The golden age of streaming is over. Netflix is slashing prices across international markets, HBO Max is removing whole series from its library, and Peacock reportedly lost around $2.5 billion last year. It is safe to say we are firmly on the other side of peak TV.

Envisioning what comes next is tricky, though. 

Surveying the streaming landscape in 2023, there are basically three camps. There are the short-form video platforms like TikTok, Instagram’s Reels, and Twitter videos. Beyond that, but still living on user-generated platforms, are apps like YouTube, Twitch, and Spotify, the latter of which is still trying to find its feet with video podcasts. And then we have now-creaky streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, and HBO Max. 

Until now, creators striving for a certain level of success had to keep changing camps. The assumption was that if a creator wanted to “cross over” they would eventually have to give up some autonomy and authenticity to work with a big streaming service, like Charli D'Amelio's The D'Amelio Show on Hulu and Addison Rae's He's All That on Netflix. It was also assumed that the battle for the future of entertainment would be between user-generated content and Hollywood streamers.

Then in 2021, MrBeast made his own Squid Game.

MrBeast made headlines producing his own reality show version of the hit Netflix import from Korea—turning it into a reality show nearly two years before Netflix began filming its own. It seemed like creators could actually bridge the gulf between user-generated platforms and premium subscription streamers without having to work with a streaming service.

Which means there's a third path for creators trying to cross over that no one is talking about. What if creators could harness their communities to compete directly with the Netflixes of the world? This idea is not exclusive to mega-creators like MrBeast. A growing number of creators are now realizing that they don’t need Hollywood to produce something at Hollywood scale.

One of the best underdog success stories in the world of streaming right now is Dropout.tv, a subscription-based streaming service launched from the ashes of digital media company CollegeHumor. In 2020 the company's former owner, IAC, sold it to then-Chief Creative Officer Sam Reich. Reich and a small group of employees leaned further into a subscription model and have now built a sustainable and growing roster of shows. Viewers can watch clips on social platforms. But if they want to watch whole episodes, they have to pay.

The company's chief operating officer, David Kerns, told me that it has been liberating to operate a company that exists beyond the typical "boom or bust" cycles that dictate everything else in digital media. "We're back to our roots," Kerns says. "Everybody is actually working towards a fun creative vision and treating each other appropriately."

Kerns concedes that while Dropout's success is promising, there are still things that a band of creators probably wouldn’t be able to accomplish, and would need a legacy media organization like  HBO or Disney to produce.

"There's still only going to be a handful of places that can truly make the Star Wars of the world," he says. "There will always be a chasm. Even with the best technology, no one can go out and make The Last Of Us."

What Kern is arguing is largely considered the last main difference between the world of creators and Hollywood with a capital H. MrBeast could never produce and distribute a show like Wednesday in terms of production value, impact, or prestige. Right?

Well, British YouTube creator Abigail Thorn, better known as Philosophy Tube, is getting close. She just produced her own play, The Prince, to sold-out crowds in London and every video she releases becomes more and more intricate.

"Dave and I are trying to build a bridge between those two worlds," Thorn says, referring to Dave Wiskus, the CEO of Nebula.tv. She says that Nebula, like Dropout, exists in that ever-shrinking chasm and while Dropout is, for now, fully focused on unscripted content, Thorn is moving further and further into narrative entertainment.

The Prince is on Nebula and if Thorn's fans want to watch it, they can pay a monthly or yearly subscription and go watch it.

"I sold out a run of a play in London. It won a bunch of awards. The premiere in New York sold out in under 30 minutes from one tweet," she says. "So I think more and more people are starting to realize what this is."

Thorn also made the very good point that some of the earliest YouTube channels were narrative fiction, like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

As of last year, Nebula had 500,000 subscribers across all of its creators and is, by all accounts, growing. What's even more interesting is that Nebula is succeeding while Patreon, a subscription site for creators that's been at it longer than anyone, had a fairly rocky 2022. This might signal that users are no longer just interested in paying for parasocial relationships, but, instead, want to know exactly what they'll get for subscribing.

But the real signal to watch is what services are dominating our TVs and living rooms. According to a recent Neilsen survey, Netflix is still king. Around 7.5% of our watch time is Netflix right now. But here's the kicker: If you classify YouTube in the same category,  it accounts for 8%.

"You can put these two worlds together," Thorn says. "That future that you're looking towards—it's already happening."

Thorn is right—it's already happening and not just on YouTube. Just this week, TikTok announced a brand new feature: a marketplace for selling premium 20-minute episodes. It just goes to show that it's a lot easier for a platform like TikTok to become Netflix than it is for Netflix to become TikTok.