How creators will 'bridge the gap' with TV in 2026, with Benjy Leslie from Connect Management
Insights and tips on what 2026 will hold for social-first creators and what it means for TV.
When Twitch streamer Angry Ginge was crowned winner of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in December, it marked another milestone in the journey of social-first content creators into the mainstream.
His victory was followed two weeks later by a second-place finish on Strictly Come Dancing for TikTok and YouTube star George Clarke.
For Benjy Leslie, founder and chief executive of social-first talent agency Connect Management, this was further proof that in the year ahead content creators will increasingly “bridge the gap” between social and traditional media, and producers will develop more social-first shows.
Connect Management is one of the fastest-growing talent agencies for stars of the creator economy, with a roster of talent that includes Eurovision star Sam Ryder and Lioness footballer Lucy Bronze.
So we asked Leslie what 2026 will hold for social-first stars and what indies need to know about the changing relationship between TV and the creator sector.
With the 2026 World Cup coming and AI shifting the tools creators use every day, Leslie believes audiences will move more fluidly between platforms, and that brands and broadcasters will need to follow creators if they want to stay relevant.
So read on to find out about:
How social and TV will converge
Which platforms will be dominant
Which creators will be popular this year
How indies can work with content creators
Opportunities in AI
2026: When social and TV begin to converge?
For Benjy Leslie, a major area for growth in the content creator economy will be increased crossover of talent between social and traditional media.
Last year, commercial brands delivered “meaningful campaigns” with social-first talent, and he says the TV industry is now turning to social media stars as well.
“This year you’re really going to see that gap being bridged, where the TV world is actually wanting this audience that they are not tapped into.
“They’re realising that the only way to get this younger-skewing audience to watch traditional TV is to bring in people that they resonate with.”
He says the TV industry will start taking “much more risks” on “original IP”, which will involve “funding shows around these social stars”.
Leslie, who founded the agency in 2020 when he was just 21, is “very confident” the next big TV format, on the level of The Traitors, will come from social-first talent.
Citing the success of social media output like Chicken Shop Date and the Sidemen, he believes big TV production companies will increasingly buy up the IP for these types of formats and put them onto traditional television services like ITV or Netflix. Netflix has already aired two seasons of the Sidemen-hosted Inside, which features social stars such as George Clarke doing challenges and hit the third most watched show on Netflix globally and number 2 in the UK.
According to Leslie: “The honest truth is that I think Netflix are going to dominate. I think Netflix are going to start to buy up a lot of these creator shows.”
The boss of Connect, which has more than 150 creators on its books, says major TV producers are already developing social-first shows. They are also hiring people who understand social and are working out who is “relevant enough to have their own show”.
He says it is important for production companies to invest in formats from content creators; otherwise, they could miss out to rivals who are prepared to take the risk.
Takeaways: Increased crossover of talent; huge formats to come from social media; TV companies will buy up content creator IP.
YouTube will dominate
In terms of which platforms are going to grow most in the year ahead, Leslie singles out YouTube.
He describes himself as a “big believer in YouTube”, saying it is “where a lot of creators will see massive success in 2026”.
“I would put a lot of eggs into the YouTube basket. They’ve been extremely aggressive last year with Shorts, but long-form is where it’s at,” he adds.
“One, it’s one of the only platforms that actually is sustainable monetisation-wise as a creator. You put content out there and you get paid for it.
“But two, it’s one of the only places that you can captivate an entire family in front of their television - in the way you would on traditional TV - without having to pay to be there.”
Leslie, who sits on the Children in Need Commercial Advisory Group, compares posting videos on YouTube to having “unlimited lottery tickets”.
He explains: “The more videos you post, the more lottery tickets you’re buying yourself, but for free, basically.
“All you need is one of those videos to get picked up on the trending page. The whole account then gets followed and picked up, and you become a YouTuber overnight.”
He said one of his creators had been posting for six months but could not get past 2,000 subscribers. Then one video went viral and within a month they had grown to 600,000.
“It really is a long game,” he adds. “It’s something that I would really urge content creators and production companies to be investing their time into, especially if you’re thinking about creating traditional formats.”
