YouTube introduced a spread of initiatives designed to draw extra TV advert {dollars} to its platform at Brandcast, its annual Upfront occasion for advertisers. Notably, the Google-owned video service is increasing its relationship with the NFL and plans to completely stream the NFL’s first Friday sport of the 2025-2026 season. It’s additionally getting ready to pilot a brand new manner for creators to achieve the viewers that watches YouTube on TV by means of simply organized and bingeable TV reveals.
The latter was first introduced at YouTube’s Made On YouTube occasion final September, the place CEO Neal Mohan defined that creators making a majority of their income on TV screens was up greater than 30% year-over-year. A brand new characteristic being supplied to pick out creators within the pilot program will permit them to prepare their content material into seasons and episodes — similar to a “actual” TV present.
Along with new efforts round “shoppable TV” and instruments that allow advertisers goal main cultural moments like awards season or The PGA Championship, for example, the corporate is as soon as once more sending a message to advertisers that it’s not simply a web-based video service, it’s truly the brand new manner folks watch “TV.”
As a part of its NFL deal, YouTube says it can completely stream the primary Friday sport hosted in São Paulo, Brazil, to a worldwide viewers. This marks the primary time that YouTube has served as a reside broadcaster for the NFL, it notes. (Within the U.S., the sport will likely be out there to YouTube TV subscribers.) The corporate identified that customers final 12 months watched over 350 million hours of NFL content material on the platform, in line with its inside knowledge, and had pulled in over 6 million reside views when it streamed the NFL’s Tremendous Bowl LIX Flag Soccer Recreation. Its expanded cope with the NFL will see it streaming that Flag Soccer sport over a number of years to return.
For creators, YouTube’s pitch focuses on bringing their content material to the lounge.
Lots of of creators will likely be part of the preliminary pilot, anticipated to launch within the U.S. this summer time, that may permit them to prepare their content material right into a viewing expertise designed for the massive display screen. Creators like Michelle Khare’s Problem Accepted and Good Legendary Morning with Rhett & Hyperlink will use the brand new instruments to show their content material into “seasons” and “episodes,” to make their content material extra bingeable on TV.
The corporate can also be rolling out methods to buy from YouTube with QR codes and different send-to-phone performance, and can look to Gemini AI to match advertisements to common, related content material.
Throughout Brandcast, YouTube featured varied case research from manufacturers like Volvo, Encourage Manufacturers (Dunkin’), Hilton, and State Farm, which have used its advertiser instruments to achieve their audiences. It additionally reminded entrepreneurs that YouTube has been No. 1 in streaming watch time within the U.S. for greater than two years, placing it forward of Netflix, Disney, and Prime Video as of March 2025. The corporate additionally touted its newer deal with podcasts, the place it now sees over 1 billion month-to-month energetic podcast customers.
