The Deal Room: YouTube
YouTube just ate Hollywood’s lunch!
An article caught my eye this week and I knew it had to be part of the Deal Room.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t the article, but rather the factoid I learned from it.
YouTube just crossed a line that should shake every media executive, and every operator paying attention to where eyeballs (and dollars) are going, $40.4 billion in ad revenue (2025) which is more than Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery combined ($37.8 billion)!!!
This isn’t just a “YouTube wins” headline, this is a power shift in how content is created, distributed, and monetized. A platform built on creators + user generated content (“UGC”) just beat legacy media. Advertising dollars are moving from programming to platforms and control is shifting from studios ecosystems. If Wall Street hasn’t done it yet, let me state the obvious, YouTube is “The new king of all media!”
YouTube didn’t just build content, it built the infrastructure around it. This isn’t just about ads (although the revenue from ad spend is crazy big). YouTube also built subscriptions with its YouTube TV, Premium and NFL Ticket (to the tune of $20 billion). This isn’t a single-line business, this is a multi-revenue platform model.
The legacy model said that “content is king,” but the new model is saying that “distribution + data + creators equals the kingdom”.
Why am I obsessed with this story, well, let’s do this Milton Friedman-style (aka: self-interest).
Branded is an active investment platform, but as restaurants are becoming content (experiences, brands, stories, data-generating touchpoints), they’re no longer the end product. They’re the input into a larger platform.
When industries are fragmented (70% of US restaurants are independents and the tools they use are fragmented as well), the need for connected ecosystems grows.
Studios are losing to YouTube, and individual apps are losing to platforms.
Investors are shifting their attention from great restaurants and ResTech tools, to scalable platforms b/c the multiple is in the system, not in the store or tool.
YouTube didn’t beat Hollywood b/c of better shows, it won b/c it built a better system.
Branded isn’t just investing in restaurants and ResTech, we’re building the system around hospitality.
If you’re interested, you can learn more about Branded Hospitality Media here: Branded Media Experience 2026
And if you’d like to dive deeper into this with Branded, you know what to do, call me maybe.
To learn more about Branded Hospitality Media and opportunities to engage with us, please click here.
