“Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, you make great TikTok shows’,” NowThis editor-in-chief Michael Vito Valentino tells CORQ. “No, I don’t make good TikTok shows. I make good TV shows.”
Founded in 2012, the New York-based media company is an industry titan. NowThis is behind hit vox-pops like Are You Okay? and Judgy, and doubled its revenue in 2024. The same year, it achieved profitability for the first time as an independent company, making an adjusted profit of $4.6 million (£3.4 million).
Valentino was hired in July 2024. Since then, the company’s cumulative audience has grown from 90 million to more than 100 million – an 11% increase in two years. NowThis CEO Sharon Mussalli told Forbes that views were up 31% year-on-year in Q1 2026 while engagement spiked by 54%.
A social-first turnaround strategy
Valentino said NowThis “wasn’t in a good place” when he joined. This wasn’t the fault of the company, but of the media industry as a whole. Brought in as editor-in-chief, he said: “We have to start operating as a TV network, a TV studio, and on top of that, ensure that we also operate like a TV show.”
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Valentino has a background in production, and it’s clear his past workplaces (his CV includes Paramount, NBCUniversal and Fallen Media) have influenced how he runs NowThis – including bringing in Marjorie McCurry as head of talent, who was previously his boss at The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The company offers a “white glove” service for guests and turned its control room into a green room. There’s also a writers’ room, which is the development team, as well as a celebrity talent team, and NowThis Impact sits on the other side of the company.
NowThis is a new type of TV studio. “We’re more nimble, we’re faster, we’re more efficient. At the same time that it takes for traditional television to go out and set up a meeting, we’re already piloting and launching concepts.” The beauty of social-first content.
IP as fuel for growth
Valentino’s first goal in his appointed role was to figure out how to disrupt the industry and create IP that made people excited.
“My number one rule at NowThis is that if we aren’t fans of the content we’re making, then no one else will be, so we have to make sure that we absolutely love every piece of content that goes out.”
With a “clean slate”, he was able to establish the company’s North Star and desired audience. The answer was to become a TV network for Gen Z women, which has come to fruition: 85% of the audience is under 34-years-old and 77% of viewers are women.
The company has five shows on its slate, including Crosswalk Crush, Standup Desk and The Dating Booth. The most popular is Are You Okay? with more than 1.2 million followers across Instagram and TikTok. What all these shows have in common is the tone of voice, editing and filming style.
NowThis’ bread-and-butter is street interviews. The first IP Valentino created was a show called NowThis Is… The concept was running up to a stranger, saying “NowThis is…”, confusing the person and having them introduce themselves and share funny anecdotes.
@nowthis ‘possums don’t run this city, WE DO’ 🚕😤 (with @Taryn & Tiffani (Your Girls), @Tiffani S. + @Taryn Delanie🤠) #nowthisis #besties #nyc #friendship
However, “We were launching a man on the street show at a time when man on the street was oversaturated, so we had to put our spin and reimagine what [this format] could be.” The company decided to create “net new IP” – shows that weren’t about NowThis, but could live on their own.
Standup Desk is one of its newer shows, just over three months old, and it has more than 400,000 combined followers across Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. It’s NowThis’ fastest-growing programme and had 32 million views and 3.1 million engagements in May alone. The exponential growth means NowThis is now talking to “some of the biggest comedians in the world” to have them appear as guests.
Not every show is a success – it’s trial and error. “Last year, we failed about 20 times in order to get three hits.” At the moment, NowThis is developing more than ten shows, which will be tested in a pseudo pilot season. A limited number of episodes are ordered to see how the audience reacts. Then, the team adjusts and tries to figure out how the show is landing in the algorithm. It is currently trialling Red Carpet Anywhere, Face Card, Dress Code, Mic Check, Crush Hour and Booksmaxxing.
Metrics aren’t just focused on follower count. “It’s about creating relevancy and figuring out how we not only get our placement in the algorithm [and] get a format that works, but how we build that relevancy?” The key is an always-on strategy.
Finding and nurturing talent
The presenters of NowThis’ roster of shows are critical. Bri Morales hosts Are You Okay? and comedian Amber Singletary fronts Judgy.
Valentino’s initial ambition after leaving university was to be a talent booker – and that dream is still alive in how he chooses presenters. “My favourite thing in the entire world is finding someone that’s undiscovered.” His mantra? “Fame is something you’re born with, celebrity is something you achieve.”
Working with someone who is already established with a large following isn’t as exciting for him. “It’s important to me to put [the hosts] in a new area or a new format that you haven’t seen them in before.”
NowThis has started using multiple hosts for its strongest formats. This allows the company to have more flexibility when people are sick or on holiday. This new approach is working because it allows multiple points of view. Are You Okay? had a 16-episode trial with guest hosts, which equalled 18 million views and an equal to or better engagement rate.
@areyouokayshow this is (not) 40 (with @briannamoralesx) #areyouokay #joshhutcherson #hungergames #nyc
Part of the overall plan is leveraging celebrity talent to create relevancy. NowThis shows are part of press cycles for album rollouts, films and TV junkets. On the day CORQ spoke to Valentino, Matt Damon was in the office and the team had already had requests from Alex Warren and Becky G’s teams. This isn’t unusual – celebrities ranging from Zoë Kravitz to Joe Jonas, Sombr, Lamorne Morris, Penn Badgley, Zohran Mamdani, Josh Hutcherson and Channing Tatum have featured on its shows. There’s a mix of outreach and requests coming in – guests are chosen based on whether they make sense for the content and NowThis’ audience.
Valentino’s production background comes into play here. He wants to create a positive experience for guests so that they trust him and take risks by participating in more unique formats. Hospitality is key for him because “that’s often overlooked in this world”.
A unique opportunity for advertisers
“Everything we do is very much fan-first, and we had a lot of buy-in from advertisers from the get-go because they trust us. They see what we’ve accomplished so quickly in such a short amount of time, but they also trust the ‘brain trust’ that we’ve created, and they’re buying into that.”
@judgyseries no aluminum, no parabens, no lying to your gym teacher @Native (with @Amber Singletary + @Rob Pepp) #nativepartner
Its hit shows have a range of brand partners, from Etsy to Native, Buldak, Hulu and Tinder. NowThis’ advertising partners will often buy into the newer shows that aren’t out yet, and also collaborate on parties and industry events. These partners include Amazon and Audible – with the latter, it hosted An Arden Affair during New York Fashion Week to celebrate the Audible Original adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. “If you don’t have fans, if you don’t have an audience, then advertisers won’t come.”
Valentino has been at NowThis for nearly two years, but he’s just getting started. “If I can make the audience laugh, even if it is just for 90 seconds or even less, I’m doing my job successfully.”
By Caroline Edwards, trends editor at CORQ. Image courtesy of NowThis.
