Advertising: YouTube, a real competitor on living room television

The traditional television channels, in France and elsewhere, are quite right to want to keep a place of choice on Smart TV home screens . According to “The Information”, YouTube, the video subsidiary of Google (Alphabet) would be watched in the United States for almost half (45%) on traditional television and not computers and smartphones. Internal data at this site indicated much less than 30% in 2020.

“We are seeing a sea change in the way people consume content: more and more people are watching YouTube on the biggest screen in their homes,” said YouTube’s new CEO. Neal Mohan , during the “Upfront” presentation of the platform’s new features to advertisers, Wednesday evening in New York. “According to Nielsen, YouTube is the leader in streaming watch time on television screens in the United States. Viewers, especially younger ones, no longer distinguish between the types of content they watch,” he said.

New formats

At Lincoln Center, where YouTube presented its new products in a precise show concluded by the “creators” Doja Cat and Jacob Collier, the platform also offered advertisers 30-second adver that could not be cut. A very television format…

In the United States, YouTube now weighs 8.1% of television viewing (April figure), against 6.9% six months earlier and against 6.9% for Netflix, calculates Nielsen. According to “The Information”, the bulk of YouTube’s viewing comes from its main service and not from the paid channels that it aggregates like a traditional distributor.

While all television broadcasters, streamers included, presented their offers of advertising space in recent days in New York, specialists expect that YouTube will generate as many advertising orders as large television groups like Disney or NBCUniversal , says “The Information”.

Ahead of its Upfront on Wednesday, the sector estimated that YouTube, which is increasingly highlighting its presence on the “small screen”, could total $7 billion in orders for next year, even if that includes advertising. on other Google spaces in packages.

8.1% of TV consumption

The subsidiary of Google does not give all the details of its income, mainly advertising. But specialists in the sector believe that it can calibrate its offers and prices according to the medium on which the videos and therefore the adver are viewed. What seems certain is that if YouTube has seen its revenue double in three years to 29 billion dollars in 2022, it is thanks to paid advertising on television.

For the moment, in Europe, YouTube seems less present on the television than in its country of origin. Philippe Bailly, of NPA Conseil, notes that the market is reasoning on a television weight of around 30% of videos viewed on YouTube in France, as elsewhere in Europe.

The annual estimate of his office for the advertising turnover generated by YouTube on television is around 150 million euros in France. A figure may rise, especially if the penetration of connected televisions, on which the homepage is made up of channel applications, increases.

150 million TV revenues in France

If YouTube is not this year on the same growth slope as before (its last quarterly income even fell by 2.6%, to 6.7 billion), its growing presence on television is affecting the audience of traditional channels, and, for commercial channels, their advertising revenues. In a context where this market is shrinking at the start of the year and where Netflix has also launched in advertising.

For a long time, the historical channels claimed to be the ideal setting for brand building campaigns – different from direct marketing – in a universe protected from potentially offensive videos found on the Web. However, YouTube videos watched on TV are longer. This is accentuated by the purchase of sporting event rights. YouTube has as well paid $2 billion per year to broadcast the Sunday matches of the American National Football League. This content is paid, but comes with ads. In addition, with many influencers becoming more professional, the boundary with TV content is more blurred.