When I wrote about how big tech wasn’t swooping in to save TV, it was clear that streaming platforms, social media, and changing audience behaviors were dismantling the traditional TV model.
Today, that disruption is reshaping television as we know it.
In the past year, seismic shifts in the media landscape—from Netflix’s aggressive sports acquisitions to the meteoric rise of TikTok and the reinvention of Disney’s streaming strategy — have redefined the rules of engagement in this fragmented attention economy. Fast-forward to today, and the industry is undergoing even more dramatic shifts. Over the last few months, the rise of live sports streaming on platforms like Netflix, YouTube and Amazon
Prime have disrupted the traditional TV model, signaling a fundamental shift in where and how audiences consume marquee events.
A big question is whether TikTok can sustain its meteoric rise if it’s forced out of the U.S. market. Can its unparalleled algorithm and creator ecosystem be replicated elsewhere, or will its dominance wane under US regulatory pressure?
The battle for attention and revenue in the media space has renewed momentum, now it’s
time for the audience to decide.
Netflix: From “Never Sports” to Live Sports Juggernaut
In a move that would have seemed impossible just a couple of years ago, Netflix’s foray into live sports has been a major turning point in how we think about the future of TV.
Netflix had experimented with live programming for smaller events including comedy shows and esoteric sports formats such as [live golf] and [tennis] in the last 24 months. All of this was just an amuse bouche for the first appetiser: the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul boxing match in November 2024. I covered this in my last article, but the results are important:
● 65m peak concurrent viewers
● 110m watched the fight worldwide
● It proved Netflix could deliver sports with global distribution
There were technical issues with the fight for some, and the quality of the boxing was limited at best, but this did demonstrate Netflix's power to move audiences. Netflix combined its key asset - promotion on the homepage of the app - with the new distribution might of the creator economy (Jake Paul). This was a long way from a traditional fight on ESPN, but the numbers are impressive - portentous of new business model opportunities to come.
Netflix had already secured live rights for the NFL for its Christmas Day broadcast, which shattered expectations with record viewership, drawing 22.5 million concurrent streams, according to Nielsen.
This wasn’t just a sports event; it was an entertainment spectacle, showing the growing synergy between sports, live streaming, and entertainment in the best tradition of the SuperBowl. Netflix brought together the best of the NFL including the Kansas City Chiefs vs the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans vs the Baltimore Ravens. They did not know it at the time, but the Chiefs v Steelers game was a precursor to the SuperBowl LIX - making it an even more important event for NFL fans.
The sport was bolstered by music talent including Mariah Carey singing “All I want for Christmas is you” and a full set from Beyonce at the Texans game which had an all-star line-up including Post Malone, Shaboozey, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, and Tiera Kennedy.
The Sport+Entertainment experience was available globally with a reach of 300m accounts, which means a total reach of many more than 300m people given the prevalence of Netflix in family homes and the ongoing issues with account sharing. Netflix reaches far more people than the raw subscriber numbers may suggest.
The results were impressive:
● Each NFL game averaged more than 30 million global viewers
● Fans from more 218 countries and territories watched the event
● The total audience was almost 65 million in the US, which became the most-streamed in NFL history.
Netflix just pulled off another big live-streaming flex.
In Jan 2025, the platform went all-in on live sports entertainment with the global debut of WWE RAW on Sunday nights—no regional restrictions, just pure, worldwide access. And the numbers? Huge. 8.6 million viewers tuned in over the opening weekend. Even more interesting? 67% of them watched through Netflix’s ad-supported tier, proving that not only is live content working, but ad-supported streaming is becoming a major player in how audiences engage.
This wasn’t an isolated experiment.
In December 2024 Netflix shocked the sports industry with its $1.2 billion acquisition of the 2027 Women’s Soccer World Cup global media rights, cementing Netflix’s commitment to becoming a leader in live sports.
Women’s sports, and a marquee football (soccer) event in particular, offer a tantalising prospect for the Netflix live sports proposition:
1. Netflix can promote the event aggressively on a global basis, no other broadcaster can offer the same audience size or reach.
