Advanced Television

YouTube on more TVs than phones

February 11, 2025

According to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, TV screens have overtaken mobile as the “primary device for YouTube viewing in the US”.  Mohan, writing in his annual letter from the CEO, said it is an indication that “YouTube is the new television.”

“But the ‘new’ television doesn’t look like the ‘old’ television. It’s interactive and includes things like Shorts (yes, people watch them on TVs), podcasts, and live streams, right alongside the sports, sitcoms and talk shows people already love,” added Mohan.

YouTube has consistently dominated Nielsen’s monthly Gauge report. TV has long been a priority for YouTube; in last year’s letter, Mohan noted that the YouTube TV vMVPD passed 8 million subscribers, and that the company was investing in the platform.

“From elections to the Olympics to Coachella to the Super Bowl and the Cricket World Cup, the world’s biggest moments play out on YouTube,” Mohan said, adding that the company also plans to “roll out more tools to support podcasters, improve monetisation for creators, and make it even easier to discover podcasts” in the year ahead.

Talking about AI, he said: “As impressive as the generative models are, creators tell us they’re most excited about the ways AI can help with their bread-and-butter production. That’s why we’re investing in tools to help them in the everyday work of creation, like coming up with a new video idea, title or thumbnail. We’re also using AI to help creators find new audiences. For videos with dubbed audio, more than 40 per cent of the total watch time comes from viewers choosing to listen in a dubbed language. Last year we launched auto dubbing, which helps creators translate their videos into multiple languages with a touch of a button. Later this month, we’ll make auto dubbing available for all creators in the YouTube Partner Program. We’ll continue to make improvements here and expand to more languages throughout the year.”

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