“Viewers are watching, on average, over 1 billion hours of YouTube content on TVs daily, and TV is now the primary device for YouTube viewing in the US. But the “new” television doesn’t look like the “old” television. It’s interactive and includes things like Shorts, podcasts, and live streams, right alongside the sports, sitcoms and talk shows people already love,” chief executive Neal Mohan said in a blog post.
YouTubers, the startups of Hollywood
Mohan said YouTube should be seen as “next-generation studios” and highlighted that the YouTube Partner Program has paid out over $70 billion to creators, artists, and media companies in the past three years.
“Creators are bringing that startup mindset to Hollywood: leaning into new models of production, building studios to elevate their production quality, and exploring new creative avenues,” he said.
According to Nielsen, YouTube has ranked number one in streaming watch time in the US for the past two years.
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In his annual letter to the YouTube community, Mohan introduced the platform’s key priorities: the creator ecosystem and generative AI.
“We’re using AI to help creators find new audiences. For videos with dubbed audio, more than 40% of the total watch time comes from viewers choosing to listen in a dubbed language. Later this month, we’ll make auto dubbing available for all creators in the YouTube Partner Program,” he said.
Over the past year, more than 50% of YouTube channels earning at least five figures (USD) generated revenue from sources beyond ads and YouTube Premium.
Meanwhile, YouTube’s growth on connected TVs is attracting new advertisers, with ad formats like QR codes and pause ads performing well.
As per data released by the company, YouTube TV now has over 8 million subscribers, while YouTube Music & Premium exceeds 100 million (including trials).
