Play.Works has launched “Law By Mike,” the legal education creator with more than 17 million YouTube subscribers and roughly 30 million followers across social platforms, on connected television, bringing his “know your rights” content to living room screens worldwide.

The rollout places the creator’s programming on the Play.Works Network across connected TV platforms, expanding distribution beyond mobile and desktop viewing environments, and marking another step in the company’s effort to position creator-led programming as a central part of the connected TV ecosystem.

For Jonathan Boltax, co-founder and CEO of Play.Works, the move follows a larger shift underway in television.

“Creators today are prime-time viewing not just from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.,” he says. “They’re prime-time viewing 24/7.”

Through Play.Works, Jonathan is building infrastructure designed to bring creator-driven content to the largest screen in the home. The company distributes video across connected TV ecosystems, helping creators monetize existing video libraries without producing new content.

“Our role is to get them usage, distribution, and monetization,” he explains. “Creators create content. They shouldn’t have to do anything else.”

Jonathan Boltax

A Career Built Around Interactive Television

Jonathan’s interest in television and interactivity dates back nearly three decades. He began his career at NBC in the mid-1990s, working on early interactive television experiments during the 1996 Olympics. The experience shaped his view of television as more than a passive medium.

“[It was] my introduction into making the television into something more: creating interactive content, connecting viewers and content in the living room,” he says.

Over the following decades, Jonathan held digital media and product leadership roles across companies, including Cablevision and Oberon Media, before eventually co-founding Play.Works.

Today, the company distributes more than 200 AVOD, FAST, and gaming channels across connected TV platforms, including Roku, Comcast, Samsung, LG, Fire TV, and Sky, according to Jonathan. Originally focused on TV-based gaming, Play.Works expanded into creator video after identifying a shift in how audiences consume entertainment.

“We felt that what creators were doing on YouTube would ultimately be the future of television,” Jonathan explains.

The Three Points Behind Creator TV

Jonathan believes the Creator Economy’s arrival on connected TV is the result of several industry shifts converging at once.

The first is monetization.

In Jonathan’s view, programmatic advertising, or the automated buying and selling of digital ad inventory, has transformed connected TV into a viable business model.

“The ability to serve ads on TV in the same way they are served on mobile and desktop was an initial, important inflection point,” he says.

The second is hardware adoption. Smart TVs and streaming devices have become ubiquitous across households in markets like the U.S. and the UK, expanding the potential audience for connected TV content.

The third, and perhaps most important, is the rise of creators themselves.

“Great creators make this possible,” Jonathan says. “Content creators have evolved, as has the quality of content they produce. This serves as a strong foundation for excellent CTV viewing.”

Together, he adds, those factors have transformed connected TV from a niche distribution channel into a major content ecosystem that increasingly mirrors the creator-driven culture of platforms like YouTube.

Why ‘Law By Mike’ Fits the Living Room

“Law By Mike” entered Play.Works’ radar in late 2025 when the creator began trending globally on YouTube. Jonathan reveals that his team identified the channel as a strong candidate for connected TV distribution for several reasons.

First, the content format. Play.Works generally prioritizes longer videos, which align better with couch-based viewing sessions. “We’re looking for content that’s 15 minutes plus,” Jonathan explains. “Short clips are harder to monetize successfully.”

Second, the subject matter. “Law By Mike’s” videos translate real legal issues, such as how to respond to police interactions or understand consumer rights, into highly shareable stories. “He makes these viral legal scenarios fun and engaging,” Jonathan says.

And third, the production style. Strong thumbnails, fast pacing, and evergreen educational topics make the content highly watchable in a living room setting, where viewers often watch with others.

Jonathan believes that communal viewing is one of connected TV’s biggest advantages. “There’s nothing like a watch party,” he says. “People watch ‘Stranger Things’ together because it’s fun to watch together. You can watch creator content together, too.”

A Distribution Model Built for Creators

The “Law By Mike” partnership also demonstrates Play.Works’ operational model.

Rather than requiring creators to produce new content, the company distributes existing libraries across multiple connected TV platforms while handling technical formatting, distribution agreements, and advertising monetization.

“Today, we are redistributing their content that they’re publishing on social media,” Jonathan says. “We’re doing the technology work, the distribution deals, and the monetization work.”

That process can move quickly.

Jonathan says “Law By Mike’s” rollout began within roughly two weeks of the partnership agreement, with the channel already appearing across platforms, including Tubi, Roku, and various smart TV ecosystems.

The deal also includes Mike’s secondary channel, “Mike Off Record,” where the creator analyzes scams, criminal cases, and pop culture media.

For Play.Works, including the entire content catalog improves discoverability. “If someone searches for the creator on their TV, we don’t want them to be disappointed,” Jonathan says.

Why Creators Are Embracing CTV

One of the most common concerns creators raise when exploring connected TV distribution, according to Jonathan, is whether the new channel could cannibalize their existing audiences.

He says that Play.Works hasn’t seen that effect so far.

Instead, connected TV often reaches viewers who might not otherwise encounter the creator’s content on crowded social platforms.

“Often there are new audiences,” he explains. “It’s just creating another vehicle for them to watch.”

For creators, Jonathan notes that the benefits are largely incremental: additional distribution, new audience discovery, and another advertising revenue stream, all without requiring extra production work.

“In the future, creators might create custom content for connected TV,” Jonathan says. “But today that’s the cherry on top.”

Why Brands Are Paying Attention

The shift toward creator-led television also has implications for advertisers. Brands that once focused exclusively on traditional television placements are now exploring creator partnerships as part of their marketing mix.

“Creators have huge influence with consumers,” Jonathan says. “If brands fail to realize that, they’re missing out on a huge opportunity.”

In his view, connected TV provides another venue for scaling those partnerships. With the ability to serve targeted advertising programmatically, creators can become integrated into broader brand campaigns across digital and television environments.

Jonathan points to examples like creator-branded product collaborations appearing on consumer packaging as evidence that the shift is already underway.

Television Is Becoming Social Again

Despite his focus on creator-led programming, Jonathan does not view connected TV as a competitor to social platforms.

Instead, he sees the two ecosystems increasingly intertwined. Platforms like YouTube already dominate CTV viewing, and others, including Instagram and Reddit, have begun experimenting with TV apps.

“I think you’ll find that social platforms will continue to understand that TV is an important distribution point,” Jonathan says.

For creators, he adds, that convergence could significantly expand their reach.

A Creator Economy Play for the Living Room

In the near future, Jonathan notes that Play.Works’ success will depend on supporting both established creators and emerging talent.

In two years, he hopes the company will not only distribute top-tier creators with tens of millions of followers but also provide opportunities for smaller creators whose content resonates with television audiences.

“Success is working with the top family-friendly creators and distributing them in meaningful ways,” Jonathan says. “But also working with creators that are under the radar and giving them exposure and monetization on the TV platform.”

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