A decade ago, success in media meant capturing the largest possible audience. Today, it increasingly comes from serving the superfans.
But a deeper shift is underway. The most engaged audiences are no longer centered around the original franchise—they’re centered around specific moments, characters, or interpretations of it. Sub-fandoms are already driving more engagement than the source material itself. We see this across entertainment, from viral clips to gaming, where watching others play has become as big as—or bigger than—playing the game itself.
However, the content cycle hasn’t caught up to this change. Studios release major films every few years, or games every five to seven years, leaving long gaps between moments of engagement.
This creates a disconnect: Audiences want constant, personalized interaction, but franchises are built around infrequent, high-cost releases. To bridge this gap and keep sub-fandoms thriving, studios must find ways to foster continuous micro-engagements with fans.
This is where generative AI steps in. It is now easy for intellectual property (IP) holders to develop touchpoints with their fans outside of traditional releases. This gives their audiences new ways to personalize their experience of interacting with their favorite franchises. For IP holders and idea generators, the question has moved from “What content should we make?” to “What tools should we give our audience to nurture their own sub-fandoms?” The real opportunity is in giving people the tools to build their own stories.
WHY SUB-FANDOMS NOW OUTPERFORM ORIGINAL FRANCHISES
Traditionally, fandom centered around a piece of content: a show, film, artist, or creator, and was largely anchored to the original narrative. But sub-fandoms operate differently. They focus on a specific slice of that universe. It might be a relationship between two characters, an alternate version of what happens after the story ends, or a reimagining of a side character that was never fully explored.
In these communities, the plot becomes secondary. We see this play out every day in internet culture. Millions participate in trends built around a single line, clip, or idea, but many engaging with these trends have never seen the specific scenes or read the original stories they came from. This dynamic reveals the singular essence of what audiences actually connect with, rather than the full story itself.
THE OLD FRANCHISE MODEL BREAKS AT THE SUB-FANDOM LEVEL
Media companies today are built to broadcast to mass audiences. Studios invest heavily in global franchises, blockbuster films, and broadly appealing storylines built to reach as many people as possible.
But audiences are moving in the opposite direction. They’re gravitating toward more specific, personalized experiences that reflect their individual interests, many of which aren’t tied to traditional franchises at all. Social media accelerated this shift by fragmenting audiences and training users to expect hyper-personalized feeds.
This depth of engagement is proving more profitable than broad reach. According to Deloitte’s 2026 Digital Media Trends report, the “mass media” era has officially decoupled. Superfans now spend $71 per month on streaming, 27% more than the average viewer.
At the same time, the media platforms and economics haven’t caught up. Big-budget content still requires massive audiences to justify the investment, even as streaming growth slows to around 7% and the market becomes increasingly saturated.
The result is that studios can’t realistically create content for every niche storyline or community, which leaves a massive unmet demand for more personalized narratives.
AI FUELS MICRO-ENGAGEMENTS BETWEEN MAJOR RELEASES
Generative AI removes the economic barrier that previously made sub-fandoms—and the daily micro-engagements that sustain them—impossible to serve.
Instead of producing content for audiences, companies can enable audiences to create it themselves. With AI tools now integrated into everyday platforms, creating and remixing content has become standard behavior.
At Character.ai, we’re seeing how this shift plays out. With products like our new Books, an AI-powered interactive storytelling experience, users can step into a story and explore new possibilities, taking narratives in different directions or placing characters in entirely new worlds. The goal isn’t to replace or recreate the original story, but to expand it.
AI dramatically lowers the cost of creation. Once a model exists, generating alternate endings or storylines costs almost nothing, whereas traditional production decisions can cost millions. This enables near-infinite narrative variations, allowing franchises to facilitate the critical touchpoints needed to keep fans hooked during the wait between blockbuster releases. It turns fans into creators, giving them the ability to build on the worlds they already care about.
RETHINK THE ROLE OF MASS MEDIA
Mass media isn’t disappearing, but it’s becoming the starting line, not the finish line.
Franchises will still matter, but their role will shift. Instead of being finished products, they’ll become starting points—frameworks that communities expand, remix, and reinterpret over time.
As audiences shift from viewers to participants, the most powerful franchises of the future won’t just reach the most people—they’ll inspire the most worlds.
Karandeep Anand is CEO of Character.ai.
