In a blog post outlook for 2025, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan reveals that television screens have overtaken other devices as the primary viewing medium in the United States. The transformation reflects broader changes in how consumers engage with streaming content as traditional television and digital video platforms increasingly converge. 

Nielsen data indicates YouTube has maintained the top position in U.S. streaming watch time for two consecutive years, highlighting the platform’s expanding role in media consumption.

The Platform’s Cultural Impact

YouTube’s role in socio-cultural affairs was particularly evident during recent political events. “This was clear in the lead up to the 2024 U.S. Presidential election as Americans came to YouTube for election-related content from a broad range of sources,” Mohan notes, citing Joe Rogan’s interview with President Trump, which “garnered 55 million views (and counting).”

In addition, he says YouTube has become “the epicenter of culture,” highlighting its role in broadcasting events from “the Olympics to Coachella to the Super Bowl and the Cricket World Cup.” YouTube’s viewership for the Olympics was indeed significant, with over 850 million unique viewers consuming Olympics-related content on the platform. During the Games, YouTube users watched over 40 billion minutes of Olympic content, equivalent to over 650 million hours.

Globally, the platform has been able to reach a broader audience, thus becoming a conduit for cultural connections. “In 2024, more than 95% of French creator Sarah Lezito’s watch time came from outside of France,” Mohan reports. 

Monetization and Business Growth

Along with the growth of YouTube, content creators are also developing more sophisticated business operations. “Creators are bringing that startup mindset to Hollywood: leaning into new models of production, building studios to elevate their production quality, and exploring new creative avenues,” Mohan explains. 

He points to examples like Alan Chikin Chow’s 10,000-square-foot Burbank studio and similar facilities being built by creators in Birmingham, Alabama, and North Vancouver.

“Last year, more than 50% of channels earning five figures or more (USD) on YouTube made money from sources other than ads & YouTube Premium,” Mohan reveals, adding that the platform saw “more than a 40% increase in channel memberships.”

Television and Streaming

As YouTube expands beyond its digital-first roots, traditional television viewing has become central to its growth strategy. “Viewers are watching, on average, over 1B hours of YouTube content on TVs daily,” Mohan states, noting that this not only underlies shifting viewing patterns but will also likely impact content creation dynamics.

Another area of YouTube’s operations that has seen significant growth is its subscription services. For instance, YouTube TV now has over 8 million subscribers, and YouTube Music & Premium has over 100 million subscribers (including trials).

A fresh We Are Social study has found that 91.9% of internet users now watch TV content via streaming services each month, while traditional broadcast television reaches 87.8% of users. Streaming accounts for 43.3% of total TV viewing time globally, compared to 56.7% for traditional broadcast content.

AI Integration and Content Innovation

As far as content creation and distribution are concerned, Mohan recognizes the ongoing impact of artificial intelligence technologies. “For videos with dubbed audio, more than 40% of the total watch time comes from viewers choosing to listen in a dubbed language.” 

The power of audio translation is best demonstrated by GLITCH’s recent success with the “Amazing Digital Circus” cartoon pilot on the platform, which features 20 audio tracks. Since its release in October 2023, the video has garnered over 367M views.

While initially focusing on knowledge and educational content creators, the CEO adds that the platform plans to “make auto dubbing available for all creators in the YouTube Partner Program.”

A recent YouTube-commissioned Radius study indicates that 92% of creators already use AI tools, with 74% reporting a great deal or fair amount of knowledge about the technology. Despite this high adoption rate, 90% of creators feel they are not using AI to its fullest extent, suggesting room for growth and education.

Looking ahead, Mohan emphasizes YouTube’s commitment to responsible AI development: “We’re focused on building the right guardrails to protect creatives on YouTube. This means developing new tools to help individuals detect and control how AI is used to depict them on YouTube.”