2. Netflix does not have a “feed” so the promotion value on the homepage of its platform is more valuable (and focused) than similar promotion on YouTube or TikTok - given the algorithmic filtering of content surfaced as users scroll through each.
3. Netflix can provide wider promotion, engagement and storytelling using sports documentaries in the run-up to the event - expect to see Drive to Survive for Women’s Soccer hitting your screens in 2026.
Netflix has real promotion power.
When Bird Box launched in 2018 it was panned by the critics, yet gathered 282m hours of viewing within 28 days of release. At the time this was the most successful film ever on Netflix - and still stands at number 5 in the global rankings today. Few other platforms could have delivered that.
Sports will benefit from the same exposure on Netflix, the recent changes to the Netflix homepage on connected TVs is ready-made for global promos.
Sports events are time bound, so Netflix does not have the challenge of keeping events on the homepage for too long, this is one of the real advantages Netflix has over YouTube.
Youtube represents every type of video ever made, so it’s much harder for YouTube to have homepage takeovers on a global basis, and as such discovery is more complicated - and another reason YouTube is so focused on YouTube TV and connected TV experiences. The core business model for Netflix is monthly user subscriptions. As such Netflix’s battle against account sharing has been framed as a crackdown, but what if it’s actually an opportunity?
As the streamer leans further into its ad-supported tier and experiments with live events, account sharing could become an unexpected growth driver. While shared logins may dent subscription revenue, they also expand Netflix’s reach—especially for high-profile live content. More eyeballs mean more ad impressions, and if enough freeloaders get hooked, some may eventually convert into paying subscribers. In the race for streaming dominance, Netflix might find that giving away a little access now could really pay off later.
Either way, the results have been pretty good so far:
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Full Year 2024 Results
● Revenue: US$39.0B (+16% from FY 2023).
● Net income: US$8.71B (+61% from FY 2023).
● Profit margin: 22% (up from 16% in FY 2023).
Netflix surpassed 300m paid members at the end of 2024, adding 19m new subscribers in the quarter. However, this is the last time Netflix will share subscription numbers for the foreseeable future, highlighting an expectation of slowing user growth. The need to add ARPU (average revenue per user) is going to be more important in the coming years.
I predict we will see some live events on Netflix come out from behind the subscription paywall and be available to registered customers without a subscription - this will act as a direct counter to the threat of YouTube in free-to-consume live events paid for by advertising (all users will watch the ads, whether they are paying subscribers or not).
These moves are a significant pivot for a platform once famous for shunning sports in favor of evergreen intellectual property (IP). With the success of its "Drive to Survive" Formula 1 series and WWE events, Netflix has proven its ability to fuse live sports with the storytelling and drama that drive subscriber retention.
“Rumours abound this week [Feb] that Netflix is the front runner to take the media rights for Formula1 from ESPN for the US market for the next rights cycle from 2026. There is a strong fit with regards to the Netflix most important market (the USA) and the crossover with Drive to Survive. I look forward to the next iteration of the Netflix Cup in the Paddock at the Vegas GP 2026.”
Netflix Chief Content Officer, Bela Bajaria also announced in Feb that the company is interested in bidding on the NFL’s Sunday afternoon games, taking over from Fox or CBS. Further endorsement that live sports on Netflix is here to stay.
Netflix is betting big on live sports, not just for viewership but for advertising dollars. Its investments in fan experiences and global sports events may redefine what live broadcasting looks like for the streaming era.
“We want to be able to bring value to the sport, like we have to date with WWE certainly, like we have with the NFL too, where we were basically able to bring a big audience, a young audience, a more global audience than linear television.” (Ted Sandaros, Co-CEO, Netflix, 2025)
TikTok: The social video titan on shaky ground?
TikTok has solidified itself as a central player in the media ecosystem. However, its future in the U.S. hangs in the balance as the threat of a federal ban looms. President Trump’s extended reprieve offers hope, and there is a potential merger with Perplexity.AI in the works - but will it be enough? Platforms like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels are circling like vultures, ready to capture TikTok’s massive audience if the ban materializes.
