Creators Are Media Companies, $189 Date Nights & Del Taco Takes The Crown | GCP 1020

Group Chat News is back with the hottest stories of the week and a returning guest Greg Goofried a CAA agent who's been in the creator business for years, from his UTA days to running one of the biggest creator companies in the world. The guys go deep on what creators actually get paid, why the biggest names in the business are people you've never heard of, and how the whole space turned into media companies while Hollywood wasn't looking. Plus the Department of Education's plan to hold colleges accountable, Arizona State's new influencer degree, and the average date night in America hitting $189. This week's Group Chat covers: Why livestreaming skews young and male — the male Love Island theory, Twitch's gaming roots, and unpoliced platforms vs YouTube iShowSpeed as a global phenomenon, and the categories agents won't touch Who actually has staying power — Jake and Logan Paul, MrBeast, Emma Chamberlain, Alix Earle, Jake Shane The real job: six days a week, 50 weeks a year, and comment sections that break young creators Why the algorithm rewards meanness, and why older people thrive on social media Creators are media companies now — taking bites out of Disney while big media still owns the $100 billion TV ad market Matt Damon vs. the creator economy — the script and the director vs. audience aggregation, and why the money is closer than you think The advice for anyone starting: find a niche, then get on a platform that actually pays you The Department of Education's accountability push — programs whose grads don't out-earn high school workers could lose federal student loans Arizona State's influencer degree — 160,000 students and a diploma that requires proving real follower growth The average date night in America is now $189, up from $168 last year — and why nobody's dating Odyssey in 70mm IMAX — [25 US theaters, 41 worldwide] and the family that drove 900 miles round trip to see it Why your music taste freezes at 33, and the catalog deals betting on it Del Taco named the #1 fast food chain in America — over In-N-Out, Chick-fil-A, and Raising Cane's