Diverseego’s Shamroc Peterson Talks Engaging Niche Audiences and Monetizing Creator Content
Shamroc Peterson developed Diverseego TV as a travel streaming channel designed to encourage Blacks and Latinos through curated and original programming to travel the US and discover exciting, inclusive destinations. Diverseego also aims to bring more Black and Latino clientele to destinations interested in building new connections.
In this interview with Future Frames’ Doug Daulton at Streaming Media 2025, Peterson also discusses Diverseego’s other mission: to identify talented creators, bring them into the streaming ecosystem, and help them expand their reach and turn their content into businesses. Peterson and Daulton also explore more broadly the rise of the creator economy, and how AI helps niche streamers like Diverseego understand their audience and deliver and monetize great content.
Turning Content Creators into Business Owners
Daulton kicks off the conversation by asking Peterson to walk him through what “a day in the life of Diverseego” looks like.
"A day in the life of Diverseego, as the founder of a company that's unique in itself, is a challenge," Peterson says. "It's creating content that is meaningful, that is authentic, that is focused on what Blacks and Latinos need. My goal is to really inspire people to travel, so we're constantly looking at destinations that are inclusive and that want people like us or haven't had people like us and that are excited to create new connections. The second part of that is finding content creators that are out there producing great content but don't have the platform or the exposure to do that. So that is the part about Diverseego in which we try to make a unique value to the business of streaming."
“So, you’re out there tracking down talent, people that are doing stuff that maybe haven’t caught fire yet,” Daulton suggests.
“Yeah," Peterson agrees. "Or you've got a little fire, got the sticks already burning some wood. They're already doing things. But then we also see that they may be strong on social media, but how can they be brought into the streaming world? We have apps on Roku, Amazon, and so on, and with those apps we can deliver their content to a new audience and broaden their reach and strengthen their monetization."
When Diverseego recognizes unrealized potential, Peterson explains, “We always say, 'You may be a content creator, but we want to make you an owner, and develop a company that monetizes you even more.'” Diverseego deals with “a lot of brands,” he continues, and “a brand doesn’t always want to work with an influencer or a content creator—they want to work with companies. And so if we can create that opportunity for them by [letting a brand] see they are a company and [operating] within the infrastructure of our company, it makes their reach even stronger.”
Helping content creators evolve into business owners has a cascading effect for a lot of producers, he says, in creating something sustainable, improving production values, and building a team. “A lot of people, when they're content creators, they're just thinking about themselves. But then they realize that they want to build a bigger business and provide and have employees, and you've got to play people to shoot for you and do all these different things. So, how do you do that on a bigger level than just thinking of yourself as a person that may have started with just selfie-shooting with one camera, and now you want to have two cameras, now you want to have a production team? How does that look now? You want to do multiple shows? We want to see people grow to that level.”
“The best example so far is Mr. Beast, right?” asks Daulton. “Starting out small and now he’s got an Amazon deal that he probably doesn’t even need anymore because he’s so big. One of the big themes of the show that honestly was a little bit surprising to me is how much talk there was about the creator ecosystem and finding new voices, and maybe not just being a farm team for the big [platforms], but being their own thing and understanding how to do that in the context of streaming.”
“I think the big boys are realizing the value of us as smaller companies that are creating niche content," Peterson says. "And with our niche content, we can pivot a lot faster and be more innovative. Instead of going to a boardroom and having a focus group making the decisions, we can swiftly make those changes. Then we can partner with some of these big boys and say, 'Hey, you can deliver us in another ecosystem.' We're doing that on a smaller level with the content creator. We want to help them, just the way on the front face of it, we want to help the Black and Latino traveler find great experiences, inclusive destinations, places where they want to go.”
AI and the Niche Streaming Platform
Daulton shifts the conversation to a topic that’s ubiquitous in streaming circles (and everywhere else) these days: AI. “One thing I find very interesting about this moment in time, and particularly here at the show,” he says, “even as generative AI gets all the love, is how many people are talking about ‘tactical AI.’ Using it to understand your metrics, to engage with your engagements, identify new opportunities and act on them.” How, Daulton asks, does AI benefit niche streaming services and “the smaller creator?”
“AI is really beneficial for us because it helps us in a lot of different ways,” Peterson says. “One is helping us with time. AI also helps us understand where the best places to do experiences. I can't go into every line item of what AI does, but I tell you this, I use about six of them every day because it's very important to me to be able to save time, get resources, get information that's going to help me deliver great content, deliver great access of points to what I need to do, how I need to do it, what's the best way to do it. We're constantly using the AI for so many different areas and understanding from a business standpoint what to do."
Meetups, Mentorship, and Other Takeaways from Streaming Media 2025
Daulton rounds toward the end of the conversation by asking Petertson what he’s taken away from the show. Peterson steers the conversation away from content to contacts and connection
“Being at this show for many years, I met one of my great mentors here and that mentor was a person that I thought I never could connect with," Peterson says. "I was just like, 'Man, I wish Diverseego could be like that.' I saw their pattern, their success, and I loved it. And then they were coming off the panel, their hair's down a little bit more. Now they're relaxed, they're chill versus like at NAB or CES, where they're always running around. Those moments happen here. They don't happen at other conferences here. And that's the great thing about being here."
Peterson then circles back to AI (a point where conversations often seem to return in 2025). AI is hitting a lot of different places and just innovation as a whole. This thing is moving really fast. AI is going to be very important on the backend from an analytics component, understanding how to look at your content, what you're doing, metrics, et cetera, et cetera. And then on the front end, you're seeing it. I'm not big on the front end part of it, but I like the back end part. Innovation of all sorts is going to keep moving. You’ve got to keep being involved, meeting great people, because then you'll learn. And that will help in the area of where this streaming technology is going."
Join us December 9-11 and tune in for more great conversations at Streaming Media Connect! Registration is free and open now!
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