Luke Kallis

Fox is making exciting bets, and it's going to be huge for digital content creators. Fox is acquiring Roku's 100M+ households for $22B. They also acquired Tubi who has another 100M monthly active users. Fox has also launched Fox Creator Studios - betting on digital creators in a big way. The real bet here? Free TV (with ads). The second bet? Building out content with the media companies of the future - creators. As someone who has spent almost a decade distributing content creators to platforms like and including Roku, I've always been bullish on how creator content will do well in a free TV environment. Now Fox has two massive platforms to prove just that.

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As in other areas of #AI, investors have been rushing to back the ‘picks & shovels’ of AI-native #MediaTech start-ups - some of which will be exhibiting at this week's IBC - International Broadcasting Convention. My research has identified $5.73bn of disclosed funding and IPO capital in 2026 to date, which is already 3.6x the 2025 total!  Interestingly, over 80% of the cumulative investment to date has been directed towards vendors specialising in generative creation & production automation, with another 17% backing those focused on content enhancement (e.g. #editing, #localisation, #metadata & analysis). Less than 2% has been allocated to AI applications addressing workflow, trust & governance, just 1% on improving experience & monetisation, while AI in distribution & delivery has been almost completely passed over.  The biggest cheques have gone to companies like Kling AI, Luma Labs, ElevenLabs, Suno, Higgsfield AI, and Runway. That concentration creates a widening divide between well-capitalised AI platforms and the long tail of specialist MediaTech start-ups — where commercial traction, defensible IP and workflow integration will matter more than an AI label.  Disclosure: I am a Limited Partner in Hallstone Ventures, a venture capital fund set up by Seth Hallen to invest in the AI infrastructure for #media & #entertainment.

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Vine invented short-form video. Vessel invented the creator paywall. Machinima invented the multi-channel network. (And all three are gone) They weren't built around a bad idea, they had a timing problem. Machinima had creators clamoring to join the network. Acquisition offers of $400–500M were on the table in 2012. They passed. The market shifted. Creator relations collapsed. Original programming bled cash. A company that could have defined the creator economy became a cautionary tale. Maker Studios looked at the same moment and sold. Perfect timing. Massive outcome. This pattern plays out over and over and it's rarely discussed. Vessel raised $75M+ and locked creators into an exclusivity model where they controlled the first distribution window. The idea was sound. The timing wasn't. In 2015, fans expected YouTube for free and 'early access' wasn't enough to change that. Vessel didn't fail because the idea was wrong. It failed because it arrived before the market was ready for it. Patreon and Nebula launched later after creators had built deeper direct relationships, and after fans had developed the identity and belonging that makes people want to pay. Same general concept. Different moment. Different result. Vine invented short-form viral video. Created the first generation of internet-native stars. Then died because it launched before monetization infrastructure existed, trapped creators in a format they'd outgrown, and became an afterthought inside Twitter. Musical.ly launched into a more mature mobile ecosystem, built around participation and remix culture, evolved aggressively, and became TikTok. Vine proved short-form video worked. TikTok proved it could dominate the world. When people debate which creator economy companies "won" or "lost," they focus on exits, product decisions, leadership, and strategy. Those things matter. But they're downstream of one variable almost no one names: Timing. Not just being early. Not just being late. Being in the right relationship with the market's readiness and having the discipline to read that signal correctly. The companies that built lasting legacies weren't always the most innovative. They were the ones who knew what moment they were actually in. What's a timing lesson, from your own career or the companies you've watched, that more people should be talking about?

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A stat that should keep every studio exec awake this quarter: AI-generated vertical series convert at 23.6%. Live-action scripted series convert at 23.9%! I've been talking to a lot of operators about verticals and microdramas over the last few months, and the model keeps evolving. A team that really seems to understand vertical's potential, how to differentiate, and how to create an IP flywheel is HOLYWATER TECH, profiled this week on Variety's Strictly Business podcast with co-CEO bogdan nesvit. What they're doing borrows straight from the Alloy Entertainment playbook: publish the books, or license the book IP, to test story concepts before spending real production dollars. Alloy did it for Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - cheap, fast IP validation before the studio bet. Holywater is running the same play with two testing surfaces: Books, and AI-generated shorts on My Muse. They see what resonates, extend the winners, then spend against proven IP for scripted microdrama with real actors on My Drama. And you can be sure this IP will further extend into television series, movies and podcasts in success. That's an IP flywheel - not just a content strategy. And when the top of the funnel is AI-generated content that converts nearly as well as live-action, the cost of testing collapses. The Fox Entertainment investment is smart. But the real leverage hasn't been captured yet. Acquisition costs in this space are punishing as paid social drives roughly three-quarters of microdrama discovery, and CACs are climbing. The unlock is wrapping Holywater into the broader Fox portfolio: Fox One as a engagement tool outside of prime time, Tubi as an ad-supported entry point, and Roku as a 10 foot front porch; this will move CAC in the right direction. Rob Wade and team have the pieces. If Fox pulls that off, this stops being an interesting bet and becomes a template. There are plenty more interesting stats in the podcast. You can also download the report, co-published with Owl & Co. Link in the comments. More on the other models operators are running, and some of the gaps, in the coming weeks. https://lnkd.in/enveXS2N

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Catching up on my LinkedIn posts, I'm doubling down on Media AI: Warner Music Group's Robert Kyncl (who I've known since his Netflix days, followed by working with him at YouTube with our Endemol Shine Group creator talent) is smart to capture value early in AI. WMG's opt-in model should provide scale and promotion that pays. And, if fair renumeration drives consumption and revenue growth, then artists and audiences will find more interaction as they scale production and engagement via AI. It's akin to musical acts jumping early onto MTV, Vevo, YouTube, TikTok, etc., weigh the risk, then widen your distribution directly.

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California Post Alliance mission is to Advocate, Educate and Build Community. Get an education on how a standalone post-production tax incentive works from CAPA founding members Jennifer Freed and Ben Urquhart, PMP!

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Warner Bros. Discovery isn’t the story. The media operating system is. • This showdown is a fight between theatrical preservation and streaming sovereignty. • A Netflix-WBD outcome likely accelerates the fastest collapse of U.S. syndication economics in decades. • When syndication weakens, local stations and cable ad models lose their last durable cash engine. • The hidden casualty is ecosystem diversity: WBD has supported content breadth across FAST and multi-platform mixes. • A Netflix absorption could compress that breadth into a single-platform gravity well. • If Paramount wins: three-horse era (Netflix–Disney+–Paramount+). • If Netflix wins: one-strong, one-mid, two-weak (Netflix 1-strong, Prime /Disney+ 2-mid, Peacock/Paramount+ 2-weak). • For Korea/Asia, a Netflix-WBD deal may tighten regional rights and incentivize global-slate efficiency over local optionality. This is less about ownership and more about what media pluralism still looks like after consolidation.

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