Why YouTube is the future of television

After decades pioneering viral videos that people watched on their laptops and phones, YouTube is now the king when it comes to the household small screen in the US.

A YouTube video created by Nathan Pope criticising controversial influencer Andrew Tate. Picture: YouTube

The headquarters of the world’s leading television network has none of the trappings of a traditional studio. There are no posters of popular shows, no writers, no soundstages and no audiences.

Because after decades pioneering viral videos that people watched on their laptops and phones, YouTube is now the king when it comes to the household small screen as well.

YouTube became the most-watched video provider on televisions in the US this year, and its lead has only continued to grow, according to Nielsen data.

People now watch YouTube on television sets more than on their phones or any other device – an average of more than one billion hours each day.

That is more viewing than Disney gets from its broadcast network, dozen-plus cable channels and three streaming services combined.

In response to the growing demand, YouTube’s influencers, producers and performers – collectively known as creators – are making longer, higher-quality content that appeal to families and groups of friends watching in their living rooms.

YouTube has also begun rapidly improving its television app, adding new features to try to keep people watching its free videos longer. (Separately, it also sells YouTube TV, a bundle of channels akin to cable.)

Stills from a YouTube video created by Nathan Pope that criticises influencer Andrew Tate. Picture: YouTube

In true Silicon Valley style, the Google-owned company isn’t just looking to extend its lead on television sets, but to dominate the entire future of entertainment.

“Our goal is for the YouTube app to be people’s way into as much of the universe of video content that exists on the internet as can be,” YouTube’s product manager for connected TV Christian Oestlian said.

One way the company was considering keeping people glued to YouTube on their TVs longer, he said, was through personally customised content feeds, such as highlights from players on a fantasy football team.

For most of the past 20 years since starting as a website to watch videos on desktop computers, YouTube was an alternative to television, a home for cheap, low-quality how-to videos and skateboard trick clips.

But by the 2020s, the generation that grew up watching internet videos alone on their phones and tablets began watching YouTube together in their living rooms and with their own children.

It didn’t hurt that as prices rose for Netflix and Disney+, YouTube has remained free.

In the process, it became a media juggernaut. MoffettNathanson analysts estimate YouTube’s revenue last year was $54.2 billion, which would make it No.2 among entertainment companies, behind only Disney.

YouTube’s revenue last financial year is estimated to be second only to Disney. Picture: AFP

A coming YouTube television feature, called “shows”, can automatically queue the next episode on a channel, rather than recommend what the viewer might like best from billions of options.

It comes amid a rise of long-form YouTube shows like those that used to be found exclusively on broadcast or cable channels: sketch comedy, documentaries, animation and talk shows.

Research from Tubular Labs shows viewers on YouTube are spending substantially more time with long content – meaning more than 15 minutes – than two years ago, and they are doing it the most on televisions.

The service is also heavily investing in buying the rights to stream live sport, with viewership in that category up 45 per cent so far this year on YouTube.

Executives say they want the service to become the home for fans leading up to a game, during matches, and for clips afterwards.

YouTube has been the exclusive home of the NFL Sunday Ticket since 2023. It pays the sports league $2bn annually and charges viewers $378-$480 a season. Now it is bringing games to its free, ad-supported service.

It also bought the exclusive rights to soccer tournaments in Brazil, and in September it will stream an NFL game on its free platform for the first time – a sign Google believes it may be able to cover the hefty cost of sports rights through advertising alone.

Dow Jones