The smartphone, tablet, and computer are where most people watch YouTube. But don't underestimate the living room television as a platform for the ultra-popular video streaming service, YouTube says.
YouTube TV Viewing Is Booming
In a report published on the YouTube Official Blog, the company notes that:
"Viewers are … increasingly streaming content on their connected TV screens as they spend more time at home. In fact, though mobile still makes up the largest percentage of how content is consumed on the platform, our fastest growing viewing experience is on the TV screen."
According to YouTube, in December 2020 more than 120 million people in the United States streamed either YouTube or YouTube TV on their TV sets.
That's up more than 20% from the 100 million who streamed YouTube this way in March 2020, just as many countries around the world were entering the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. "A new generation of viewers chooses to watch YouTube primarily on the TV screen," YouTube suggests.
There might be a bit more to it than that, of course. Behavior during the coronavirus pandemic is not necessarily going to be indicative of long-term trends. Being stuck home for the past year likely means that many have been consuming their media in ways they would not necessarily do ordinarily.
To see whether this really is a generational shift will take more time (preferably not during a pandemic) to prove.
A Netflix Rival
While YouTube has been shaping viewing habits around the world for a decade-and-a-half at this point, many people may not think of YouTube as a television streaming platform in the way they would think of Netflix or Disney+, the latter of which just announced it has reached 100 million subscribers.
But YouTube, while a very different service to either of those two media companies, nonetheless competes in the same arena. Comscore data from June 2020 shows that 82.5% of connected-TV viewing in the U.S. comes from five streaming services: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, and YouTube.
All About Advertising
YouTube's decision to publicize its TV prowess likely comes down to advertising. In the fourth quarter of 2020, YouTube raked in a massive $6.89 billion in ad revenue. This represented an increase of 46% year-over-year.
In YouTube's blog post about the TV platform success, it notes that the move to streaming on TV represents a massive opportunity for advertisers. It points out that, of the five streaming services mentioned above, only Hulu and YouTube sell advertising.
The company additionally observes that 41% of all ad-supported streaming watch time in the U.S. currently happens on YouTube. If YouTube has its way, that number will only increase over time.
