YouTube, which has been increasingly competing with the likes of Disney and Netflix at the upfronts, went big with its opening Wednesday: a performance by Zara Larsson, the Swedish pop star who is having a moment.
Trevor Noah, former host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, was ostensibly the MC for the night.
“Everything is on YouTube: sports, entertainment, interviews, podcasts, you name it. I would run into my own family members, like ‘Why do I know you, from YouTube?” he joked.
Noah also got a few laughs with a reference to classic the YouTube video “Charlie Bit My Finger.”
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan talked up its creator economy, saying that that for decades programming was built on focus groups but YouTube “didn’t wait for a focus group.” “We built the stage and empowered anyone with a story to find an audience,” he said.
This year, YouTube is making noise with creators including Subway Takes’ Kareem Rahma, Feeding Starving Celebrities’ Quenlin Blackwell and Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper.
Rahma launched Keep the Meter Running on the platform today. The series sees Rahma hop into a yellow cab and asks the driver to take him to their favorite place. Blackwell is relaunching Feeding Starving Celebrities as 2.0. The series, which will launch later this fall, will see her inviting today’s biggest stars into her kitchen. Call Her Daddy’s Cooper then took the stage to promote a range of shows she’s making for her Unwell channel.
After launching the Unwell Winter Games earlier this year, Cooper is launching Pot Stirrer, a miniseries that sees Cooper host a Thanksgiving dinner that turns into a social experiment when two secret pot stirrers are planted among a group of reality stars and internet personalities — each working to sabotage the night from within for a shot at a massive cash prize.
As well as new microdramas on the service, Cooper is also premiering docuseries Before the Steps in spring 2027, which will pull back the curtain in the months leading up to the Met Gala.
“The industry that spent more than 20 years calling itself an audio business just became video, it became YouTube. If you didn’t see that coming, it’s OK, most people didn’t, I didn’t,” she said. “Networks didn’t lose this audience. They never had her. And she doesn’t just watch. She shows up, not because of an algorithm, it’s her choice. Her loyalty is not bought, is earned.”
Jesser, who has 40 million subscribers and is launching his new series Pros vs. YouTubers, brought out three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade, who is launching the second season of Fly On The Wall later this year.
Elsewhere, two of YouTube’s most intriguing new creators have new work. Julian Shapiro-Barnum is launching a third season of Celebrity Substitute on June 3 and his late-night show Outside Tonight with Julian Shapiro-Barnum on June 17.
Cleo Abram is also launching new episodes of Huge* If True. Abram recently explored Antarctica, becoming one of fewer than 5,000 people this year allowed to conduct research on the continent, where she took a closer look at a liquid lake hidden deep under the ice.
Noah, meanwhile, is now a creator, having shed the tag of late-night host when he aprubtly decided to leave The Daily Show in 2022. He is hosting Trevor Noah’s World Tour for YouTube, a travel series where he spotlights local people, food and culture.
“This truly is an incredible moment. It’s a new era of connection and culture on YouTube. It’s where the next generation of superstars are being built from the bedroom all the way up,” Noah closed out, before welcoming Chappell Roan to the stage for a performance.
