YouTube CEO: Podcasts A 2025 Priority, With Focus On Show Discovery.

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says creators should expect more for the company in the coming months, with his plans for 2024 focused on making it easier for users of the video streaming app to find new shows.

“One of the most relevant formats driving culture — podcasts — is thriving on YouTube,” says Mohan in his annual letter to the YouTube community. “We’ve long invested in the podcast experience and creators have found that video makes this format even more compelling. This year we’ll roll out more tools to support podcasters, improve monetization for creators, and make it even easier to discover podcasts.”

YouTube says viewers watched more than 400 million hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices last year. That comes as Mohan reveals that YouTube now gets more consumption on television sets in the US than on mobile devices.

“For more and more people, watching TV means watching YouTube. Viewers are watching, on average, over one billion hours of YouTube content on TVs daily, and TV is now the primary device for YouTube viewing in the US,” Mohan says. “It’s interactive and includes things like Shorts (yes, people watch them on TVs), podcasts, and live streams, right alongside the sports, sitcoms and talk shows people already love.”

As more creators produce content for the television screens, Mohan says they view mobile devices as a “second screen experience” that lets viewers use your phone to interact with the video they are watching on TV, such as to leave a comment or make a purchase.

YouTube is also experimenting with a new feature called Watch With, which enables creators to provide live commentary and real-time reactions to games and events. “We began testing this feature last year with the NFL and will experiment with other sports and types of content this year,” he says.

Mohan says the growth of television as a place where YouTube is being consumed is also attracting new advertisers. To keep that momentum going, he says the companies continue to introduce formats that work particularly well on the TV screen, like QR codes and pause ads.

“Our subscription services are seeing a lot of momentum, too,” he says. “YouTube TV has more than eight million subscribers and YouTube Music & Premium has more than 100 million subscribers including trials.” But he also notes that more than half of the channels earning five figures or more on YouTube last year made money from sources other than ads and YouTube Premium. Shopping recommendations are also becoming a key revenue stream for many creators. And last year it saw more than a 40% increase in channel memberships.

This year marks YouTube’s 20th birthday. In two decades, Mohan says YouTube has transformed culture through video and built a thriving creative economy. And while it’s still the early days, he says AI is making a big difference in how people create and consume content on YouTube.

“As impressive as the generative models are, creators tell us they’re most excited about the ways AI can help with their bread-and-butter production,” he says. “That’s why we’re investing in tools to help them in the everyday work of creation, like coming up with a new video idea, title or thumbnail.”

Last year it launched auto dubbing, which helps creators translate their videos into multiple languages with a touch of a button. The result is YouTube says that for videos with dubbed audio, more than 40% of the total watch time comes from viewers choosing to listen in a dubbed language. Later this month, Mohan says the company will make auto dubbing available for all creators in the YouTube Partner Program.