Number of channels uploading Shorts grew 50% YoY: YouTube CEO

In a recent letter, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan shared that YouTube Shorts is averaging over 70 billion daily views, and the number of channels uploading Shorts has grown 50% year over year. The letter primarily addressed the 4 big bets for 2024, one of which was ‘AI will empower human creativity’. “Shorts is an easy way for anyone to get started, and AI innovation will make it possible for even more people to create. I love seeing how people use Shorts to participate in cultural moments,” he said. 

The blog noted that the company is levelling the playing field and developing AI tools that empower everyone. “Our commitment to democratizing access to AI builds on the ways we’re enabling everyone to share fun videos right from their phones with Shorts,” Mohan added. 

The next big bet for the company this year is ‘Creators should be recognized as next-generation studios’. Mohan shared that the number of creators using memberships increased more than 50% last year, and creators are seeing the impact of fan funding. “Being a creator is a full-time job with an international audience, but most governments don’t account for creators in their labour data. We believe creators should be recognized for their work and creators at the top of their game should be acknowledged in key industry forums,” he further wrote. 

Further, the blog said that YouTube’s next frontier is the living room and subscriptions. According to Mohan, viewers globally now watch more than 1 billion hours on average of YouTube content on their TVs every day. According to Nielsen's report on streaming in the U.S., YouTube was the leader in streaming watchtime for the past 11 months. 

“Creators are thinking about how to optimize their content for the living room, and it’s easy to see why – it’s where their audience is watching! In the last three years, the number of top creators that received the majority of their watchtime on the big screen increased more than 400%,” he said. The company is also seeing growing consumer interest in its subscription services. “We’re excited to announce that we have more than 8 million subscribers to YouTube TV,” Mohan wrote. 

The last big bet was ‘Protecting the creator economy is foundational’. “We uphold our responsibility by connecting people with high-quality information. This is more important than ever as elections take place across the globe - more than 50 countries will hold elections this year. We’re ensuring that when people look for election news on YouTube, authoritative sources are prominent in their searches and recommendations,” Mohan noted.