YouTube’s free TV shows will boost its watch time and appease nervous advertisers: Ad-supported TV is an obvious move, but the platform lacks access to today’s biggest hits.

US adults are spending more time watching YouTube on connected TVs and less time watching it on mobile devices. This year, for the first time since we began our forecast, less than half of time spent with YouTube will be on mobile, as viewers pivot to watching these videos on the same screen as their TV programming, separate from their TikToks and Instagram Reels.

Total time spent with media is more than 10 hours daily on average in Canada this year. In the years ahead, total time will shrink slightly, but digital formats will continue to steal time away from traditional media.

Meta, Snap, Twitter, and YouTube collectively lost an estimated $9.85 billion in the second half of 2021 because of Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) implementation, according to Lotame data cited by the Financial Times on October 31, 2021, corroborating the IAB and Ipsos findings. Three of those companies—Meta, Snap, and Twitter—directly attributed business losses to Apple’s privacy reset.

To make an Upfront commitment is to make a bet—a bet that buying inventory ahead of time is worth the discount and that buying closer to when ads run is not worth the premium. It’s a better bet to grab ad space now in case it runs out later.

This year, TikTok will surpass YouTube in terms of time spent by their respective adult users in the US. The short-video app will see 45.8 minutes per day from its average adult user, edging out YouTube, at 45.6 minutes.

Whether it’s fluctuating viewership or leveraging data-driven technologies to identify the right time and place for brand awareness, there's power in being flexible. In this Q&A, Mediahub's Carrie Drinkwater, chief investment officer, shares where marketing attention is shifting, what clients are looking for, and where new obstacles are rising.

US TikTok users will spend more time with the social media platform this year than YouTube users will spend on YouTube. This difference will be just about a fraction of a minute but will expand in years to come.

YouTube is the leading podcast platform among US adults who listen to 5 hours or more of these shows per week, with 55% tuning in there. Streaming audio platforms Spotify and Apple Podcasts take second and third place, respectively, while Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and Facebook round out the top five.

Among US social video viewers, YouTube is the most popular place to watch live content, with 52.0% tuning in on the platform. Facebook ranks as their second app of choice, used by 42.6% for live video, while Instagram and TikTok tie for third with 33.4%.

Average daily time spent with media shot past the 10-hour mark last year, pushing media consumption to new levels in Canada.