Youtubers are dominating Indian living rooms by taking a page out of the TV playbook

Here’s a riddle inspired by true events. We all know that pay TV subscribers have been declining for a while now. But at the same time, overall TV viewership has only been increasing. How can that be?

Well, for that we have Youtube to thank. In the first half of 2024, Indians spent 8 trillion minutes watching videos. More than 90% of this was on Youtube. Now, generally when someone says the words ‘watch on youtube’ you imagine a mobile phone or a laptop right? That seems to be changing as a lot more people are watching Youtube videos on their TV sets. In Uttar Pradesh alone, Youtube reaches about 90 million households through connected television sets.

And here’s the surprising part. This is roughly equal to or more than the reach of television programming.

Youtube is now entering TV territory, by luring viewers into watching new format shows. Like comedian Samay Raina’s “pointless reality show” India’s got latent. Eight episodes have been aired since June, and so far, they’ve gotten up to 4X more views than the channel’s nearly 4 million subscriber base.

Many similar Youtube channels are offering their subscribers TV like programming to keep them hooked. Plus, what makes them really stand out is that most often than not, these shows are better produced, that too on cheaper budgets.

Looks like its time for TV channels to buckle up and fight for the throne...or couch!

Tune in.

We are hosting our first live recording! If you are in your 20s, like to run or just enjoy meeting new people, sign up for The Ken X 56 Run Club. This is for our Bengaluru-based listeners only. We meet at 7:30 am near Tonique on Kasturba Gandhi road.