He points to the importance of utilising other social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat to promote YouTube content.
Takeaways: Target YouTube growth; focus on long-form; use other social platforms to promote.
What type of creator will thrive in 2026
With 2026 being a World Cup year, you might expect football creators to be the big winners in the year ahead.
But Leslie has a slightly different take on the type of social media stars that will go viral in the next 12 months.
He explains: “If you asked me two years ago, I would have said the World Cup is coming, football creators are going to smash it.
“I actually think - from the discussions we’ve been having with a lot of the World Cup sponsors - that they’re looking for lifestyle people, normal people, that can showcase the fact that football as a sport is really fun to watch.”
He believes sponsors are going after talent that would not traditionally talk about the World Cup, to try and capture a different audience.
“Who watches football creators? People that love football. If you love football, you’re probably going to be watching the World Cup anyway,” he points out.
He says football creators will be flown out to the World Cup and attending games, but adds: “I think there will be a lot of creators from home that are going to be really driving viewership digitally.”
Another of his big tips for 2026 is that there will be increased success for social creators who are prepared to be “honest and open” and “put their raw selves out”.
He said social media stars who project a “perfect life” are beginning to “annoy” people.
Instead, “you’re going to see some people that are, quite frankly, the opposite of brand-safe.
“I think you’re going to have people that are just outlandishly themselves; that become extremely viral, talking about really sensitive subjects, like [their] sex life and all that sort of stuff.
“I think that’s the type of thing that’s going to really be connecting with people this year.”
Amid a fairly bleak news agenda, he also predicts a big trend for humorous creator content this year.
With social media in danger of becoming a “doom and gloom” portal, he thinks there will be success for people who “showcase” the positive and “fab” things that are happening across the world.
He also predicts one of his own clients, Grime Gran - the East End grandmother who interviews grime stars in her living room - is set for a big year.
Takeaways: Non-football content creators covering the World Cup; outrageously honest viral content; increased appetite for uplifting content and humour.
How indies and creators can work together
The need for production companies to work more closely with content creators is vital, says the boss of the talent agency that now has more than 40 staff.
“I think that the production companies that don’t do this, that don’t utilise creators and do these deals, will go bankrupt.”
He adds: “You will see a load of creators creating their own production companies to do this themselves.”
Traditionally, content creators have wanted flat fees to be involved in deals with producers. But Leslie thinks that if shows are built around the talent, they are increasingly likely to want to take equity in the show.
He explains: “If that show is going to turn over a million quid, why would you want a £10,000 appearance fee? It’s just about being clever with it.”
He suggests these projects should be done more as joint ventures and gives the example of a model where once the production company has made its money back, everything is split 50/50.
The good news, in Leslie’s view, is that production companies should not underestimate the pull traditional TV still has for social media stars. Television is the “one way” social stars can prove to their families they have “made it”.
“That’s subconsciously almost hardwired into the back of all these creators’ heads,” he adds.
His advice to production companies is to “back creators, build a relationship and work together”, and he thinks TV companies should build out a roster of social stars that they love working with.
Indies should also “build friendships” with social-first agents like him, who can tell “honest truths” about who would be good for certain shows.
Takeaways: Build relationships with social creators; structure attractive deals; TV still has massive pull.
Opportunities in AI
Leslie is bullish about threats posed by AI to the content creator economy in 2026, believing that social media is quick to reject inauthentic voices.
He also thinks that AI, if used cleverly, will benefit production companies and talent agents like him by helping to search for the best creators to front a show or assisting with editing and scheduling content.
But he is not unduly worried about competition from AI-generated content.
“It’s obvious when there’s no human touch on it. So I’m not so much scared that it’s going to replace stuff that we do.”
“As soon as you find out that somebody you’re following isn’t a real person, you don’t want to engage with them anymore,” he reckons.
He points to the product influencer sector, explaining that people buy things “based on recommendations” from people they “trust”. So, “as soon as I know that the person recommending me stuff isn’t a real person that’s never even tried the product, why on earth would I take that person’s recommendation?”
Takeaways: AI will not kill content creators; authenticity is key; AI can benefit the industry.