, we’ll find out.

This article has been updated to reflect that Mike Sepso’s title has been changed to advisor.

What we’ve heard

“We are seeing year-over-year mid and lower funnel spend down 8% and top-of-funnel investments in YouTube, linear, CTV, etc. up 26%.”

— Markacy’s Tucker Matheson on Q4 ad spending trends

Numbers to know

2 million: Number of daily active users that Meta’s AI-generated video platform Vibes had as of Nov. 9.

195.7 million: Number of active Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, combined, that Disney had at the end of the third quarter of 2025.

15: Number of days that the YouTube TV-Disney blackout lasted.

350: Number of AI-generated shots in the second season of Amazon Prime Video’s “House of David” series.

10,000: Number of “digital-first creator content” titles on Tubi.

What we’ve covered

TikTok dangles cash, credits and fully-funded deals to supercharge U.S. Shop spending:

• The platform is offering cash bonuses for TikTok Shop sellers who meet certain sales targets.
• TikTok Shop merchants can receive up to $10,000 per creator for “incubating” certain creators.

Read more about TikTok here.

Q4 wobbles a bit, and buyers wonder how it will affect 2026 spending:

• Advertiser spending has softened somewhat in Q4, though not across all brand categories.
• Some of the softness may be the result of advertisers locking up more money in this year’s upfront and having less to spend in TV’s so-called scatter market.

Read more about Q4 ad spending here.

Influencer partnerships expand, though unevenly across the creator economy:

• One talent manager has seen brands gravitate toward more one-off deals this year, while a consultant is seeing brands lean toward longer-term arrangements.
• The number of sponsorship deals signed with YouTube creators has increased this year.

Read more about influencer marketing here.

What we’re reading

Starz eyes A+E:

Freshly spun out from Lionsgate, the premium TV network is looking to add A+E Global Media as well as Hearst, though A+E doesn’t seem to be all that interested in joining Starz, according to Bloomberg.

Apple’s MLS deal:

Apple will stop streaming Major League Soccer games in 2029, more than three years before the rights deal was originally slated to expire, according to Sportico.

NBCU’s ESPN:

The Comcast-owned TV network group is planning to add a new sports-centric TV network to its portfolio called NBCSN, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Netflix’s video game revamp:

The streaming service has added a slate of video games featuring familiar IP that subscribers can play through Netflix’s CTV app, according to The New York Times.

TV commercials’ production downturn:

Commercial production in the Los Angeles area dropped significantly in the third quarter of 2025, which is making economic conditions even harder for Hollywood’s work force who are dealing with a similar downturn in film-and-TV production, according to The New York Times.