Latest news with #Caddie&theKid
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
MLB Legend Ken Griffey Jr. and ESPN Analyst Michael Collins to Host Golf Series for Hartbeat (Exclusive)
Baseball hall of famer Ken Griffey Jr. will co-host a new unscripted golf series alongside his real-life friend, the golf caddie-turned ESPN analyst Michael Collins. The duo will host Caddie & the Kid, co-produced by content studio Bark Bark and Kevin Hart's entertainment company Hartbeat. The show, which will debut new episodes on Hartbeat's LOL Network on YouTube, will see Griffey and Collins tee off with celebrity guests, including Thursday Night Football analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick, Seattle Mariners stars and legends like Julio Rodriguez, Logan Gilbert, and Ichiro Suzuki, Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl champion Cooper DeJean, former LPGA pro Cheyenne Woods, former MLB outfielder Aaron Hicks, YouTube golf creator Micah Morris and others. More from The Hollywood Reporter Amazon Thinks It Has a Winning Play to Score Sports Ad Dollars How to Watch 2025 NBA Playoffs Online Without Cable 'Mythbusters' Veterans Kari Byron and Tory Belleci to Launch 'Mythfits' Podcast (Exclusive) State Farm is the sponsor of the launch episode (yes, Jake from State Farm makes an appearance) though other brands will be featured in future episodes. The first episode will be released May 15. 'Mike and I became friends through golf and photography,' Griffey said in a statement. 'We always talked about doing a show, and this is a great way for everyone to see my new retirement quest…beating Michael at golf all over the country and world. It's gonna be a fun ride letting y'all into our circle one trip at a time.' 'We have been excited to do this for a long time — Caddie & the Kid is just a peek into what our everyday friendship is like,' Collins added. 'The biggest compliment we get from people is, 'you're both the exact same off camera as on camera!' Golf is such a 'let your guard down, can't hide who you are' sport, so getting to hang out with athletes and celebrities at amazing bucket list venues…this show is the ultimate real life buddies trip where we can be ourselves. I'm just the lucky knucklehead who everyone gets to live vicariously through!' Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Business Insider
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
How YouTube is trying to cash in on big events and cultural moments
Hollywood has been courting YouTube's creators as it grows on the TV screen. Netflix, for one, has been beating the drum that it's financially better for creators than YouTube. YouTube doesn't pay creators directly for content or own it, unlike the legacy Hollywood model. Apart from a short-lived experiment in funding its own shows, it's stuck with supporting creators with tools like automatic dubbing, a TV-like interface to promote binge-watching, and features that let creators comment on and react to live events. And, of course, it typically shares 55% of the revenue from ads shown on creators' videos. YouTube execs often tout the $70 billion the company paid to creators, artists, and media companies over three years. YouTube has had limited success attracting blue-chip advertisers who have a bias for TV-like shows, though, something top creators like Sean Evans have complained about. The company's latest advertiser pitch hopes to change that. In the first of what YouTube hopes will be many examples, State Farm owned the recent PGA Championship on ranads on trending videos, takeovers on golf channels from creators like Grant Horvat and Good Good, and an integration into the new LOL Network series "Caddie & the Kid" from Kevin Hart's Hartbeat. "We can take that formula and literally apply it to any major moment on the calendar to ultimately help our clients tap into what we're calling the game on the game around the game phenomena," Brian Albert, managing director of YouTube Media Partnerships and Creative Works, told Business Insider. Hartbeat has made plenty of ad-supported shows for YouTube, but this was the first time YouTube brought an advertiser to the table. State Farm's involvement enabled Hartbeat to greenlight the show and spend more on episode length, travel, and talent, said Janina Lundy, who heads marketing and brand partnerships for Hartbeat. "Caddie & the Kid" follows MLB Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and comedian and former caddie Michael Collins on their golfing adventures. "It definitely did allow for it to be a bit more premium," Lundy said of State Farm's impact. YouTube wants more TV-like shows YouTube viewing is increasingly happening in the living room, and the platform is trying to keep the growth going. YouTube has been No. 1 in streaming watch time for the past few years, the company said in February, citing Nielsen data. That puts it ahead of Netflix, Disney, and Amazon's Prime Video. YouTube also shared that TV had become the primary device for YouTube viewing in the US, surpassing mobile in watch time. As YouTube becomes a bigger deal on TVs, big brand deals can help the platform improve the production value of its shows without paying upfront costs. YouTube is picking shows for its cultural moments packages that look like traditional TV, where it knows people tune in for those live events. Hartbeat makes shows specifically for YouTube but also makes cinematic entertainment for streamers, for example. Whether advertisers will buy in is an open question. Some are still unconvinced that YouTube content is on par with traditional TV. Two top video ad buyers told BI there are plenty of other places to buy into the cultural conversation, so YouTube's pitch is hardly unique. Advertisers who can afford to buy ads around the actual sports content may be less interested in a creator's spin on it. However, for those with smaller budgets who value YouTube's audience, its pitch could be attractive, one of the buyers said. If YouTube's pitch succeeds with bigger advertisers, it could broaden creators' access to advertisers and revenue. Except for the top level, YouTube creators often don't have direct relationships with blue-chip advertisers. Those who get chosen for "cultural" sponsorships, as YouTube calls them, would also get extra exposure on a dedicated hub to help them get discovered. "Many of our top creators have their own teams that have been trying to source brand partnerships for years. We've been facilitating these connections as well," Albert said. "What's new now is just the fact that we're wrapping it around this cultural moments' calendar."
