YouTube has worked diligently to become a player in the podcast space. The company has seen that come to fruition as more than 1 billion users utilize the service for podcasts each month.
As of January 2025, the company has reached 1 billion monthly active viewers of podcast content. Additionally, more than 400 million hours of podcast content were seen on living room devices monthly in 2024.
“This milestone underscores how YouTube has come to play an essential role in podcasting for creators and audiences, and how our investments to improve the podcast experience on YouTube are paying off,” Vice President of Partnerships and Podcasts Tim Katz said.
In the latest Nielsen metrics, YouTube commanded 10.8% of all television viewing in January. That figure has fluctuated between 8.5% (December 2023) and 11.1% (December 2024) since the Media Distributor Gauge was first unveiled in November 2023. Only The Walt Disney Company — which encompasses the ABC and ESPN family of linear television networks, as well as streaming platforms like Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ — routinely finishes ahead of YouTube in the overall television viewership rankings.
The news that the digital video platform has surpassed more than 1 billion active monthly podcast users comes on the heels of data released by the company that says, on average, viewers are watching more than 1 billion hours of YouTube content on TVs daily.
Additionally, 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the company now owned by Google.
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