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Will These Changes Keep YouTube on Top of Streaming?

Photo from Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

Will These Changes Keep YouTube on Top of Streaming?

By Movieguide® Contributor

YouTube is planning a major overhaul of its TV app as it works to stay on top in the streaming wars. 

During a “Made on YouTube” event this week, the company announced updates to the TV feature of its app, including new ways to categorize content that will more closely resemble other streaming platforms, and “immersive previews” that will play when a user visits a creator’s page. 

“When we launched Primetime Channels [YouTube’s third-party subscription offering] in the main app, one of the things we really wanted to make sure we delivered was, if you look for [HBO’s] HOUSE OF THE DRAGON and you go to that channel page, you want to look by season and episode and have this really rich, immersive channel page experience which people have come to expect around episodic content,” Christian Oestlien, VP of product management at YouTube, told The Hollywood Reporter.

He continued, “Turns out, a ton of our creators are really leaning into that format too. They’re doing 20 to 40 minute videos, there’s kind of a season arc to it, there’s multiple episodes in it, so we’re giving them the tooling to really create what we’re calling Creator Show Pages so that if you’re a fan of Michelle Khare, you can go to her channel page and actually just kind of go on that sort of binge episodic experience that I think the lean back TV environment really lends itself to.”

Oestlien explained that apps like Netflix and Max have “best practices” in terms of what’s visually appealing but added, “Fundamentally, what we’re trying to do is make sure that we’re ultimately delivering results for creators and helping them achieve the vision of what they expect for their programming in the living room.”

Another change the company announced is “YouTube Communities,” a new way for viewers to comment on videos. 

“The platform is looking to replace comments with Communities,” Variety reported. “That will include AI-enhanced reply suggestions ‘tailored to your style’ and other tools, including a community spotlight and audience metrics. Currently, the Communities feature is available to a limited number of channels; YouTube plans to test Communities with more users through the end of the year before broadening availability in 2025.”

It’s not surprising YouTube is looking to take serious steps into the streaming wars. Movieguide® previously reported on the app’s high viewing numbers:

In Nielsen’s monthly report, titled “The Gauge,” the organization revealed that, overall, more people were streaming YouTube on their TVs and smartphones than Netflix — 10.6% to 7.9%. 

However, Variety noted that it’s hard to measure YouTube against traditional streaming platforms. 

“YouTube’s economic model is of course quite different from the major SVODs [Subscription Video On Demand], with the vast majority of its content user-generated rather than produced by an industrial content pipeline (though YouTube does shell out billions to its creators via revenue-sharing arrangements),” the outlet wrote

However, as the public’s attention span continues to wane, many are starting to view YouTube and other video apps, like TikTok or Instagram Reels, as competition for streamers. 

Additionally, YouTube has started to make moves that put it on the same level as other streamers, such as securing exclusive content like the NFL Sunday Ticket package.

“In short, with the subscription streaming wars transitioning into the engagement wars, YouTube is now Netflix’s most formidable opponent,” Variety concluded. 

“It’s clear that our living room presence is growing across multiple demographics and ages,” YouTube product management director Thomas Kim said, per Tech Xplore.

Oestlien concluded, “For a lot of [YouTube users], I actually hear anecdotally that the primary way they’re consuming YouTube now is on the big screen. So they also talk to me as a consumer, not just as a creator, in terms of what their expectations and the experience they’re looking for is. So I think what they’ve asked for is a lot of what you’re actually seeing come to life: How can we elevate the creator experience in the living room so that it feels much more premium, really great content for emerging creators.”


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