Business Insider
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
How YouTube is trying to stay a step ahead of Netflix
As Hollywood warms up to creators, YouTube has been pitching new sponsorship packages that combine creator content with major cultural moments like the Oscars, Black Friday, and the PGA Championship. Hollywood has been courting YouTube's creators as it grows on the TV screen. Netflix, for one, has been beating the drum that it's financially better for creators than YouTube. YouTube doesn't pay creators directly for content or own it, unlike the legacy Hollywood model. Apart from a short-lived experiment in funding its own shows, it's stuck with supporting creators with tools like automatic dubbing, a TV-like interface to promote binge-watching, and features that let creators comment on and react to live events. And, of course, it typically shares 55% of the revenue from ads shown on creators' videos. YouTube execs often tout the $70 billion the company paid to creators, artists, and media companies over three years. YouTube has had limited success attracting blue-chip advertisers who have a bias for TV-like shows, though, something top creators like Sean Evans have complained about. The company's latest advertiser pitch hopes to change that. In the first of what YouTube hopes will be many examples, State Farm owned the recent PGA Championship on YouTube. It ran ads on trending videos, takeovers on golf channels from creators like Grant Horvat and Good Good, and an integration into the new LOL Network series "Caddie & the Kid" from Kevin Hart's Hartbeat. "We can take that formula and literally apply it to any major moment on the calendar to ultimately help our clients tap into what we're calling the game on the game around the game phenomena," Brian Albert, managing director of YouTube Media Partnerships and Creative Works, told Business Insider. Hartbeat has made plenty of ad-supported shows for YouTube, but this was the first time YouTube brought an advertiser to the table. State Farm's involvement enabled Hartbeat to greenlight the show and spend more on episode length, travel, and talent, said Janina Lundy, who heads marketing and brand partnerships for Hartbeat. "Caddie & the Kid" follows MLB Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and comedian and former caddie Michael Collins on their golfing adventures. "It definitely did allow for it to be a bit more premium," Lundy said of State Farm's impact. YouTube wants more TV-like shows YouTube viewing is increasingly happening in the living room, and the platform is trying to keep the growth going. YouTube has been No. 1 in streaming watch time for the past few years, the company said in February, citing Nielsen data. That puts it ahead of Netflix, Disney, and Amazon's Prime Video. YouTube also shared that TV had become the primary device for YouTube viewing in the US, surpassing mobile in watch time. As YouTube becomes a bigger deal on TVs, big brand deals can help the platform improve the production value of its shows without paying upfront costs. YouTube is picking shows for its cultural moments packages that look like traditional TV, where it knows people tune in for those live events. Hartbeat makes shows specifically for YouTube but also makes cinematic entertainment for streamers, for example. Whether advertisers will buy in is an open question. Some are still unconvinced that YouTube content is on par with traditional TV. Two top video ad buyers told BI there are plenty of other places to buy into the cultural conversation, so YouTube's pitch is hardly unique. Advertisers who can afford to buy ads around the actual sports content may be less interested in a creator's spin on it. However, for those with smaller budgets who value YouTube's audience, its pitch could be attractive, one of the buyers said. If YouTube's pitch succeeds with bigger advertisers, it could broaden creators' access to advertisers and revenue. Except for the top level, YouTube creators often don't have direct relationships with blue-chip advertisers. Those who get chosen for "cultural" sponsorships, as YouTube calls them, would also get extra exposure on a dedicated hub to help them get discovered. "Many of our top creators have their own teams that have been trying to source brand partnerships for years. We've been facilitating these connections as well," Albert said. "What's new now is just the fact that we're wrapping it around this cultural moments' calendar."
