YouTube TV Rising: Do Traditional Media Companies Need a User-Generated Strategy?

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YouTube comprises 10% of all TV viewing in the US, according to Nielsen in its latest monthly report on streaming, so why do advertisers seem reluctant to buy ads on YouTube streamed to connected TVs?

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Because they still think of Google’s platform as a place for cat videos.

The statistic unveiled by Nielsen is less remarkable than the claim that YouTube’s whopping share of TV viewing time has gone under the radar of media buyers and sellers.

It’s the latest in “the continued denialism in the media and ad communities about YouTube’s scale, and prominence in the eyes of many users,” says Mike Shields, writing on Substack. “The Google-owned video platform is a CTV juggernaut, like it or not.”

Shields, a strategic consultant and the host of industry podcast Next in Marketing, takes aim at TV and brand marketers who don’t think of YouTube as “real TV,” or the idea that advertising only works well in highly produced comedies and drama.

Most of YouTube is either pirated from traditional TV — or it’s just dogs on skateboards — the perception goes.

Yet this is long out of date, says Shields. Ignore the reality of what YouTube is at your peril, he warns.

Michael Beach, CEO of marketing and analytics firm Cross Screen Media, says YouTube inventory is underbought. “If you look at its TV share, it should at least be getting close to 10% of the TV market, but at best it’s maybe 4%.”

Beach criticized media buyers for having siloed structures, leading to conflicting definitions of what even constitutes “video.”

A recent report by Accenture called on the media industry to radically reinvent itself in the wake of a seismic shift in entertainment preferences. The report found that nearly 60% of consumers regarded user-generated content as equally entertaining as traditional media.

“Traditional media companies must reinvent themselves from the ground up,” Accenture writes. “Legacy media companies need new sources of revenue; they need to take on new roles in the entertainment value chain. They need to rethink the customers they serve and even the industries where they chose to compete.”

“Instead of knocking platforms like YouTube as havens for UGC, do traditional media companies need a user-generated strategy?” poses Shields.

Amazon recently struck a deal to produce a show with YouTube mega-star MrBeast. “You might ask,” as Shield does, “why didn’t CBS?”

On YouTube, viewers aren’t the problem. It’s the perception of people who don’t watch YouTube that is.