The Kai Cenat Effect

Fueling the Global Livestreaming Revolution

We’re officially in the last month of 2024, and one medium that’s sure to explode in popularity next year is livestreaming.

Livestreams are nothing new, as Twitch has continued its growth as a destination for Gen Z’ers to connect, and even for brands that want to interact with that audience.

This year marked a crucial turning point for livestreaming adoption, with rap beef highlighting the impact of reaction videos and celebs, including streamers, in their media plans for their album rollouts.

However, the real pivotal moment in what will eventually be the mass adoption of livestreaming happened just last month with Kai Cenat’s 24/7 30-day stream, Mafiathon 2.

Mafiathon 2 had a ton of guests — from a production standpoint, it was an amazing feat. And creatively, it was some of the most entertaining & inspirational content you could find.

Kai’s having a huge moment in culture, and with his subathon breaking all of the Twitch records, others are beginning to ask what livesteraming can do for them.

To put it in perspective, Kai is the first Twitch streamer with over 700k subscribers and, in all likelihood, the first streamer on their platform (or in general) to have +1M subscribers from streaming.

So, with that in mind, let’s break down a few reasons why this will be a big moment for livestreaming.

I. THE VIEWERSHIP NUMBERS

When Kai had NBA Champion Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors on Mafiathon 2, Iggy let him in on a secret….

He informed Kai and his team that while their competition may include other streamers, it also includes the NBA and prominent sports platforms.

And when you think about it… It makes a lot of sense.

Stats show that NBA viewership is decreasing, and if one were to guess where some of the younger generation is spending their screen time, it’s more likely that they’re using it with Kai than are with the NBA.

For reference, go to the 19:30 mark in the video below:

Moreover, as Iggy notes in his segment, the NFL also counts on 13 million viewers every week but those views are starting to go somewhere else.

One can infer that part of the reason Amazon & other streaming giants are so invested in acquiring the rights to sports games is because the numbers suggest that linear isn’t where the attention is anymore (granted, Streamyards could’ve told you).

TO PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE, CONSIDER THIS…

The Mike Tyson/Jake Paul fight on Netflix had just over 60 million unique viewers (without even counting illegal streams).

This was an event that had months of promotion and backing from a major media company. With that said… Kai’s Mafiathon 2 stream had over 50 million unique viewers.

Aside from the trailer, there wasn’t much promo — fans tuned in because they normally tuned in and the excitement from the guests and social clips created a flywheel effect. From there things just took on a life of its own.

II. OTHERS ARE ALREADY ADOPTING IT

The success of Mafiathon 2 instantly became apparent as social media saw constant new clips from the stream achieving viral status on social media.

But what many don’t know is that this idea has been adopted by the streaming community and in many cases 24/7 streams are the norm for the content creators and the fans alike.

Here are a few that have done similar efforts in the past:

A. FAZE CLAN

In september, Faze Clan, the popular gaming enclave, announced that they would be doing a 24/7 stream for the entire month.

They’ve since announced that they’re doing one in December, and if nothing else, it shows that there’s enough eyeballs there for them to justify a constant stream of content.

B. EMILYCC

During Kai’s subathon one of his guests mentioned a Twitch streamer named EmilyCC who had been streaming 24/7 for 3 years straight. Yes, you read that correctly.

The crew was in disbelief and searched for Emily’s channel to discover that she was actually live at that very moment, still streaming.

Emily just recently reached over 10k with the look from Kai and is slated to be at the next Twitch awards (fun fact: she’s still live at this very moment)

Imagine where she’ll be by her fourth year of 24/7 streaming?

ALL OF THIS BEGS THE QUESTION…

What are marketers going to do?

Content creators have been changing the way brands reach audiences for sometime now, proving that they are the ones driving culture. More to the point, they’re amassing audiences with enough influence to take on established media platforms without major backing on their end.

The world has changed seems a bit cliche to say here, but it has and it’s going to continue changing with or without brands who typically find themselves as late to the party.

While it does take a lot of cutting through red tape to get something innovative done, livestreaming has just had its watershed moment.

C-suite members, high ranking execs and creative agencies alike are seeing a glimpse of what this world is, but now that we’re at this moment, I think it’s important to ask how you can integrate livestreaming into your marketing plans for 2025 because it’s going to become more mainstream.

Consider the fact that a year ago brands swore they’d never embrace AI, and this year alone there’ve been at least a handful of AI moments in TVCs across categories.

I say that to say this…

Kai is only gonna get Bigger from here, and there are a gang of other streamers out there that are likely gonna have some big moments next year.

Not saying you should ride the wave just because, but I am saying that we’re in the new era and it’d be wise to embrace it. DoorDash found a way to be apart of Kai Cenat’s Mafiathon 2 and I’m sure it was worth it.

Might be time to tap in, just saying.

One.