The global livestreaming industry generated 31.4 billion Hours Watched in the second quarter of 2026, the largest quarterly total on record, according to a report from Streams Charts. The total marked an 8% increase over the first quarter, driven largely by the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
YouTube accounted for the bulk of that growth, surpassing 15.5 billion Hours Watched in the quarter, up 14.8% from Q1. The platform held 49.5% of all livestreaming Hours Watched tracked in the report, a share that has remained steady for several quarters.
World Cup Coverage Drives YouTube, Bypasses Twitch
YouTube’s growth came primarily from sports and entertainment content, where non-gaming Hours Watched rose 19.6% quarter over quarter. CazéTV’s official Brazilian coverage of the World Cup was the single largest driver, producing more than a billion Hours Watched and breaking several all-time viewership records for the channel. Compared with Q1, the channel’s Peak Viewers rose 327%, while Hours Watched and Average Viewers nearly doubled.
Entertainment programming also grew, with Hours Watched and Average Viewers each rising about 50% against Q1, led by Alofoke Radio Show and HotSpanish Vlogs. YouTube also served as the main broadcast home for gaming showcases, including Summer Game Fest, Future Games Show, and Nintendo Direct.
Twitch did not carry official World Cup broadcasts, and football watch parties had little effect on its numbers. Instead, the platform’s quarter was shaped by Nicholas “Jynxzi” Stewart’s creator-led tournament series and major esports events, including the IEM Cologne Major, LCK, and VALORANT Masters. Esports broadcasts on Twitch grew 22.4% in Hours Watched during the quarter, and Jynxzi finished as Twitch’s most-watched streamer by Hours Watched.
The divergence extended to timing. YouTube, TikTok LIVE, and Kick all recorded their highest monthly Hours Watched in June. Twitch’s strongest month was May, before either the World Cup or the IEM Cologne Major began, and June was, in fact, its weakest month for Hours Watched since February. Twitch did post its best Peak Viewers result in 11 months that June, exceeding 4.4 million concurrent viewers during Summer Game Fest broadcasts.
YouTube Gaming Loses Ground as Esports Distribution Spreads
YouTube Gaming’s Hours Watched fell 12.4% compared with Q1 2026, a decline the report attributes partly to esports broadcasts spreading across a wider range of platforms. In the LCK, YouTube’s share of total Hours Watched dropped from 46.5% in the 2025 season to 25.5% in 2026, with viewers shifting to local platforms such as SOOP and CHZZK. YouTube’s share of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s MPL Indonesia fell from 63% to 58% over the past two seasons, and TikTok LIVE has overtaken YouTube as the top platform for MPL Philippines.
The decline also reflects a comparison against an unusually strong first quarter, when the M7 World Championship generated more than 135.5 million Hours Watched, roughly half of it on YouTube. Q2 had no esports event of that scale; the IEM Cologne Major boosted YouTube’s numbers but did not match M7’s impact.
Kick Narrows the Gap With Twitch
Kick grew its total Hours Watched by 7.6% quarter over quarter. Twitch still generated roughly three times more Hours Watched than Kick, but that gap has narrowed from about five times a year earlier. Kick maintained a fairly even split between gaming and non-gaming content while expanding its esports coverage, with esports broadcasts on the platform up 66% quarter over quarter, driven mainly by Counter-Strike tournaments, particularly the IEM Cologne Major 2026.
TikTok LIVE’s total Hours Watched changed little from Q1, staying within a 1% range, as did Twitch’s overall total.
Smaller Platforms Diverge Sharply
CHZZK continued to grow, closing in on SOOP in total Hours Watched, powered by World Cup coverage and an expanding role in the LCK and other League of Legends events. On BIGO LIVE, the MENA GAMING COMMUNITY channel produced most of the platform’s viewership through major mobile esports tournaments, and Steam grew Hours Watched by 56% on the strength of its IEM Cologne Major coverage.
Rumble’s Hours Watched fell 27% from the previous quarter, as viewership tied to earlier coverage of the U.S.-Iran conflict faded. Nimo TV continued to decline, with its remaining audience concentrated around a small group of Vietnamese creators. Trovo stepped back from livestreaming during the quarter to focus on other gaming projects.
Image source: Streams Charts The full report is available here
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.
