YouTube users spend 6 billion hours a month watching online

Visitors to video-sharing site YouTube are spending up to a whopping six billion hours a month watching the videos it has to offer.

 

Robert Kyncl, YouTube's vice president and global head of content partnerships, said this is part of what he branded as an "exciting year of growth" for YouTube and its partners.

 

"We recently announced that YouTube hit an incredible milestone of one billion unique monthly visitors, connecting 15 percent of the planet to the videos they love. And those global fan communities are watching more than six billion hours of video each month on YouTube; almost an hour a month for every person on Earth and 50 percent more this year than last," Kyncl said in a blog post.

 

He also noted major media entities like Time Warner, The Chernin Group, Bertelsman, Discovery Communications and Comcast had made "significant investments" in companies that create, aggregate or service content for YouTube in the last 12 months.

 

A separate article on CNET said the six billion hours is 50 percent higher than last year and up substantially from just January, when YouTube users were watching four billion hours of videos per month.

 

Latest potential

 

The latest potential plus for YouTube is the acquisition by DreamWorks Animation of AwesomenessTV, one of the "most subscribed-to, teen-focused networks on YouTube," Kyncl said.

 

Such an acquisition lets DreamWorks align itself with Brian Robbins’ powerful, next-generation, online video powerhouse, Kyncl noted.

 

He also cited the emerging Generation C, an audience he described as wanting to be "constantly connected, and at the center of creating and curating content for social communities."

 

Kyncl added DreamWorks Animation’s major announcement shows a shift in consumer behavior.

 

YouTube's reach

 

Kyncl said figures from Nielsen indicate YouTube reaches more U.S. adults aged 18-34 than any cable network.

 

"And history--from the transition to radio, then TV, from network to cable--tells us that advertisers always follow the audience," he said.

 

Kyncl also announced the ANA Alliance for Family Entertainment (AFE), a group of nearly 40 national advertisers, whose combined ad spending represents 37 percent of all U.S. television advertising dollars.

 

AFE is to buy media across 32 channels of family-friendly content on YouTube, he noted.

 

Kyncl said YouTube and various brands share a common objective, to "cultivate a direct relationship with their consumers, one built on engagement and authenticity."

 

"(I)t isn’t just about rallying behind one show; it is about reaching the passionate fan communities of Gen C, an audience that influences more than $500 billion in annual consumer spending. As a result, we’re seeing a myriad of brands increasing their media spend, building channels, and discovering first-hand that the interactions they have with their fans on YouTube drive engagement," he said. — TJD, GMA News