NEW YORK, SEPT 19 – YouTube beefed up its platform with new content tools for users yesterday as it competes with streaming services like Netflix on most home television screens.
Alphabet’s popular video-sharing platform on computers, tablets and smartphones already has fans watching on television screens.
YouTube’s subscription streaming service is also gaining traction, where it offers live broadcasts on more than 100 channels, in partnership with existing networks.
“It’s the fastest-growing viewing screen,” YouTube chief Neal Mohan said of television at a presentation to the platform’s content creators in New York.
“So it’s a really big screen for all our creators,” he added.
The new tools include ways to optimize content for large screen viewing and offer content in a format similar to that found on a television screen where it contains episodes and seasons.
People around the world watch more than one billion hours of YouTube videos every day on television screens at home, Mohan added.
The number of creators seeking income from YouTube has increased by about 30 percent in the past year, according to the company.
Streaming made history last July, accounting for 41.4 percent of total television viewing time in the United States, according to Nielsen.
YouTube became the first streaming platform to command a 10 percent share of television viewing time, followed by Netflix with 8.4 percent, according to Nielsen.
To build on its momentum, YouTube will begin offering cinematic versions of creator videos, which will be optimized for viewing on television.
YouTube also announced it will allow creators to organize content into episodes or seasons, a move designed to make it more familiar to television viewers. – AFP