The global livestreaming industry generated 31.4 billion Hours Watched in the second quarter of 2026, the largest quarterly total on record, according to a report from Streams Charts. The total marked an 8% increase over the first quarter, driven largely by the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
YouTube accounted for the bulk of that growth, surpassing 15.5 billion Hours Watched in the quarter, up 14.8% from Q1. The platform held 49.5% of all livestreaming Hours Watched tracked in the report, a share that has remained steady for several quarters.
World Cup Coverage Drives YouTube, Bypasses Twitch
YouTube’s growth came primarily from sports and entertainment content, where non-gaming Hours Watched rose 19.6% quarter over quarter. CazéTV’s official Brazilian coverage of the World Cup was the single largest driver, producing more than a billion Hours Watched and breaking several all-time viewership records for the channel. Compared with Q1, the channel’s Peak Viewers rose 327%, while Hours Watched and Average Viewers nearly doubled.
Entertainment programming also grew, with Hours Watched and Average Viewers each rising about 50% against Q1, led by Alofoke Radio Show and HotSpanish Vlogs. YouTube also served as the main broadcast home for gaming showcases, including Summer Game Fest, Future Games Show, and Nintendo Direct.
Twitch did not carry official World Cup broadcasts, and football watch parties had little effect on its numbers. Instead, the platform’s quarter was shaped by Nicholas “Jynxzi” Stewart’s creator-led tournament series and major esports events, including the IEM Cologne Major, LCK, and VALORANT Masters. Esports broadcasts on Twitch grew 22.4% in Hours Watched during the quarter, and Jynxzi finished as Twitch’s most-watched streamer by Hours Watched.
The divergence extended to timing. YouTube, TikTok LIVE, and Kick all recorded their highest monthly Hours Watched in June. Twitch’s strongest month was May, before either the World Cup or the IEM Cologne Major began, and June was, in fact, its weakest month for Hours Watched since February. Twitch did post its best Peak Viewers result in 11 months that June, exceeding 4.4 million concurrent viewers during Summer Game Fest broadcasts.
YouTube Gaming Loses Ground as Esports Distribution Spreads
YouTube Gaming’s Hours Watched fell 12.4% compared with Q1 2026, a decline the report attributes partly to esports broadcasts spreading across a wider range of platforms. In the LCK, YouTube’s share of total Hours Watched dropped from 46.5% in the 2025 season to 25.5% in 2026, with viewers shifting to local platforms such as SOOP and CHZZK. YouTube’s share of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s MPL Indonesia fell from 63% to 58% over the past two seasons, and TikTok LIVE has overtaken YouTube as the top platform for MPL Philippines.
The decline also reflects a comparison against an unusually strong first quarter, when the M7 World Championship generated more than 135.5 million Hours Watched, roughly half of it on YouTube. Q2 had no esports event of that scale; the IEM Cologne Major boosted YouTube’s numbers but did not match M7’s impact.
Kick Narrows the Gap With Twitch
Kick grew its total Hours Watched by 7.6% quarter over quarter. Twitch still generated roughly three times more Hours Watched than Kick, but that gap has narrowed from about five times a year earlier. Kick maintained a fairly even split between gaming and non-gaming content while expanding its esports coverage, with esports broadcasts on the platform up 66% quarter over quarter, driven mainly by Counter-Strike tournaments, particularly the IEM Cologne Major 2026.
TikTok LIVE’s total Hours Watched changed little from Q1, staying within a 1% range, as did Twitch’s overall total.
Smaller Platforms Diverge Sharply
CHZZK continued to grow, closing in on SOOP in total Hours Watched, powered by World Cup coverage and an expanding role in the LCK and other League of Legends events. On BIGO LIVE, the MENA GAMING COMMUNITY channel produced most of the platform’s viewership through major mobile esports tournaments, and Steam grew Hours Watched by 56% on the strength of its IEM Cologne Major coverage.
Rumble’s Hours Watched fell 27% from the previous quarter, as viewership tied to earlier coverage of the U.S.-Iran conflict faded. Nimo TV continued to decline, with its remaining audience concentrated around a small group of Vietnamese creators. Trovo stepped back from livestreaming during the quarter to focus on other gaming projects.
Image source: Streams Charts
The full report is available here
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