“We have started to see creators prioritizing high-quality viewing experiences that shine the brightest on TV screens,” said YouTube’s TV senior director of product management Kurt Wilms. “The share of videos uploaded to YouTube in 4K is up by over 35 percent year over year, so creators are certainly adjusting their content for the big screen.”

The Spotter showcase signals a major shift in how YouTube creators position themselves in the media landscape. By adopting an upfront-style format — traditionally used by TV networks to court advertisers — Spotter and its roster of top YouTubers are making a clear play for bigger brand partnerships and a larger share of ad dollars. 

In his open letter, Mohan expressed excitement about YouTube’s television shift, writing that “YouTubers are becoming the startups of Hollywood.” At the Spotter Showcase, creators’ presentations appeared to be tailored to back up this assertion. 

Kinigra Deon, for example, announced to the audience of CMOs and media buyers that CTV viewers accounted for 75 percent of her channel’s total watch time, and the topic of connected TV came up repeatedly throughout speakers’ presentations. “If they would look at us like true media companies, as they would to a movie or TV production and traditional media — if we can get that same type of messaging across to them, I’m going to be like, ‘this is an excellent event,’” Deon told Digiday in an interview ahead of the showcase. 

Although YouTube does not publicly share individual creators’ viewership-by-device percentages, the Spotter Showcase highlighted the types of YouTubers who are benefiting most from the platform’s CTV shift: creators with high production values and long-form content. When asked to flag specific creators who enjoyed a high share of CTV viewership, a YouTube representative listed the toddler video creator Ms Rachel, whose channel “had one of the highest watchtimes on TVs across YouTube channels in 2024,” and stunt performer Michelle Khare, whose October 2024 video about becoming a black belt in 90 days had over 40 percent of its viewers tune in via TV devices in the weeks after it published.

“Being millennials, we grew up with television. The reality is that, 15 years later, creators like Kinigra, like Dude Perfect, like MrBeast, are producing at the level of TV — we’re in the 30-minute-plus window, with scripted content,” said host Samir Chaudry in an interview with Digiday before the event. “And audiences have followed; they’re watching on connected TVs, they’re watching for longer periods of time. I think the next chapter for this world is for the advertising industry to also recognize and catch up to the fact that creators are producing what we used to know as linear TV.”

Media buyers who spoke to Digiday about the showcase declined to speak on-the-record, but the general consensus was enthusiasm, particularly over the fact that the event was focused on individual creators and their content, rather than the platforms and their offerings. Across the board, buyers expressed interest in seeing more creator-focused upfront-style events crop up. 

Additionally, the Spotter Showcase was focused on creators’ ability to integrate sponsors and advertisers into their videos in the form of branded content and product placement, rather than through traditional YouTube ads. However, YouTube is well aware of the advertiser interest sparked by its CTV viewership shift, and is looking to take advantage of it to push its homegrown ad products.

“We continue to evolve our ads experience on connected TVs because YouTube is the best bet for staying relevant and connected with a brand’s audience,” Wilms said. “With nearly every major streaming service going ad-supported, YouTube is the only service that can provide both the reach and the viewership and engagement that advertisers need.”

https://digiday.com/?p=573537