TikTok’s dominance as a media platform is undeniable.
In 2024, TikTok surpassed 1 billion hours of video consumed daily, with more than 170m users in the US accessing the platform regularly. Yet US federal law states that ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, must sell its US interests to a US company to avoid an outright ban in the United States - and ByteDance has shown no intention of selling…yet.
The real question is whether TikTok’s highly personalized algorithm can sustain its edge in a competitive landscape without the user base and advertising dollars of the US. If the ban proceeds, the battle for short-form supremacy will likely favor renewed activity and interest in platforms already entrenched in the broader creator economy, such as YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
If TikTok is banned it poses a fascinating question for other non-US tech companies - do you need to capture the US market to be successful?
There are numerous examples of giant technology businesses in China which do not require a significant European or US audience to be successful: Baidu, Alibaba, DouYin, Tencent etc. But China is a unique market given its domestic scale (1.3B+ citizens) and strict regulations which are in place to keep international - primarily US-based - tech and media platforms out of the market.
Would TikTok be as dominant in China if Instagram, YouTube and Facebook had been freely available in China for the last decade? Possibly, but I am certain the user numbers would look quite different.
However, TikTok (and ByteDance) deserves credit for its technology innovation and relentless focus on the “mobile” video experience; taking inspiration from Snapchat and building a format which has been copied by everyone else.
TikTok’s success is founded upon three pillars of product innovation that align perfectly with today’s audience:
1. A full screen video experience which is best viewed in vertical form (smartphone)
2. Creative tools which make it easy to create fun, engaging videos which are designed to be watched on a mobile device.
3. An algorithmic discovery mechanism which is predicated on consumption, not followers or user-defined actions. On TikTok the content finds you.
The combination of these elements means that users can create huge viral hits WITHOUT a huge following on the platform. This was in contrast to Instagram and YouTube, where creators needed to build a big audience to get distribution. Yet both Instagram and YouTube have pivoted towards content-led algorithmic discovery recently to replicate the TikTok model: videos that start trending on TikTok are shown to any user who has a potential to want to watch them and share them with friends..
This is why sports have been so popular on the platform.
There are billions of sports fans globally and this content has immediate relevance for users, as they love watching sport, but also provides a different perspective on the sports events: behind the scenes, direct from athletes, shot from pitchside on a mobile device, or scenes from the crowd when a team wins or loses. TikTok provides a perspective on sports that TV cannot replicate, it gets you inside the experience with content shot live by thousands of fans, not just the clips and camera angles edited by a broadcaster for a linear TV slot.
Sports is a multiplatform experience, fans want more than TV.
“TikTok saw a 350% increase in #SportsOnTikTok posts in 2024 compared with 2023”
For the Paris Games in August 2024 the Olympics-related hashtags on TikTok had 1.9M posts and nearly 50B views, while the official Olympics accounts on TikTok amassed nearly 2B views for the games (TikTok, Dec 2024)
The scope of content creation and unlimited distribution is also why TikTok is considered a security threat by the US. There is a risk that the content algorithms are tweaked by Bytedance (and the Chinese government) to drive an antidemocratic agenda or influence elections.
Regardless of the fate of TikTok in the West, vertical video and algorithmic discovery is here to stay, and this has implications for live events and the future of television. The combined viewing time for YouTube and TikTok in the UK for viewers under-35 is already more than than the total of all traditional broadcasters and pay-TV companies, and the shift is accelerating.
Source: BARB II (Evan Shapiro, Feb 2025)
I believe the ban on TikTok will be lifted, there is too much at stake for both sides, and we will see the continued explosion of video created for smartphone viewing on all media platforms - from social networks to TV and sports apps. Vertical video is not a new form of media content, it's a new consumption experience based on the powerful supercomputers we all carry around in our pockets every day.
Content is still king, so broadcasters, sports properties and media companies that lean into
social video + streaming have the greatest chance of success.
The Rise of Vertical Video: A New Era for Live Engagement
Vertical video, synonymous with platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, is the most engaging format for video on smartphones. First clips, then stories and reels, and now we are moving to live.
