Remember those local public access stations, mandated by the FCC decades ago, in lip service to making cable TV serve the public interest? This was something different than the Public Interest Broadcast stations that we know as PBS, and it usually featured a “low rent” type “Studio” space with minimal TV production equipment. It was theoretically open to any member of the public that wanted to create content, and have it narrow cast on a special local cable channel, that few knew how to find, and fewer watched, with some very rare exceptions.
For some reason public access TV stations didn’t turn into YouTube…perhaps because besides being narrow cast, the abysmal production values sank like a TV thrown in the river, when compared to commercial TV. Although it did feature a lot of eccentric and quirky video, which YouTube also has.
But YouTube has so many other types of content besides eccentric, and is already one of the world’s leading educational platforms. There’s a “how to” for just about anything you might want to learn to DIY. And the production values might be low sometimes, but for watching for short periods on computer screens and on mobile equipment, that’s not so important. Also, smart phones have surprisingly good cameras and video capability for low cost.
Don’t think the FCC had anything to do with the creation of YouTube, and its rocket ship ride towards an “everyone is a video content producer” future, but maybe by simply not regulating it, YouTube was made possible.
YouTube isn’t fully a public access channel, in that it’s controlled by Google, and there are rules and “standards” restricting content, as well as economic structures that funnel most of the “cream” into Google’s bank accounts. One of the “facts’ below is puzzling, as the revenue/ expense ratio is a negative number. Presumably Google is deriving other assets and revenue not noted below.
Also one is curious how much control governments have over content, such as in countries that censor content online actively, or ferociously, as in China. And will Google have to modify their privacy policies as big tech comes under more scrutiny for untoward data collection of user information?
From MerchDope
37 Mind Blowing YouTube Facts, Figures and Statistics – 2019
June 15, 2019
Youtube launched on February 14th, 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. Now it is the 2nd most visited website in the world.
Facts and Numbers
1. The very first YouTube video was uploaded on 23 April 2005.
2. The total number of people who use YouTube – 1,300,000,000.
3. 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute!
4. Almost 5 billion videos are watched on Youtube every single day.
5. YouTube gets over 30 million visitors per day
6. In an average month, 8 out of 10 18-49 year-olds watch YouTube.
7. By 2025, half of the viewers under 32 will not subscribe to a pay-TV service.
8. 6 out of 10 people prefer online video platforms to live TV
9. The total number of hours of video watched on YouTube each month – 3.25 billion.
10, 113 Youtube videos generated over 1 billion views.
11. 80% of YouTube’s views are from outside of the U.S.
12. The average number of mobile YouTube video views per day is 1,000,000,000
13. The average mobile viewing session lasts more than 40 minutes. This is up with more than 50% year-over-year.
14. Female users are 38% and male users are 62%.
15. User Percentage by Age 18-24 – 11%, 25-34 – 23%, 35-44 – 26%, 45-54 – 16%, 50-64 – 8%, 65+ – 3%, unknown age – 14%.
16. More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices.
17. YouTube’s mobile revenue is up to 2x y/y.
18. YouTube overall and even YouTube on mobile alone reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the U.S.
19. The number of hours people spend watching videos (aka watch time) on YouTube is up 60% year-over-year, the fastest growth we’ve seen in 2 years.
20. You can navigate YouTube in a total of 76 different languages (covering 95% of the Internet population).
21. YouTube has launched local versions in more than 88 countries.
22. 9% of U.S small businesses use Youtube
23. Approximately 20% of the people who start your video will leave after the first 10 seconds. Create a damn good intro.
YouTube Company Financials
1. The Annual cost of running and maintaining YouTube is $6,350,000,000.
2. Google’s annual revenue generated from YouTube is $4,000,000,000.
3. Youtube generate 6% of Google’s ad sales revenue.
4. Since 2007 YouTube has paid $1,250,000,000 to rights holders.
5. Google paid $1,65 billion for YouTube in November of 2006.
6. Sequoia Capital invested only $11.5 million into YouTube in November 2005.
7. Partners revenue is up 50% y/y for the last 3 years.
8. The World highest paid YouTube stars earned a combined total of $127 million in 2017. This is a huge increase compared to $54.5 million in 2015.
9. The highest paid Youtube partner is Daniel Middleton – DanTDM with annual income reaching $16.5 million for 2017.
10. The youngest YouTube star Ryan ToysReview who is six years old made $11,000,000 in 2017.
11. The number of channels earning six figures per year on YouTube is up 50% y/y.
12. The number of advertisers running video ads on YouTube is up more than 40% y/y. And for Youtube top 100 advertisers, the average spend per advertiser is up over 60% y/y.