YouTube already won the streaming wars

There are plenty of streaming services on the market in 2025, and each of them has its fair share of fans. Even newcomers like Peacock and Max have been able to carve out an audience, although both of them pale in comparison to Netflix. To be fair, there’s not much that can compete with Netflix’s subscriber base, but what might shock you is that Netflix isn’t actually even the most popular streaming service. That distinction actually goes to YouTube.

You might think that YouTube isn’t a way people watch TV, but you’d be wrong. YouTube secured 11.6% of all TV viewing in February, giving it the edge over the likes of Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, and any other streaming platform.

I think the statistics prove it’s time to start taking YouTube more seriously, especially when you factor in that more people are watching videos on their TV than on their phones these days. YouTube is home to all types of long-form content, and you can find quite a few livestreams at any given time of the day. Coupled with the fact that it’s free of charge, it’s a service that has to start being taken seriously. What’s even crazier about it is that the growth seen by YouTube doesn’t have a ceiling. That should be very scary for anybody trying to compete.

Related

YouTube thinks it needs to be like Netflix to get its users to spend more money

YouTube’s upcoming TV app update will reportedly showcase paid shows from other streaming services on its homepage.

YouTube can’t be ignored any longer

It’s a true powerhouse

Maybe a decade or so ago, a lot people thought YouTube was home to a bunch of funny videos or people playing video games, and while that’s still the case, there’s a lot more to the service now. There are plenty of deep dives, news broadcasts, and TV show clips to keep up with. For example, I’m a big WWE fan, and if I happen to miss an event, YouTube lets me watch pretty much anything important that happened during the show, and there are often exclusive clips there too. In some ways, YouTube acts as an essential arm of the live TV service.

The reality is that a lot of people get their entertainment and even their news from YouTube, so it’s time for the public to wake up and realize YouTube is a juggernaut in the streaming world. Although YouTube is free to use, there is a subscription that makes the viewing experience much better, and you might be shocked to know the price rivals the cost of a streaming service subscription.

Ads are a part of everyone’s viewing experience unless you pay more to get rid of them. This applies to regular cable, streaming services, and YouTube. A lot of people use ad-blockers to get around YouTube ads, but that’s not so easily done if your TV is the main way you digest content on YouTube, something that recent statistics indicate is skyrocketing in popularity. If you’re anything like me, then you’re looking for the most comfortable way to watch something, and that means getting rid of ads.

YouTube Premium costs $14 a month, a price that puts it on par with Peacock Premium with no ads. With this subscription, any video you watch has no ads, and you get access to YouTube Music. It’s a good deal if that’s what you’re into, and I imagine many viewers would benefit from this service greatly. If you don’t need the extra bells and whistles, a Premium Lite subscription is available too. Lite cuts most of the ads, but you lose access to YouTube Music. It’s a service I’m dying to sign up for, but I just haven’t had the option yet.

Related

Sorry Spotify, YouTube is now officially the biggest podcast platform in the world

YouTube is positioning itself as a leader in the podcast industry, with over one billion viewers tuning into podcasts every month on the platform.

YouTube has uncapped potential

A very unique situation

While other platforms like Netflix and Max have to make money in order to populate the service with more content, YouTube doesn’t have that issue. YouTube creators make videos to make money, and they benefit greatly from putting out good content that viewers want to watch. That gives not only them value, but also YouTube value. It should come as no surprise that people are tuning into YouTube more than other streaming services thanks to the sheer amount of content found there.

Personally, I find myself watching a lot more YouTube than anything else lately because of how easy it is to discover new things and find entertaining people. The fact that it’s free is a big benefit too. Earlier this year, Google said over 125 million subscribers signed up for YouTube Music and Premium, but that’s a number that also includes trial users. There’s no telling what the real number of subscribers is, but if it’s anything close to 125 million, that would make YouTube one of the biggest streaming services by far. It goes to show that having exclusive shows and movies isn’t the only thing needed to get people to sign up for a service.

Ease of access is a big thing, and YouTube is a household name that has just about anything you could ever think of. No, you won’t get exclusive blockbuster movies on the platform, but there’s a surprising number of movies on the service for you to watch. Despite being decades old at this point, YouTube continues to grow and disrupt the industry. I feel weird calling it my favorite streaming service, but when I sit down and think about it, I think it really is my favorite.

YouTube boasts about its viewing hours, and notes that over 70 billion viewing hours come daily from Shorts, so its TikTok alternative has carved out a strong niche for itself. YouTube’s blog post boasts about how the introduction of Premium Lite gave subscribers more ways to take control of their viewing. In early testing, more subscribers upgraded from Lite to regular Premium, which is surprising to me because I plan to do the opposite. Nevertheless, having this many people signed up for a Premium subscription means YouTube is raking in tons of cash each month. I don’t know what the future looks like for YouTube, but it’s looking very bright from where I’m sitting.

Related

Retraining my YouTube algorithm saved my sanity

Get better video recommendations by starting fresh.