TikTok has pioneered live vertical video with events like its Coachella partnership, where
live streams attracted over 40 million viewers globally. Now, YouTube Shorts is expanding into live vertical formats, turning the much maligned portrait orientation into a powerful medium for audience engagement.
Why Vertical Video Matters:
Native Mobile Experience: 80% of social video views occur on mobile devices, and vertical formats are perfectly suited to how people hold their phones.
Gen Z’s Preferred Format: TikTok’s success shows that younger audiences are highly engaged with quick, immersive vertical content.
Algorithmic Discovery: Platforms like TikTok and YouTube use AI to push vertical live streams to the right audiences in real time, ensuring maximum reach and engagement.
Most of the vertical video examples associated with the media and sports industry have been shortform videos - clips and highlights from major events, or social videos shot on mobile devices for mobile viewing.
Live vertical video has also been led by creators going live on mobile via apps such as Facebook and Instagram Live, but this does not work for mainstream sports or event production.
The challenge for using vertical video in live broadcasting is the form factor and production set-up required - it was always too costly and complex to deliver.
The ecosystem is changing, fast.
Live vertical video is already transforming e-commerce. TikTok’s live shopping events in Asia generated millions in sales during 2024. Expect this format to grow in Western markets, with creators hosting QVC-style shopping streams for younger, mobile-first audiences. The huge success of online retailers on TikTok and Instagram provides the commercial incentive for this: in-stream adverts in the timeline are replaced by shoppable links in the live stream, with influencer marketing getting fans to purchase in real time.
Go90 or Go Home?
The video industry is littered with the corpses of media companies that have tried to replicate the success of TikTok and Instagram with episodic vertical video shows or mobile only vertical video experiences. Seeing Quibi burn more than $1bn and shut down within a year created a lot of fear in the TV industry to go with the jokes about the folly of trying to “be down with the kids on mobile.”
Verizon’s Go90 service suffered a similar fate, when inexplicably they launched a new mobile video service that was optimised for horizontal (16:9) viewing. Verizon wanted users to “Go90” and turn their phone to horizontal to watch the shows.
There was a minor problem…
“Smartphone users hold their phone vertically about 94% of the time.”
(ImpactPlus, 2020)
Verizon somehow missed the entire last decade of mobile UX. They launched a product that ignored the way people actually use their phones—by forcing them to do the one thing that feels completely unnatural: turn it sideways. That’s like launching TikTok on smart TVs and then politely suggesting users take their TVs off the wall and rotate them 90 degrees for the “full experience.” It was doomed from the start.
The growth of vertical video continues to explode across a whole range of platforms beyond TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram:
LinkedIn has launched a video service focused on vertical video.
X (Twitter) has reintroduced video and has launched a vertical stories feed which replicates the TikTok user experience. X is also relaunching Vine, the 6-second viral video app which was acquired by Twitter in 2016 and then shut down.
The NBA and Laliga relaunched their mobile apps this year with full screen mobile video a core part of the user experience.
YouTube has doubled down on vertical video, increasing the length of YouTube shorts to 3mins and expanding the scope of live vertical video in the YouTube Shorts feed
A number of sports and media properties have experimented with live vertical productions for matches, fan shows and entertainment - thus blurring the lines between traditional TV and mobile, social video:
In August 2021 the DFL (German Bundesliga) streamed live Supercup games in 9:16 on TikTok channels from OneFootball and RanSport.
In 2022, LaLiga’s had its first ever match to air in a vertical 9:16 format on TikTok, for the Real Sociedad v Real Betis game, with a production crew of 30 people dedicated to the vertical video broadcast.
In April 2024, Super Rugby Aupiki final between the nib Blues and Chiefs Manawa was delivered in collaboration with Sky and TikTok, and was the first time a sporting final had been shot vertically and broadcast on TikTok. The entire game, including preview and analysis, drew in more than double the viewers of the previous year’s free-to-air Aupiki Final.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) broke new ground with vertical video during the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup, supported by Disney Star. This was the first major global tournament to offer a dedicated 9:16 vertical feed for all 48 matches, produced alongside the standard feed. Features included split-screens (e.g., top half tracking the ball, bottom half showing the pitch), tailored ball tracking, and player tracking, all designed for mobile viewing.
