The battle between YouTube vs. TV

According to a report by Pixability, YouTube viewing is growing at the fastest rate ever, with watch time up 60% year on year globally.

There has been much debate over recent years over the battle between YouTube and television and what it means exactly for businesses. Some have branded ‘TV dead’ while others have said it still remains ‘the most effective and powerful medium of all time’ and continue to use it.

Global figures found in the YouTube report reveal:

• Channel subscriptions are up 47% year on year.
• Top 100 brands, are uploading a new video to YouTube every 18.5 minutes.
• The average mobile viewing session has increased by 50% to more than 40 mins.
• The number of advertisers running video ads on YouTube is up by 40%.
• Top 100 brands media spend is up by 60%.

Click here to see more YouTube stats from the Top 100 Global study – http://www.pixability.com/top-100-brands-2015/

Marketing Week recently noted while it seems YouTube is gunning for TV ad spend, in the UK, its success isn’t as rapid as the impressive Global stats above. According to Ofcom, YouTube accounts for just 3.5% of the UK’s total video consumption while TV is 81%. The gap narrows among consumers aged 16-24 – where YouTube accounts for 7.5% of video and TV accounts for 65% – by far.

TV advertising continues to grow, with UK revenue hitting a record high of £4.91bn in 2014, up 6% from the previous year, while the number of brands new or returning to TV advertising was more than 800, according to Thinkbox.

Make peace, not war and benefit from using both!

If budgets permitted, as with any large scale campaign it’s advisable to best spread your message to the relevant mediums that your target audience use, see and hear.

In fact, Thinkbox says the question shouldn’t be TV versus YouTube or online video, the IPA’s econometric study on “Advertising Effectiveness: the long and short of it” says the two complement each other extremely well.

Want to find out more on the benefits of using YouTube or television or both. Get in touch with The Media Angel to find out how your brand can be seen on a regional, national or global level.