Short-form video is a format designed for mobile — these vertically oriented videos are designed to fit the shape of a smartphone. But according to YouTube, this kind of content has become quite popular on the big screen. It seems counterintuitive, but the data is hard to argue with: YouTube viewers watch 2 billion hours of YouTube Shorts — the platform’s clips of up to three minutes — on TVs every month.
“The living room is YouTube’s fastest-growing screen, and the Shorts experience further helps viewers connect with the world’s most active community of creators from the comfort of their couch,” said Kurt Wilms, YouTube’s senior director of product management for YouTube on TV. “We’ve found that audiences increasingly want to watch their favorite content on the biggest screen in the home, whether it’s long-form content, podcasts or Short.”
Living room has become a major growth target for YouTube as a whole. American viewers alone watch over 200 million hours of YouTube content every day. YouTube shows Shorts in search results from users watching on TV, so even if they didn’t intend to watch a one-minute clip on the big screen, they might end up checking one out anyway. Google TV, a platform from YouTube’s parent company Alphabet, recently announced one “Videos for you soon” series on the Google TV stream, which is supposed to further boost watch time.
Because there’s so much extra screen real estate available when you’re watching a vertical video on TV, YouTube has updated the viewing experience to show comments next to the video.
“By adapting Shorts for the big screen, we’ve unlocked a more immersive way for fans to interact with their favorite content, while creating a massive new stage for creators to reach global audiences and scale their businesses,” said Sarah Ali, vice president of product management for YouTube Shorts, in a press release.
This trend has even extended to podcast viewership, even though podcasts are generally an audio-first medium. Streaming companies are increasingly betting on podcasts to become the new daytime talk show — something people can turn on and watch, but still get the gist of if they get up to do something else while listening to TV from the next room.
According to YouTube, viewers were watching 700 million hours podcasts each month on living room devices by 2025, up from 400 million per month in 2024. Netflix has also invested heavily in video podcasts — signing deals with iHeartMedia, Barstool Sports, Spotify and other studios to acquire exclusive video rights to certain shows.
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