How Brandon TV Grew Its Streaming Audience by 40% Without a Marketing Budget | Exclusive
Independent streaming platform Brandon TV has reached over a quarter of a million subscribers since its October 2023 launch, TheWrap can reveal exclusively.
The streamer from Brandon Stewart, founder and CEO of Brandon Studios, is the first pay-walled channel from the formerly social-first studio. Brandon TV features unscripted series from legacy reality stars like “Dance Moms” Abby Lee Miller and Dianna Williams of “Bring It.” In addition to the subscription-based streamer, Brandon Studios operates 60+ channels with 120M+ registered users engaging per day.
Since the premiere of the streamer’s “Bring It” spinoff “Encore” in March 2025, Brandon TV saw a 13.54% subscription spike. This growth is just a part of an increasing investment in the founder’s content model. The company has generated an average quarter over quarter growth of 40.36% since the app’s launch in October 2023.
Stewart credits much of this success to his relationship with his audience. Unlike traditional entertainment networks, he says he gives his fans what they want – and it’s paid off.
“We ultimately curate social strategies to see what the response is from our audience,” he told TheWrap. “That’s why I kind of call it a gamification, because what they say they want to see, I give it to them. It’s pretty simple.”
Coming from Awesomeness TV, a digital media entertainment company, Stewart said he took note of leading with virality and leaning into what is working – a common strategy used by social media creators to increase engagement. Stewart has found that his speed sets him apart from the traditional studio model.
Another difference in Brandon Studios’ M.O. from other streamers is the company’s reliance on clips. Similarly to how shortform platforms like ReelShort and ShortMax chapterize their content or how podcasts clip material to reach viewers on social, Brandon TV markets their unscripted reality series in the same way.
Whether it’s Miller dishing out tough love to the next generation of dancers in “Mad House” or Williams having a personal moment with her dance moms in “The Dolls,” Stewart said social media has been a primary resource in hooking new audiences.
“Social media is our conduit,” he said. “We rely on it because we don’t spend any money on marketing at all right now. We haven’t spent $1 and I’m really proud to say that.”
Rather than pouring into a marketing budget, the Brandon Studios founder said that every dollar feeds back into the content, the tech and the talent. Additionally, his studio gives his reality stars residuals — a first for the medium, he said.
As a producer, Stewart says he looks for the viral moments on set and while watching dailies, even pivoting production strategy because of it.
“I’m always looking for what that viral moment is, and I always build around those moments still. And that’s what I don’t think networks do,” he said. “I think for them, they think that if we drive the story first, then the viral content, everything else will come after. Sometimes that’s not always the case. I want to make sure that it’s seen first.”
In addition to the network’s reality series, Brandon TV launched the talk show “Obsessed,” hosted by the founder. The platform’s first dating series “Cuffing Season” is currently in production, as well as a Lifetime star’s reboot of “Little Women: LA,” titled “The Little Reunion,” starring Tonya Renee Banks.
The Brandon TV app is available on Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Google TV, Android TV, and on Apple or Android mobile devices in the App Store or on Google Play.
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