The Content Group’s founder Joe Tattersall shares his digital-first predictions for 2026;
What’s the single biggest shift you expect to see in digital-first production and publishing in 2026?
I believe 2026 will mark the beginning of the long-form content arms race for brands and media companies. Many legacy media brands and household names are finally realising that attention is the asset that matters most, and that if they don’t learn how to earn it with younger audiences now, they’ll become irrelevant to future advertisers. Finally, we will see a shift away from short-term campaigns and towards brands funding and building IP that creators actively want to be part of. Much like early soap operas were funded by large corporations, brands will increasingly underwrite entertainment people genuinely choose to watch. YouTube has made content creation an open playing field – we are no longer forced to watch the same 10 channels each night. Therefore, only content people WANT to watch will survive, and those with the budgets and balls to compete on quality and connection will win.
Which platform behaviour or algorithm change do you think will matter most next year, and why?
For me, YouTube’s continued push towards long-form viewing will matter most. The platform is positioning itself less as social media and more as the default free TV layer of the internet. As streaming services fragment behind paywalls and ad tiers, YouTube’s value proposition is simple: free, long-form, high-quality content with no mandatory subscription or licence barrier. That incentivises deeper sessions, higher average view duration and 45–60+ minute viewing habits that we experienced growing up. The real competition isn’t YouTube versus TikTok, it’s YouTube versus Netflix, and YouTube is becoming the Freeview button for the next generations.
Where will your company’s biggest increase in revenue come from in 2026?
For context, The Content Group’s aim is to use the learnings my friends and I gained from working with creators like the Sidemen to help modernise and digitalise brands and media companies that have fallen behind.
My prediction is a significant increase in brand and media company spend, particularly from organisations that know they need to pivot to YouTube but do not yet have the native skills to do it properly. This includes legacy media companies and large household brands that are willing to invest real budgets to become talked about, not just seen.
Our focus is on building owned fanbases for brands by helping them create IP that does not rely on expensive talent but instead builds long-term value and optionality. Brands are learning that they want channels they can grow, protect and monetise over time, not one-off campaigns. From consultancy, to management, to full-scale production for some brands, we will be the ones making this change happen.
What creative formats or genres do you think will break out next year?
We will see a resurgence of classic TV formats rebuilt for YouTube by creators and brands. Formats like Big Brother, The Apprentice or talent competitions have always worked. The real barriers were budget and distribution. Many large creators now have both audience and capital, and media brands are increasingly willing to fund ambitious projects. When I worked on Inside for the Sidemen, I saw first-hand how a proven TV framework, rebuilt with creator pacing and creator control, can outperform traditional entertainment on YouTube. That experience made it obvious that the gap between YouTube and television is now structural, not creative. YouTube-first experiments will become the testing ground, with the strongest formats scaling into streaming and broadcast. It is not nostalgia. It is proven format mechanics executed with modern pacing, creator involvement and real stakes.
Old formats + New Twists -> new cultural relevance
How do you expect the relationship between traditional broadcasters/distributors and digital-native studios to evolve in 2026?
I hope to see a shift from commissioning to investment. Broadcasters should start backing creators who already know how to build trust and audience but lack the infrastructure to scale. Minority stakes and long-term partnerships will replace short-term promo deals. For broadcasters, the risk is small and the upside is relevance. For creators, it accelerates their growth by years. Younger audiences follow people, not logos, and broadcasters that recognise this early will benefit most.
What’s one data point, trend, or move from 2025 that people are underestimating — and what does it signal?
The real value of short form is declining. Audiences are fatigued by infinite feeds, low recall and constant selling. Most people, including myself, cannot remember a single Reel or TikTok they watched earlier that day. Brands struggle to stand out, and inauthenticity is spotted instantly. Short form still has a role, but it does not build connection. Long form does.
People want to spend time with creators they care about and feel like the increase in their screen time was at least worth it rather than feeling endlessly sold to. Doom scrolling has a ceiling, and we are closer to it than many think.
If you could give one piece of advice to producers or creators preparing for 2026’s digital-first landscape, what would it be?
Use what you already know. Traditional producers understand formats, pacing and storytelling for a reason – and have far more experience than I do in that realm. Those skills will always matter. A common mistake is assuming that moving to platforms like YouTube means abandoning that knowledge. A great example are my new friends Peter Campion and Matt Ramsden from Indy Studios. They are producers with decades of TV experience who recognised that the world they knew was changing and chose to experiment early. They have started building YouTube channels from scratch, applying proven production instincts to new platforms, and are already pulling viewership that many younger creators struggle to reach. It is not perfect (yet), but it is working – they are likely to have millions of views monthly this time next year at this rate.
Start where audiences already are, adapt proven formats for how people now choose to watch, and learn in public. And if you are lost, talk to people like them (if they will let you). You do not need to be perfect to start, but you do need to start.
Anything else to add?!
YouTube isn’t going anywhere. It is TV. The platform is far from saturated, and there’s significant growth still to come over the next decade. The opportunity is to pay attention to where attention already exists and bring real expertise to it, whether that’s with established creators or those yet to break through. The next wave will be built by people who combine experience with platform-native thinking, not by chasing trends, but by building things people actually want to watch. Audience first thinking, always!
