YouTube dominates live broadcasting.. Does the media see it as a friend or an enemy?

It’s been almost 20 years since Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube was founded. It no longer just dominates the internet, it’s also taken over our living room TVs.
YouTube accounted for 9.7% of total U.S. connected and traditional TV viewing in May — the largest share of TV viewing on a streaming platform, according to Nielsen’s monthly viewership report. Netflix came in second with 7.6%.
But media companies like Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery don’t really know whether YouTube is friend or foe.

According to CNBC, some media executives see YouTube as a friendly platform for streaming services and traditional TV, while others see it as an existential threat to the entertainment industry.
YouTube’s dominance is growing. Its users watch more than a billion hours of content on TV every day, and more than 150 million Americans watch the platform on connected TVs every month, according to the company.

In 2023, its advertising revenue reached $31.5 billion, up 8% from 2022 and 271% from six years earlier, and rose 21% in the first quarter of 2024 to $8.1 billion.

Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006. Michael Nathanson, a media analyst at MoffettNathanson, estimates that the standalone platform could be worth $400 billion, dwarfing Disney and Comcast combined.

These facts have prompted media and entertainment companies to adopt strategies to combat the growing threat.

Disney executives are adapting to YouTube’s growing dominance, given its appeal to young people, according to people familiar with the matter. They are using it and other social media sites to promote Disney parks, merchandise, movies and shows.

Disney is also considering sharing more episodes of its Disney Plus and Hulu series aimed at kids and adults directly on YouTube to attract audiences who haven’t subscribed to its platforms, a person familiar with the matter said.

Netflix, on the other hand, takes a different angle. It doesn’t see YouTube as the only threat, but rather one of several it is considering. For now, Netflix executives see YouTube as serving different consumer needs.

Advertisements are the biggest threat. The two platforms have been competing for ad revenue since Netflix launched a cheaper subscription version that includes ads in November 2022. It said in May that it had 40 million global monthly active users for its ad tier, a tiny number compared to YouTube’s roughly 2 billion monthly active users.

Comcast-owned NBCUniversal has been experimenting with ways to mimic YouTube Shorts, the short-form video service on its Peacock service. But that approach is seen as outdated compared to TikTok and Instagram Reels, says Nathanson, who sees the future in AI-powered, user-customized content.

For its part, Amazon is trying a more direct plan of attack. It has partnered with Mr. Beast, the biggest star on its rival YouTube, to create a reality TV show. Mr. Beast has the most subscribers on YouTube, 289 million. Amazon expects revenue of a whopping $700 million in 2024.

But doubts surround the success of YouTube creators’ experience with subscription services due to different audience expectations and production speeds.

Warner Bros. Discovery, on the other hand, seems less concerned about YouTube. It’s targeting a different niche, focusing on high-profile dramas and adult movies that are beyond what YouTube can afford.

There may be room for both subscription streaming platforms and YouTube to thrive, each going its own way, but that depends on whether YouTube users grow up and lose interest in the type of content offered there.