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More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

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Re: More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

#61

I honestly refuse to believe this unless I see the source (which is not listed). Maybe in the US sure, but take any country in Asia or Latin America and I can guarantee you mobile usage skyrockets. Can't say anything certain about EU, but I'd assume from my few experiences there it should be a 50/50 split.

Ok so for anyone curious, this is the source they're using: https://www.nielsen.com/ I couldn't find any articles about comparisons between mobile and TV usage. There are some saying 'YouTube TV usage is at a high time high', but it associates it with the presidential election and some sports events... The former I can see getting some views outside of the US, but sports events no one gives a shit outside of the US,…

Nielsen do consumer survey (and have done for decades): they take a selection of volunteer households, and install a box which monitors what they watch on TV. This statistical sample is used for estimating TV viewing figures. I guess they've discovered that much of the time the TV isn't showing TV any more.

Re: More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

#63
post #52
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention people falling asleep means that all ads will play unskipped, regardless of length. That means they have data that non-zero amounts of people are watching the whole of the extremely long skippable ads that get placed (more than once I've seen 90+ minute ads appear).

Muted ads playing to the sleeping. Great business for youtube, not so great for the advertiser. (people who use youtube as a sleep aid - don't you get woken up by ads?)

Or possibly even more effective!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subliminal_stimuli

Re: More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

#64
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people watching let's plays while working Is that something people who aren't streamers actually do? I don't think I've seen that in person, ever, but then maybe I'm not the most social creature out there so might just be my bubble. Personally, I only watch YouTube on the TV. When I'm on the computer I'm either working, gaming or reading, the phone only gets used for phone/texting and social media while in the bath…

yeah, don't know, it was just an example. People stream YouTube while doing other things (playing, working, coding) all the time. I didn't want to put too much focus on the "Let's Play" part, it was the first thing that came to my mind :) We have a handful of coders in our company and it's rare to enter their offices and not see something playing on the second screen.

> yeah, don't know, it was just an example. People stream YouTube while doing other things (playing, working, coding) all the time. I didn't want to put too much focus on the "Let's Play" part, it was the first thing that came to my mind :)

That'd be very distracting to me, programming is (usually) a deep focus thing for me, having moving pictures right next to where I work would lead me to getting nothing done :P Interesting to hear though, probably should visit an office to see how it's changed since I last was in one.

Re: More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

#65
post #44

- Youtube pre-installed on smart TVs everywhere - Bigger screens are more enjoyable - Much lesser strain on hands compared to holding a phone means longer periods of watching - More friction in switching apps on a TV compared to a phone and unless you are casting, much smaller selection of apps - Fewer distractions like notifications on a phone - Sofas are comfy; also, autoplay can keep going even if you fall asleep…

Not to mention people falling asleep means that all ads will play unskipped, regardless of length. That means they have data that non-zero amounts of people are watching the whole of the extremely long skippable ads that get placed (more than once I've seen 90+ minute ads appear).

So you're saying the key is to make bad content that puts people to sleep because you'll get more ad revenue.

Make sense in this world.

Re: More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

#66
post #52
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention people falling asleep means that all ads will play unskipped, regardless of length. That means they have data that non-zero amounts of people are watching the whole of the extremely long skippable ads that get placed (more than once I've seen 90+ minute ads appear).

Muted ads playing to the sleeping. Great business for youtube, not so great for the advertiser. (people who use youtube as a sleep aid - don't you get woken up by ads?)

> people who use youtube as a sleep aid - don't you get woken up by ads?)

Depends on whether I took a half or a whole gummy.

Re: More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

#67
post #27

Regularly watching YouTube on Apple TV, but.. does it play ads more frequently compared to on desktop OS? (makes sense, since context switching to another form of entertainment in another tab doesn't exist there - still, I wish it would be en par)

If you’re not using a blocker on desktopOS, then probably about the same. Unless YT knows your on the couch and much less likely to switch away so they make loner ad blocks for TV than desktops??? I could see them playing with this kind of logic, but I have no idea if they do anything like that

I pay for YouTube premium now so I haven’t experienced this in some time but I did notice that YouTube would load its longest ads (I.e. Ads that are 1hr+ in length) late at night, around the time I would tend to fall asleep on the couch watching YouTube. I’m sure a PM out there is proud of coming up with this

Re: More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

#68
post #40
post #8

This feels more significant than I'd expect it to? We are dominated by reporting about how our phones are growing to define our interactions with media. To have a trend that is bucking that is surprising.

I wouldn't say this is a sign of declining mobile usage, but rather that people have YouTube videos playing constantly on the TV while they're scrolling around on their phone.

I took it less of a decline in mobile, but more indicative of how strong television still is?

Re: More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

#69
post #8

This feels more significant than I'd expect it to? We are dominated by reporting about how our phones are growing to define our interactions with media. To have a trend that is bucking that is surprising.

Terrible headline - the article says nothing about users. It does not link to Youtubes finding that TV is overtaking mobile. That news is here, and it's by WATCH TIME, not user count as claimed. https://blog.youtube/inside-youtube/our-big-bets-for-2025/ I think TV>Mobile for watch time is less surprising because of the nature of content you'd watch on the TV (longer form, background stuff). User count would be surpri…

Fair points. I'm still surprised at how strong television viewership remains, but my guess is that is poor priors on my part?

Specifically to youtube, I am also a bit surprised at it being used heavily on televisions. It is not a pleasant experience there. I have a hard time on phone, but at least there the popup keyboard is a bit more usable.

Granted, saying that, it occurs to me that i don't actually know the usage of youtube for videos. Short form content makes sense. You just keep flipping to the next of somewhat related content. I suppose news consumption is similar? We have turned news content into short form videos?

Re: More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile

#70
post #55
post #8

This feels more significant than I'd expect it to? We are dominated by reporting about how our phones are growing to define our interactions with media. To have a trend that is bucking that is surprising.

This is really just part of the switch from broadcast/cable to internet-native media. It's very noticeable when you watch terrestrial TV how many adverts are clearly targeted at the over-65s, the market is literally dying out.

I only see television when I turn one on in hotels. But holy cow do these instances underline your point. Ads during news channels feel insane.

At least ads on kids channels were largely for cereals. Which... also feels weird. Who needs advertising to care to eat Cheerios?

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