What People Watch

You might be surprised by this headline. YouTube reached 28.4m individuals on a TV set, but 33.7m on a smartphone in October 2023. That is quite a gap, so how is it that TV sets will become more important?

Well, for some audiences, reach on TV sets is higher than on smartphones already. And it’s not always the audiences you might be thinking. Then there are the actions of YouTube themselves. In the US, broadcast TV content is making its way to YouTube – like the NFL Sunday ticket package moving there which was announced in December 2022. Or the return of 30-second unskippable ads to the UK, announced last month.

At this point we should be clear that our measurement of YouTube does not currently include viewing that takes place away from the home Wi-Fi network. If YouTube is viewed via a mobile network or on another Wi-Fi network, this time is not currently reflected in our data. While this is not likely to impact reach significantly, it does mean time on devices used outside of the home – notably smartphones – is not reported.

Caveat served, let’s look at what we can currently see of the overall picture, focusing on share by device first.

Chart 1: YouTube has the most varied device split
Source: Barb. All individuals 4+. October 2023.

For all individuals 4+, we can see smartphones just edge TV sets in terms of share of viewing for YouTube. We can also see that device share is different on YouTube than on other services. YouTube offers a mix of long and short-form content that can help to explain this spread. Some is well-produced content that may even have aired on a broadcast channel. Other videos are cats being scared by cucumbers. These different content types can lend themselves more readily to different screens.

Focusing on YouTube and breaking by age, we can see that for children, TV sets take the greatest share of viewing.

Chart 2: Children watch most of their YouTube on a TV set
Source: Barb. October 2023.

Smartphones still account for the greatest share of viewing for all adults, apart from those aged 55+, where the gap is only one percentage point. These are snapshots though. What if we look longitudinally?

YouTube viewers’ time with TV sets is growing

During the nearly two years that we have data available, TV sets have taken an increased share of viewing for YouTube. In December 2021, the figure was 28%. By October 2023, it was 34%. The upward trend is clear to see in chart three.

Chart 3: PCs and tablets take a declining share of time with YouTube
Source: Barb December 2021 – October 2023.

The share of viewing on smartphones is stable, while PCs and tablets are taking a smaller share. In terms of actual time spent though, YouTube is up 16% for October year-on-year. So, is this lower share for PCs and tablets masking an actual increase in minutage? Not on this occasion. The decline in share is matched by a decline in overall viewing minutes on PCs and tablets.

Chart three holds another interesting point. In December 2022, we see a jump in TV sets’ share. This is most likely caused by people replacing old TVs ahead of the football world cup in Qatar. New TVs make it much easier to access YouTube. Some even feature a YouTube button on the remote.

Two-thirds of those only viewing on YouTube via a smartphone are 35+

Having looked at share by device, what can reach tell us? Unique reach figures across each of the four screens demonstrate that smartphones provide greatest reach for all individuals. In October 2023, YouTube reached 9.7m individuals on smartphones and no other screen. That figure was 7.3m for TV sets, 3m for PCs and 2.3m for tablets. These single-screen users accounted for 44% of YouTube’s four-screen reach of 51m, so the majority consumed via at least two different screens in the month. This again shows smartphones as the most important screen for YouTube.

This is a little simplistic though. If we cut by different demographics, we can see that certain devices reach some groups better than others. Of those 9.7m who only watch on smartphones we might assume the majority are younger, but actually 67% are 35+. Of the 7.3m watching only on a TV set, 61% are under 35. And this is before we understand the content viewers are watching. Or take into account the power of a message viewed from the sofa rather than the seat of a train, bus or cafe.

Reporting YouTube to comparable standards

Isolating these audiences via YouTube is useful for those looking to extend campaign reach into younger audiences. Ideally, those impacts delivered by YouTube would then be available to analyse in conjunction with those delivered by commercial broadcasters.

To this end, and in response to our industry consultation at the end of 2022, we have committed to the measurement of all brand-safe content on YouTube (defined as content meeting standards set by the advertiser-endorsed GARM initiative) and within that, content which would be considered fit-for-TV.

Fit-for-TV content is brand safe, makes an effort to adhere to current regulation and is produced with editorial oversight or planning. You can read in more detail about this here. Our ambition is that planners will be able to analyse impacts on the TV set in the same way, be they delivered by YouTube or a broadcaster.

And what of the assertion that the TV set will become the most important device for YouTube? Predictions are inherently dangerous, but in December 2022 minutage with YouTube on smartphones dropped by 3%, while on TV sets there was an increase of 22% compared to December 2021. Similar changes this year could see TV sets become the leading device for YouTube viewing in the UK by year-end.

Surprising maybe. Perhaps the switch will come more slowly. But the importance of YouTube as part of the television viewing landscape is growing. This sharpens the need for buyers to understand the service in more detail.

Doug Whelpdale, Head of Insight, Barb