YouTube has provided a wrap-up of 2024 viewing trends in 2024 that shows a notable uptick in interest in sports content and highlights the importance of TVs to the streaming platform, with viewers watching an average of 1 billion minutes each day of YouTube content on their television sets.
“The living room was the place to be for entertainment this year,“ Kurt Wilms, senior director of product management, YouTube on TV, said in a blog post. “We watched J Balvin and Lana Del Rey rock Coachella, tuned into ‘Chicken Shop Date With Amelia Dimoldenberg’ and everyone from Andrew Garfield to Elmo, and caught up on our favorite podcast interviews—all from the comfort of home. And we weren't alone. Viewers globally streamed over 1 billion hours of content daily on their TVs, with creators right here with us—bringing their A-game to the big screen.”
In many ways, the trends in YouTube viewing on TV mirrored those of traditional TV, as “content that viewers traditionally watch on TV, like sports and kids programs, gained momentum on YouTube this year,” Wilms wrote. Overall viewing times for YouTube sports content on TV grew over 30% year over year, as users visited the platform to watch clips, highlights and postgame interviews.
During 2024, the streamer piloted Watch With Me, a new feature that enables creators to provide live commentary, analysis, and real-time reactions to games and events to their audiences. This transformed YouTube “creators into sportscasters! " the post explained.
Another major trend was 4K. “The share of videos uploaded to YouTube in 4K is up by over 35% year over year, as creators prioritize high-quality viewing experiences that truly shine on TV screens,” Wilms wrote. “And that investment is paying off: the number of creators making a majority of their revenue from TV is up more than 30% year over year.”
In addition to providing new features to improve the sports viewing experience, YouTube also worked to improve the viewing experience for families and kids during 2024.
“After rolling out an option to easily switch between YouTube and YouTube Kids profiles on TV directly from the YouTube app last year, we heard feedback from parents wanting better control,” Wilms wrote. “We’re now introducing a new parent code feature that gives parents the power to prevent kids from accessing content that might not be age-appropriate.”
Another notable trend in YouTube viewing on TV involved podcasts, with viewers watching over 400 million hours of podcasts each month on their living room devices.
In addition, YouTube reported that lines between audio-only podcasts and videos have blurred, with more creators using a multimedia storytelling approach.
