Everyone wants a piece of YouTube
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Tech titans and Hollywood heavyweights are racing to build products and partnerships that can attract creators and eyeballs from YouTube.
Why it matters: YouTube's dominance has redefined the economics of entertainment, forcing other platforms and studios to find new ways to compete.
Driving the news: Instagram is testing videos up to 90 minutes long and bringing the platform to Apple TV as part of its expansion into connected TVs.
- The new product, called Features, supports horizontal videos, including podcasts and episodic programming.
- Clips as Reels lets creators link up to eight short videos. Series provides episodic Reels a home on creators' profiles. Instagram is also developing a feature that turns your phone into a TV remote.
Flashback: TikTok in 2024 began testing hourlong video uploads, which are still available. But unlike Instagram, TikTok no longer offers a TV app.
Zoom in: Video podcasts have become a baseline in the creator economy, prompting streamers to chase established shows and their talent.
- Netflix hired former Apple executive Steve Wilson to oversee podcasts, following deals with Spotify, iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports that brought shows like "The Breakfast Club" to the service.
- Disney is adding video versions of iHeartPodcasts, including "Hey Jonas!" and "Las Culturistas," to Disney+ and Hulu.
- Tubi partnered with SiriusXM to distribute video podcasts, including "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend."
- Amazon has brought podcasts to Prime Video through deals with creators, including Jason and Travis Kelce's "New Heights."
Between the lines: Video podcasts attract new audiences for audio players rather than cannibalizing listening, iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman told Axios at Media Trends Live last week.
- "What it did is it expanded the pie. It didn't take money from inside the pie," Pittman said, noting video also commands higher advertising rates.
Zoom out: Streamers are going beyond licensing existing shows and are developing original programming with creators.
- Disney partnered with Dude Perfect to develop content around its upcoming events, including Star Wars' 50th anniversary, "Avengers: Doomsday" and the Super Bowl.
- Netflix is developing an original science competition series called "SCHOOLED!" with YouTube star Mark Rober.
By the numbers: For years, Hollywood viewed reach as the ultimate test of success. Now, as reach has become ubiquitous with smart TVs and phones, it's about engagement, where YouTube dominates.
- YouTube captured a record 15.8% of all U.S. television viewing in August, up from 14.2% in July, per Nielsen.
- That's more than Disney's 9.3% share across its streaming and traditional TV properties, followed by Netflix at 7.7%.
The intrigue: Instagram's push into TV-like entertainment reflects how creators are already using the app.
- "I think that it's the one platform where you can kind of do everything on it," Brooklyn Coffee Shop creator Pooja Tripathi said about Instagram last month at an event celebrating the show's 100th episode.
- Tripathi called for more TV-like features, including cast and production credits, to distinguish shows from everyday posts.
The big picture: YouTube's advantage lies in its model where creators distribute content for free, share in ad revenue and negotiate their own sponsorship deals.
- Traditional streamers operate as closed ecosystems, curating programming and negotiating individual licensing and production deals.
- Yes, but: That curation offers parents more confidence in the programming choices and advertisers a brand-safe environment.
What to watch: YouTube has been pitching creators as premium entertainment as it seeks to win a bigger share of traditional TV ad budgets.
