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As YouTube marks its 20th anniversary this year, CEO Neal Mohan is positioning the video platform as a core player in the media and entertainment ecosystem — and the culture at large.
Mohan, a longtime Google and YouTube exec, is now in his third year as CEO after assuming the role in February 2023. In his annual letter to the YouTube community, he asserted that creators are “becoming the startups of Hollywood” as they increasingly establish professional-grade media operations that are a far cry from the platform’s early DIY days.
And in the U.S., the TV is now the No. 1 device for YouTube viewing — topping desktop and mobile — underscoring the platform’s growing presence in entertainment, according to Mohan.
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“Today’s creators have moved from filming grainy videos of themselves on desktop computers to building studios and producing popular talk shows and feature-length films,” Mohan wrote. The CEO cited sports creators and trick-shot specialists Dude Perfect, who recently opened a new $5 million headquarters in Texas; buffalo-wing-challenge talk show “Hot Ones”; and Inoxtag, a French influencer who produced a 2.5-hour documentary about his preparation to climb Mount Everest.
Among other YouTubers he called out: Alan Chikin Chow, creator of “Alan’s World” and one of the top producers of YouTube Shorts videos, who opened a 10,000-square-foot studio in Burbank, Calif. (a “bold, fun and colorful space filled with cutting edge equipment that produces incredible entertainment watched by millions around the world,” wrote Mohan); Kinigra Deon, who is building a studio in Birmingham, Ala.; and the creators behind YouTube channels Mia Plays and Kouman, who opened their studio in North Vancouver last fall.
In 2024, more than 50% of channels earning at least $10,000 on YouTube generated revenue from sources other than ads and YouTube Premium, according to Mohan. Those include shopping recommendations and channel memberships. YouTube recently opened Communities, an enhanced fan-engagement hub that replaces comments, to “thousands more creators and we’ll continue expanding access this year.” The platform plans to launch Hype, a new feature that helps fans rally around up-and-coming creators, to more markets in 2025.
“It’s still the very early stages of what creator-led startups will achieve, and we’ll be there to support them at every step of the journey,” Mohan wrote.
TV recently surpassed mobile and desktop computers as the primary device for YouTube viewing in the U.S. by watch time, according to Mohan. According to Nielsen measurements, YouTube has been No. 1 service in time spent viewing in the U.S. on TVs for the past two years. In December 2024, YouTube viewing on connected TVs in the U.S. increased to capture a record 11.1% share of TV usage among streaming platforms ahead of Netflix (8.5%), Prime Video (4.0%), Hulu (2.5%) and Disney+ (2.1%), according to Nielsen.
YouTube’s growth on connected TVs is also attracting new advertisers, Mohan said. The platform continues to introduce “formats that work particularly well on the big screen, like QR codes and pause ads,” he wrote.
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As more creators produce content for TV screens, the CEO said, “we’re bringing the best of YouTube to TVs, including a second-screen experience that lets you use your phone to interact with the video you’re watching on TV — for example, to leave a comment or make a purchase.” YouTube also is testing a new feature called Watch With, which lets creators provide live commentary and real-time reactions to games and events. It first ran trials of the feature last year with the NFL and YouTube “will experiment with other sports and types of content this year,” Mohan said.
In his letter, Mohan also maintained that “YouTube will remain the epicenter of culture.” He cited YouTube estimates that on Election Day in the U.S. last November, more than 45 million viewers across the U.S. watched content related to the election on YouTube. He also referenced Joe Rogan’s pre-election interview with President Trump, which racked up more than 55 million views on YouTube alone, and political comedy sketches on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
“From elections to the Olympics to Coachella to the Super Bowl and the Cricket World Cup, the world’s biggest moments play out on YouTube,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mohan said YouTube is now the most-used service for listening to podcasts in the U.S., over Spotify and Apple Podcasts, citing research from Edison Podcast Metrics released in October. “We’ve long invested in the podcast experience and creators have found that video makes this format even more compelling,” he wrote. “This year we’ll roll out more tools to support podcasters, improve monetization for creators, and make it even easier to discover podcasts.”
Mohan closed the letter by discussing AI, saying that advances in artificial intelligence will make it easier “to create and enhance the YouTube experience.”
“AI has long been a part of our journey, from powering recommendations to producing captions to helping us identify and remove harmful content,” he wrote.
Last year, YouTube launched an AI-powered auto dubbing feature to help creators translate their videos into multiple languages. Later this month, Mohan said, YouTube will make auto dubbing available for all creators in the YouTube Partner Program. For videos with dubbed audio, more than 40% of the total watch time comes from viewers choosing to listen in a dubbed language, according to YouTube.
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Another AI initiative Mohan cited was YouTube’s partnership with CAA to let talent identify and take down AI-generated fakes of themselves that have been uploaded to the video platform. “We’ll continue to responsibly harness the power of AI to enhance the YouTube experience for everyone,” Mohan wrote.