The challenge with producing live vertical video for sports is that it is really expensive, and as such, the ICC (cricket) is the only example of a consistent mobile video experience for an entire tournament. The demand and the audience is there, but sports production is not set-up for mobile social viewing.
That is all going to change, as production technology catches up with the smartphone generation.
Advancements in cloud production mean that vertical video streaming is cheaper, faster and easier to deliver than ever before.
A recent live draw for the CONCACAF championships was produced in 16:9 and 9:16 format in parallel using a combination of TV hardware and Grabyo’s cloud production tools. The output was a live experience that catered for both the traditional TV audience and GenZ/Alpha viewing on their phones.
The results were impressive - with almost 4m views of the mobile version of the show on TikTok, surpassing the audience on linear TV.
Scrolling serendipity: The discovery opportunity for media and sports
Vertical video feeds—like TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and now X/Twitter— aren’t just a format shift; they’re a discovery engine. Unlike traditional feeds, users don’t need to follow an account to stumble upon content, making it an entirely new distribution pipeline for sports and media companies.
For media brands, this means content finds the audience, not the other way around. Even casual scrollers who aren’t hardcore fans can end up watching live moments, highlights, or behind-thescenes clips. And when live vertical video shows up on YouTube Shorts—sandwiched between viral hits from MrBeast and Dude Perfect—it has the potential to pull in new viewers at scale. The experience is frictionless. Live events can pop up in a feed just like any other clip, and because they’re in full-screen vertical mode, they match exactly what users expect on their smartphones.
It’s serendipitous discovery by design, not by accident.
The Professional Squash Association (PSA) launched live streaming on TikTok for squash matches in 2024. The viewing numbers are significant, but what is more impressive is that 64% of the users watching the TikTok live streams were NOT explicit fans of squash and were not following the PSA account on TikTok when they started.
YouTube has an even bigger opportunity to take advantage of its huge user base and drive cross-device viewing. It should be easy to link out from viewing on mobile to a YouTube app on a Smart TV, or via the Google TV operating system on the device. Making this process simple and seamless should be the target for all media companies, and is an opportunity for YouTube to build a new discovery model for partners. One which has the benefit of keeping users on the YouTube platform at all times.
What does this mean for live TV and Sports?
Vertical video is here to stay.
The raw, unfiltered behind the scenes access to live events, breaking news, music and sports cannot be replicated by a traditional TV production model. Media and sports companies have the chance to embrace this change and become part of the story - making sure TV content is available where users want to view it:
Incorporate vertical videos from social platforms in TV broadcast, expanding the scope of coverage for magazine shows and pre/post match discussions
Share behind the scenes footage of the TV production process, and talent, as vertical social videos - bringing the audience as close to the broadcast as the event itself. There are lots of good examples of this already ( below)
Use social media producers and influencers to shoot social video content around key events and bring that back to the storyline on TV
Make content and media rights available for watchalongs and new alt-casting formats which are optimised for mobile, social viewing - and create new models to reach fans which expand the reach of audience demographic and scope.
Cloud production platforms such as Grabyo dramatically reduce the complexity and cost of creating live broadcasts and alt-casts - enabling a range of new formats which meet the viewing preferences of GenZ / GenAlpha”
Reformat linear TV broadcasts and live events for vertical video streaming
Combine 9:16 video, both live and pre-recorded, for live shows that are broadcast to multiple platforms simultaneously (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts etc)
Bring in remote guests for alt-casts, alternative commentaries and live look-in (redzone) formats which are designed for vertical streaming
Provide tools to produce a show in 16:9 and 9:16 in parallel - with a single operator switching the show, and streams configured for horizontal and vertical broadcasting
Use AI tools to reformat traditional 16:9 (horizontal) TV broadcasts for streaming in vertical format, with options to create bespoke audio and graphics for smartphone viewers.
If the battle is for attention, you can’t ignore the platforms where the audience spends their time.
