Disney agrees to acquire Maker Studios
Disney agreed to acquire YouTube multichannel network Maker Studios for $500 million upfront, with additional performance-based consideration potentially taking the price much higher.
Historical context
Young audiences were spending increasing amounts of time with short-form and personality-driven online video rather than only traditional television. Multichannel networks such as Maker had emerged to aggregate creators, sell advertising, provide production support and manage their relationships with YouTube.
What happened
Maker Studios represented tens of thousands of online-video channels and hundreds of millions of subscribers, giving Disney direct exposure to the rapidly expanding YouTube creator ecosystem. The transaction was one of the largest deals involving a YouTube multichannel network.
Consequences
The acquisition was a major signal that legacy entertainment companies considered creator-driven online video strategically important. It also marked the high point of the multichannel-network acquisition boom, even though the MCN model later proved less durable than many buyers expected.