YouTube continues to experience rapid growth on home televisions.
Should the YouTube app on your phone and the one on your television function identically? Is that truly feasible?
YouTube has recently shared statistics reflecting how its service is being used on televisions, and the data is impressive. The viewing time for sports content on these devices increased by 30% compared to the previous year. Additionally, users watch over 400 million hours of podcasts monthly on their TVs. The living room has become the fastest-growing platform for YouTube in recent years; Alphabet’s business director, Philipp Schindler, mentioned during the company's last earnings call that viewing time is increasing overall, with notable growth in Shorts and TV usage.
YouTube, which continues to dominate various areas of entertainment, shows no signs of slowing down in this advancement. While this trend has remained steady, the platform has taken steps to optimize the user experience on television. It has introduced a feature to sync phones with TVs, allowing users to watch a video on the big screen while interacting with it from their mobile device. Moreover, it has revamped the TV interface to make accessing comments, links, and channel pages easier while viewing content. Channel pages have been improved to allow videos to start more quickly, and collaborative playlists have been added, enabling multiple people to contribute to the content programming on the big screen.
Along with these developments, YouTube has announced a new feature called Watch With, which allows creators to add real-time commentary and analysis to sports content. For years, viewers and creators have improvised this mode by using two different screens. With this new tool, the process is simplified. Although it currently focuses on sports, this feature is expected to expand to other types of content in the future.
Adapting the television experience has been a challenge for YouTube. The company aims to maintain a consistent platform experience regardless of the device, making it easier for creators to focus on producing content for YouTube as a whole. However, interaction on televisions poses difficulties, such as the distance from the screen and the lack of a full keyboard. Additionally, it is common for users to become distracted by their phones while watching television.
YouTube positions itself as a premium streaming service, underpinning its offering with high-quality content like Primetime Channels and Sunday Ticket. However, it recognizes that many also use their TVs as sound systems or for background entertainment. This has fueled the growth of podcasts on the platform.
As YouTube gains prominence on televisions, it becomes an essential part of the creator economy. This year, the company reported an increase of over 30% in creators who earn most of their revenue through TV views. This growth raises questions about how creators should adapt. Should they start producing content more targeted at a television audience, rather than the typical mobile audience? Is there a need to create videos that are more listenable than viewable?
Creators have expressed the need for more specific analytics for the platform, and it has been suggested that YouTube programs should be cataloged similarly to television shows on services like IMDb. However, YouTube's vision is to unify the experience, making everything feel like YouTube without burdening creators with the need to change their focus.
The company is pursuing a balance between intense interaction and a relaxed viewing experience. It aspires for its platform to be a home for both popular vloggers and new television hits. With its current capability to dominate viewing time across various platforms and its growing relevance in music and podcasts, its goal is to make the television and mobile device feel like a single integrated experience. However, achieving this goal will not be an easy task.
