Global livestreaming reached 31.7 billion Hours Watched in the third quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly total on record, according to a new report from Streams Charts. The 0.8% quarter-over-quarter increase was modest, but the report found a notable shift beneath the headline number: YouTube’s market lead narrowed sharply as TikTok LIVE and Kick posted record shares of the tracked market.
YouTube Keeps the Lead, but Its Share Shrinks
YouTube remained the largest livestreaming platform by Hours Watched, but its share of the tracked market fell from 49.5% in the second quarter to 43% in the third. The platform’s total watch time dropped 13.7% quarter over quarter to 13.62 billion hours. July was the platform’s strongest month of the quarter, driven in part by the final stages of the FIFA World Cup, but viewership declined substantially in August and September once the tournament ended.
The World Cup final pushed YouTube to an all-time high of 36.06 million concurrent viewers, with sports content drawing peak audiences above 24 million concurrent viewers during the tournament. Brazilian broadcaster CazéTV played a major role in the platform’s World Cup coverage and set several audience records of its own. “Entertainment” and “News & Politics” remained YouTube’s leading content categories by Hours Watched, though both declined compared with the prior quarter.
“Gaming” was the exception to YouTube’s overall decline. YouTube Gaming increased its share of the platform’s total Hours Watched from 11.3% to 14.5%, generating nearly 1.98 billion hours of viewership. Esports World Cup and “The International” contributed to that growth, and TheBurntPeanut led YouTube Gaming’s individual streamer rankings with more than 30 million Hours Watched.
TikTok LIVE Sets a Record, Gap With YouTube Narrows to Single Digits
TikTok LIVE posted one of the quarter’s largest gains in Hours Watched. The platform’s watch time grew 19% quarter over quarter to a record 10.6 billion, pushing its share of the tracked market to a record 33.5%. That growth narrowed the gap between TikTok LIVE and YouTube to fewer than ten percentage points, down from roughly 16 points in the prior quarter. Non-gaming content accounted for an increasing share of TikTok LIVE’s watch time in the quarter, with gaming making up 16.2% of the total. Chats remained the platform’s leading content category, with Roblox among its most-watched games.
Kick Outpaces Twitch’s Growth
Kick grew faster than any other major platform tracked in the report. Its Hours Watched rose 30.7% quarter over quarter to a record 2.04 billion, marking its third consecutive quarter of growth and pushing its share of the tracked market to a record 6.4%.
Twitch grew 4% to 4.51 billion Hours Watched, its strongest quarterly result since the second quarter of 2025, with gaming accounting for 76.9% of the platform’s watch time and League of Legends drawing substantial viewership throughout the quarter. Marc “Caedrel” Lamont led Twitch’s streamer rankings by Hours Watched, ahead of TheBurntPeanut.
Twitch now generates roughly 2.2 times Kick’s watch time, down from approximately 2.8 times in the second quarter. On Kick, “Just Chatting” and “Grand Theft Auto V” remained central to the platform’s audience. Hani “absi” Al-Qablan led Kick’s streamer rankings with more than 50 million recorded Hours Watched, though the report noted that earlier Streams Charts research identified unusual audience patterns on his channel that warrant caution when interpreting the figures.
Four of the six smaller platforms tracked in the report lost viewership in the third quarter. Bigo LIVE and Rumble recorded the steepest declines, each losing nearly half of their quarterly Hours Watched. South Korea’s two leading livestreaming platforms were the only smaller services to post growth. CHZZK increased its Hours Watched by 2.1% to 335.2 million, narrowly overtaking SOOP at 333 million. The result marked CHZZK’s sixth consecutive quarter of growth and its first lead over SOOP in quarterly watch time.
Image source: Streams Charts The full report is availablehere
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
Global livestreaming reached 31.7 billion Hours Watched in the third quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly total on record, according to a new report from Streams Charts. The 0.8% quarter-over-quarter increase was modest, but the report found a notable shift beneath the headline number: YouTube’s market lead narrowed sharply as TikTok LIVE and Kick posted record shares of the tracked market.
YouTube Keeps the Lead, but Its Share Shrinks
YouTube remained the largest livestreaming platform by Hours Watched, but its share of the tracked market fell from 49.5% in the second quarter to 43% in the third. The platform’s total watch time dropped 13.7% quarter over quarter to 13.62 billion hours. July was the platform’s strongest month of the quarter, driven in part by the final stages of the FIFA World Cup, but viewership declined substantially in August and September once the tournament ended.
The World Cup final pushed YouTube to an all-time high of 36.06 million concurrent viewers, with sports content drawing peak audiences above 24 million concurrent viewers during the tournament. Brazilian broadcaster CazéTV played a major role in the platform’s World Cup coverage and set several audience records of its own. “Entertainment” and “News & Politics” remained YouTube’s leading content categories by Hours Watched, though both declined compared with the prior quarter.
“Gaming” was the exception to YouTube’s overall decline. YouTube Gaming increased its share of the platform’s total Hours Watched from 11.3% to 14.5%, generating nearly 1.98 billion hours of viewership. Esports World Cup and “The International” contributed to that growth, and TheBurntPeanut led YouTube Gaming’s individual streamer rankings with more than 30 million Hours Watched.
TikTok LIVE Sets a Record, Gap With YouTube Narrows to Single Digits
TikTok LIVE posted one of the quarter’s largest gains in Hours Watched. The platform’s watch time grew 19% quarter over quarter to a record 10.6 billion, pushing its share of the tracked market to a record 33.5%. That growth narrowed the gap between TikTok LIVE and YouTube to fewer than ten percentage points, down from roughly 16 points in the prior quarter. Non-gaming content accounted for an increasing share of TikTok LIVE’s watch time in the quarter, with gaming making up 16.2% of the total. Chats remained the platform’s leading content category, with Roblox among its most-watched games.
Kick Outpaces Twitch’s Growth
Kick grew faster than any other major platform tracked in the report. Its Hours Watched rose 30.7% quarter over quarter to a record 2.04 billion, marking its third consecutive quarter of growth and pushing its share of the tracked market to a record 6.4%.
Twitch grew 4% to 4.51 billion Hours Watched, its strongest quarterly result since the second quarter of 2025, with gaming accounting for 76.9% of the platform’s watch time and League of Legends drawing substantial viewership throughout the quarter. Marc “Caedrel” Lamont led Twitch’s streamer rankings by Hours Watched, ahead of TheBurntPeanut.
Twitch now generates roughly 2.2 times Kick’s watch time, down from approximately 2.8 times in the second quarter. On Kick, “Just Chatting” and “Grand Theft Auto V” remained central to the platform’s audience. Hani “absi” Al-Qablan led Kick’s streamer rankings with more than 50 million recorded Hours Watched, though the report noted that earlier Streams Charts research identified unusual audience patterns on his channel that warrant caution when interpreting the figures.
Smaller Platforms Mostly Decline, CHZZK Overtakes SOOP
Four of the six smaller platforms tracked in the report lost viewership in the third quarter. Bigo LIVE and Rumble recorded the steepest declines, each losing nearly half of their quarterly Hours Watched. South Korea’s two leading livestreaming platforms were the only smaller services to post growth. CHZZK increased its Hours Watched by 2.1% to 335.2 million, narrowly overtaking SOOP at 333 million. The result marked CHZZK’s sixth consecutive quarter of growth and its first lead over SOOP in quarterly watch time.
Image source: Streams Charts
The full report is available here
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