Streamers Have Something to Say About YouTube’s Dominance
By Movieguide® Contributor
YouTube continues to dominate streaming, a title it’s held for over a year and a half, causing other players in the industry to view it as both a friend and a foe.
Nielsen’s May 2024 TV usage report revealed that YouTube accounted for 9.7% of all TV usage that month, handily beating out Netflix’s second place 7.6% of TV usage, which was more than double that of any other platform. This marked nearly a year and a half of holding the crown just above Netflix’s head.
While YouTube isn’t typically thought of as a streaming service, its dominance in the TV space puts it at odds with traditional media, causing streaming platforms to consider it when creating their long-term strategies.
Disney, for example, has turned to YouTube’s massive audience to promote its content, particularly children’s content, posting clips from upcoming shows to generate hype. While it has yet to do so, it has also considered posting full episodes of shows from Hulu and Disney+ onto YouTube to entice viewers to subscribe to its platforms.
“At the end of the day, Disney is a storytelling machine,” said Kevin Mayer, who previously ran Disney’s streaming business. “We used short-form video on YouTube as a promotional device for our content. But I don’t think that we at Disney, nor have any other traditional media companies, leaned into YouTube as an original storytelling device the way they probably should have.”
While Disney mainly views YouTube as a companion to promote its content, Netflix approaches YouTube as a foe. However, the streaming giant believes the platforms deliver different products to the entertainment world.
“We have built a hard-to-replicate combination of a strong slate, superior recommendations, broad reach, and intense fandom, which drives healthy engagement on Netflix,” the company said in a recent shareholder letter discussing its dominance in the traditional streaming space. “Improvement in these key areas is the best way to delight our members and continue to grow our business.”
Nonetheless, when the companies do overlap in the content they deliver, Netflix has been forced to take action. The show COCOMELON, for example, started on YouTube before being acquired by Netflix. The show’s YouTube channel boasts over 175 million subscribers, and the show now consistently ranks as one of the most popular children’s shows on Netflix.
Similar to Netflix, other streaming services are looking to YouTube for their next big hit, viewing the platform as a pipeline to stardom. Prime Video, for example, recently inked a deal with the largest creator on the platform – Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast – to create a reality TV competition with the winner receiving $5 million in cash. FAST channel Tubi, meanwhile, has created a system, allowing users to suggest content creators the platform should partner with when creating future original content.
YouTube stands above its competitors because of its endless library of user-generated content. Not only does the platform earn a profit by paying creators through the ad revenue their videos generate, but the nature of its content also differentiates it from the highly produced shows and movies coming out of Hollywood.
Furthermore, YouTube benefits from the introduction of longstanding TV drivers, such as NFL Sunday Ticket, which has further increased its viewer base — particularly among older populations.
In 2023, these factors added up to $31.5 billion in ad revenue, 2 billion average users and over 1 billion hours of content watched every day. These numbers are untouchable by any other player in the entertainment industry, signaling the platform will continue its dominance for years to come.
Movieguide® previously reported:
While streaming has long been seen as the disruptor of traditional TV, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan argued that his platform is the real industry shaker in entertainment.
Mohan’s comments came during the annual “Upfronts Week” where networks and platforms pitch to advertisers why they should commission ads on their services. In recent years, however, YouTube has largely used this time to boast about its unprecedented reach.
“We’re redefining what TV looks like, helping creators reach new heights and using AI to expand creativity,” Mohan said. “Creators are drawing audiences on the big screen because they’re the new Hollywood. They have business strategies, writers’ rooms and production teams…Creators are redefining what we think of as ‘TV.’”
He added that “YouTube views in the living room have grown 130% in the past three years.”
He went as far as to say he believes they should be eligible to win acclaim on the same level as TV, such as an Emmy.
“Our creators are the future of entertainment,” added YouTube chief business officer, Mary Ellen Coe.
