Since 2020, YouTube viewership has been growing in leaps and bounds. In particular, it has increased on TV screens. Even before the pandemic lockdowns started in 2020, YouTube viewing on TV screens had increased by 80%. 

Almost half (45%) of all YouTube viewing now occurs on TV screens. And ad spend on YouTube is also increasing. It is expected that advertisers will spend more on YouTube’s standard service and YouTube TV. One survey found that expected ad spend on YouTube would rank second only to Hulu during the current upfront season. This could bring in $7 billion in ad commitments to YouTube.

YouTube’s standard free service is driving most of the user growth, even more so than its paid subscription channel. And because of its user-generated content, YouTube doesn’t have to spend much to acquire users. User-generated content eliminates barriers that other streaming services have, like slower revenues and the current writers strike.

With the increasing popularity of YouTube on TV, the platform has added features to make TV viewing and search easier, e.g., the ability to use the YouTube mobile app as a remote.