A Moment of Industry Realignment
- Engine Room
- Nov 7
- 4 min read
ENGINE ROOM NEWS & INSIGHTS | DIGITAL GROWTH | NOVEMBER 2025 |By Engine Room
How digital-first creators, formats and AI are rewriting the content playbook.
When the industry gathered at the TellyCast Digital Content Forum 2025, one message cut through the noise: digital is no longer a bolt-on to television; it is the television business.
The forum, held at London’s BFI Southbank, brought together broadcasters, producers, creators and brands to confront a new reality: attention has moved, algorithms decide visibility, and formats are evolving faster off-platform than on it.
For Engine Pop, which specialises in turning content into commercially powerful IP, TellyCast marked a tipping point – a visible moment of industry realignment.
Legacy vs. Algorithm: Navigating the Intersection of Tradition and Technology
Research from Enders Analysis revealed that traditional broadcasters account for
barely one per cent of trending entertainment on YouTube, and only five per cent of trending news.
It is a statistic that landed like a jolt: proof that the gravitational pull of culture now lives inside the algorithm, not the schedule.
Engine Pop commentary: the shift is not decline; it is displacement. The platforms have become infrastructure, and discovery has replaced distribution as the core value chain.
The Industrialisation of Creativity
The Sidemen’s reality series Inside was conceived, shot and edited in under three weeks before landing a Netflix multi-series deal. That speed, echoed in examples such as Stop the Train and Find the Corpse, signals what Engine Pop describes as real-time IP manufacturing: a production economy where creators behave like studios and agility is the asset.
The Rise of Micro Studios
Panel discussions highlighted the rise of creator collectives – friendship squads turning chemistry into commerce. They are powerful, but not always open.
Engine Pop warns that if new studios become closed shops, the industry risks repeating the gatekeeping it is trying to escape.
The future, it argues, lies in porous collaboration – ecosystems that welcome new voices rather than replicate old hierarchies.
Light Mode™ Storytelling
One of the most-quoted lines of the day came from the Managing Director, Sidemen Entertainment, Victor Bengtsson:
“Dumb works well on YouTube – and you can be proud of it.”
It drew laughter, but the insight runs deep. Audiences are choosing spontaneity over polish; connection over control. Engine Pop calls this Light Mode ™ Storytelling– creative work that blends intelligence with ease and emotional clarity. Joy, humour and humanity are becoming the most bankable tools in entertainment.
Vodcasting: The Formatless Frontier
The panel How Vodcasting Is Rewriting the Rules of TV, moderated by Athena Witter, Founder & CEO of Engine Pop, captured the mood of transformation.
- Jason Fisher (Flight Studio) described Diary of a CEO’s evolution from a podcast into a global visual franchise.
- Darby Dorras (Platform Media) showed how The Traitors: Uncloaked transformed companion content into must-watch IP.
- Ben Kerr (Cold Glass Productions) reminded the room that craft still counts: “Audiences might enter through digital, but they stay for storytelling discipline.”
Their shared message: vodcasting is no longer an experiment; it is the next generation of talk format. Audiences want intimacy with visibility. They do not just listen; they watch connection happen.
Engine Pop notes that vodcasting perfectly embodies Light Mode™ thinking – intelligent storytelling delivered with approachability, emotional honesty and built-in scalability.
AI as Amplifier
Dr Alex Connock’s session on AI drew a standing-room crowd. His message: technology will not replace creativity; it will amplify it. Engine Pop agrees, calling AI “the silent collaborator” – expanding imagination rather than constraining it.
Brands Need Staying Power
Claire Prince’s reminder resonated across the day:
“Brands cannot launch and leave.”
Short-term funding may win headlines, but sustainable entertainment now demands long-term strategy. Engine Pop’s view: brands must behave like studios, not sponsors – investing in channels, not campaigns.
Collaboration as Infrastructure
“What is the point of production companies when creators can do it all?” asked moderator Lucy Smith.
The consensus: collaboration is the point. Engine Pop argues that the creative economy will thrive on horizontal collaboration – creators, producers and brands sharing value across an open network. The ecosystem itself becomes the IP.
What Comes Next
For Engine Pop, TellyCast 2025 crystallised the principles driving a new entertainment economy:
- Design Global-First, Local-Always – scale ideas without losing human texture.
- Own the Format, Not the Platform – platform rules shift daily; audience equity endures.
- Fuse Creative and Commercial
-Craft – creative ambition must carry a business model.
- Activate Light Mode™ – emotion and clarity as strategic levers.
- Build AI Confidence – treat data as creative intuition.
A New Interface for TV
As Athena Witter reflected summary
“Television is not dying; it is downloading a new interface.”
Audiences are choosing connection over control, and creators are designing formats that flex across every screen. TellyCast did not just track that change – it gave it language. And for Engine Pop, that language is Light Mode™: where intelligence meets energy, and where the next generation of entertainment will be built.
© 2025 Engine Pop. All Rights Reserved.
Light Mode™ and Tone Engine™ are proprietary frameworks developed by Engine Pop. Unauthorised reproduction, adaptation or commercial use without written consent is prohibited.
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