Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go! How Superstars Influence Content Liquidity on Live Platforms

Live platforms such as Twitch and YouTube Live rely on independent creators to provide content when viewer demand arises, making content liquidity a central challenge. Because platforms do not directly control production, liquidity depends on whether decentralized creators choose to stream at the right time. Superstar creators complicate this process. They may increase liquidity by attracting audiences to the platform, but they may also reduce it by concentrating attention and discouraging others from broadcasting. We examine this tension by studying whether creators reallocate supply when superstar presence changes unexpectedly. Using Twitch data, we examine unanticipated absences of the superstar streamer Ninja by comparing days when he was expected to stream but did not with days when he streamed as usual. Results show that creators respond to his absence by increasing both their likelihood of streaming and duration of their broadcasts. This response is concentrated among close substitutes and occurs during Ninja's usual streaming hours, suggesting that creators strategically shift supply to capture newly available viewer demand. These results show that superstar presence can suppress content liquidity by reducing other creators' incentives to broadcast, although not permanently. When superstars are temporarily absent, decentralized creators rapidly adjust supply, preserving platform liquidity.