Someone in the TV industry once asked me how it’s possible that users could spend so much time watching user generated content, or lower production value mobile/social video on Facebook and YouTube when there are so many high quality live broadcasts and TV shows available on streaming platforms?
“Imagine you are walking into town to go out for the night and when you arrive there are two bars open. The first is a beautiful bar, incredible design, soft lighting, amazing selection of drinks, they are even offering you the first drink for free.
The drinks are expensive, the barman won’t let you pay via your phone, and there is hardly anyone there.
The second bar is dirtier and rowdier, more crowded - there are people from all around the world inside having fun. They all come from different backgrounds and different interests, you can find almost anything in there. You are not sure who you are going to talk to first, it's chaotic, you don’t know where to start. Then you notice all your friends are inside and seem to be having a great time - so you walk straight in.”
This is another reason sports are so important to TV.
They’re a bit rowdier, more chaotic, more emotional and something you want to watch with your friends.
The Future of Media: Blurred Lines and New Contenders
The convergence of live sports, algorithmic feeds, and emerging technologies like AI is reshaping what we think of as “TV.”
The old battle between networks and streaming platforms is now a free-for-all, with TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, and new AI-driven tools vying for supremacy. Evan Shapiro said that “the streaming wars are over” and I agree with him. The battle for users and revenues is not about whether you can deliver TV over the internet, it’s about how you capture attention and keep the audience engaged.
Recent comments from Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, speak directly to the change in the media landscape we are witnessing today:
“I always think we’re undervalued. The NFL, you see it by the ratings, they’re extraordinary. We had 58 million people watching the AFC Championship game a week ago. And you see the quality of the content and what it can do.”
“Obviously with the changing media landscape we’re changing also.
We still have nearly 88% of our games on either broadcast or over the air. The highest by any standard of any other league. No one comes close to that. So the most fan friendly policies. And I think you’ll continue to see that.
But we’ll also look at Netflix, we’ll look at YouTube, we’ll look at Amazon. And not just look, we’ll continue to work with them to improve what we’re doing with them. And I think Amazon had another 40% increase in audience. Their ratings are now coming very close to broadcast audiences and are about to cross over and I think they will very shortly.
So when you see what we’re doing with the Netflixes and the Amazons and the Peacocks of the world, I think that’s going to be a very important advancement for us in the context of media strategy.”
(Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, Feb 2025)
Goodell is talking his own book of course, and it’s of huge value to the NFL for new, well-funded tech companies to want to buy NFL rights. So it’s natural that the NFL would encourage more tech companies and streaming platforms to bid for rights. He also wants to encourage the threat of competition, to squeeze every last dime from the TV companies whilst they still have the subscriber numbers and earnings to justify it.
The underlying message is somewhat different.
“Parks Associates' latest research finds that 56 million (46%) US internet households are ‘Cord Cutters’, which illustrates the dominance of streaming video services. Additionally, 12% of US internet households are ‘Cord Nevers’, who have never subscribed to any sort of traditional pay TV.”
Goodell and the NFL are worried that the old model of free to air linear TV broadcast may not represent the same audience dynamic for the league in 2030. It’s imperative to have additional streaming options available - both free to air, ad-funded and subscription based. The NFL knows that streaming has is proven to reach a younger audience, one which is coveted by its sponsors and partners and represents its future fanbase:
“Crucially, streaming services are winning the under-35 demographic, more than 60% of Amazon’s Thursday Night Football viewers are under 45, compared to just 36% for linear NFL broadcasts.” (Nielsen, 2025)
The trend was evident in the SuperBowl too.
“The increasing shift toward streaming platforms was also a significant factor in this year’s record-breaking audience for the SuperBowl. Fox reported that its free, ad-supported streaming service, Tubi, attracted 13.6 million viewers for the game, with total digital viewership, including NFL platforms, reaching 14.5 million. This significantly increased from the previous Super Bowl’s streaming record of 11.2 million in 2022.”
(The Verge Feb 2025)
YouTube’s acquisition of NFL Sunday Ticket has also been a game-changer for the league.
