Is YouTube better than TV? The platform scores yet another high in viewership behind Disney

YouTube arrived with big statements at the annual Brandcast, an event made for advertisers. This year, the Google-owned video-sharing platform said that it’s still the number-one most-watched streaming platform on TV according to a recent Nielsen report.

This continues the trend announced at the 2023 Brandcast event, where YouTube said it had (once again) become the most-watched streaming service on TV. But now, in addition to being the number-one most-watched streaming platform, YouTube also said that it’s “the second most-watched media distributor overall” on TV by 9.6% share  after Disney (11.5%)

“Along the way, creators are redefining what we think of as “TV.” In fact, in the last three years, the number of top creators that have received the majority of their watchtime on the big screen increased by more than 400%,” YouTube boasts.

And that’s not baseless at all. YouTube’s popularity continues, propelled by its creators, whom the top 1% get access to through the YouTube Select “Creator Takeovers” program. The program, which has been pilot-tested since last year, lets advertisers buy out the inventor on these top-performing channels.

YouTube is also getting tons of AI features. While the platform has been hard at combatting non-regulated AI-made content by requiring creators to label them, YouTube advertisers can make the most out of AI optimization for the living room by using Google AI-powered video campaigns and new interactive features like branded QR codes.

In other words, it’s made for the big screens, which may not sound like a good piece of news for free YouTube users on TV.

“Video Reach Campaigns Non-Skips, powered by Google AI, will now deliver on your reach and awareness goals more efficiently, using your existing non-skippable assets,” Google says.