The first week of broadcasts saw a 23% increase in viewership compared to its previous home on DirecTV. More importantly, YouTube’s ability to integrate live streams, instant highlights, and user-generated content has made it the default platform for younger sports fans. The platform reported over 90 million weekly interactions with NFL-related content during the season, blurring the line between passive viewership and active fan engagement. In total, YouTube saw its users watch over 35 billion hours of all sports content across the platform last year, a 45% increase from 2023.
YouTube is rapidly becoming the new free to air TV.
Consumption of long-form content on YouTube is rising rapidly in the US, accounting for 73% of all viewing time on the platform by the end of October 2024…the average viewing time spent by US YouTube users on videos of 30 minutes or more rose from 65% in October 2023 to 73% in October 2024, highlighting how users are spending more of their viewing time on longer content.
The trend is more pronounced among young adults aged 18-24-years-old that watch YouTube on mobile devices. In October 2023, 58% of content viewed by this demographic on mobile devices was long-form content (+30mins), rising to 79% by October 2024. (Digital i, Feb 2025)
That’s wild.
79% of viewing on YouTube for US-based 18-24 year olds is videos longer than 30mins - whilst watching on a smartphone.
More worrying for the rest of the TV industry is that YouTube is now more popular on the TV than on smartphones in the US:
“People aren’t just watching YouTube on their computers or phones. TV has surpassed mobile and is now the primary device for YouTube viewing in the U.S. (by watch time), and according to Nielsen, YouTube has been #1 in streaming watch time in the U.S. for two years.”
(Neal Mohan, CEO YouTube, Feb 2025)
The most interesting part is WHAT users are watching on YouTube, on their TV. We should ask ourselves what TV really is anymore?
“For more and more people, watching TV means watching YouTube. Viewers are watching, on average, over 1Bn hours of YouTube content on TVs daily, and TV is now the primary device for YouTube viewing in the U.S. But the "new" television doesn’t look like the "old" television. It’s interactive and includes things like [vertical video] Shorts (yes, people watch them on TVs), podcasts, and live streams, right alongside the sports, sitcoms and talk shows people already love.”
(Neal Mohan, CEO YouTube, Feb 2025)
If you want the financial numbers to back this up, just head over to YouTube’s Q4 2024 fiscal results:
“YouTube, the internet’s biggest streaming video platform, delivered a healthy 13.8% increase in global ad revenue for the year-end 2024 quarter to surpass $10 billion for the first time…that’s just one piece of YouTube’s business, not including subscription revenue from services like YouTube TV or YouTube Premium.” (Variety, Feb 2025)
Social platforms have dominated the digital advertising market for sometime, but this is now growing at such a rate that it is sucking even more of total global advertising dollars in its vortex:
“Meta will sell more advertising this year than all of television in the world.” (Evan Shapiro, 2025)
Users are forming habits with digital devices, streaming video and social platforms that will define adulthood, which creates even greater threats for the TV industry in the future.
This is the first “purely digital generation — the first generation to grow up with social media in their pockets…And they’re not suddenly going to develop the habits that we have. They’re not going to wake up one day and say, ‘I’m going to watch broadcast television.’ That’s not going to happen. So you have to not fear finding out [what and how they want to consume entertainment. You have to look at the data and look for the answers, even if those answers are scary to you.” (Evan Shapiro, Feb 2025)
The takeaway?
The media landscape is more fragmented, more complex - and more exciting - than ever. Whether big tech is saving TV or dismantling it from within, one thing is clear: the industry is changing in ways that were unimaginable even a decade ago.
The fight for the living room just got bigger, so hold on to your smartphone for more than 30 minutes and join us for the ride.
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Gareth Capon is the CEO of Grabyo, a cloud-native video production platform powering live broadcasts, instant highlights, and social media content distribution. Used by top sports leagues, broadcasters, and media brands, Grabyo delivers high-quality video at scale—without the need for costly hardware. Under Gareth’s leadership, Grabyo is redefining digital video strategies, enabling media teams to create and share content in real time.
Visit grabyo.com to learn more.