YouTube overtook Netflix in average daily minutes per user in 2025, reaching 99.1 minutes per day globally compared to Netflix’s 93.4 minutes, according to new research from audience measurement firm Digital i.
The report, titled “The YouTube Era: 2025 in Review,” draws on panel-based viewing data from 18 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Korea, and Japan.
Netflix averaged 100.5 daily minutes per user in 2024, while YouTube averaged 87.2 minutes during the same period. By 2025, those figures had reversed, with YouTube gaining 11.9 minutes year-over-year as Netflix declined by 7.1 minutes. The report notes that YouTube’s 2025 figure did not surpass Netflix’s 2024 peak.
Living Room Viewing Gains Ground
YouTube’s share of viewing time on TV sets rose steadily from 28.2% in Q1 2024 to 33.7% in Q4 2025, while mobile’s share fell over the same period. Web viewing remained relatively consistent quarter-on-quarter.
Long-form content consumption reinforced that trend. The share of YouTube viewing time attributed to videos of 20 minutes or longer increased from 63.6% in January 2024 to 67.7% in December 2025. Despite that growth, Shorts remain a primary reach driver: more than half (53.8%) of the top 500 channels by reach now rely heavily on the short-form format, with only 5.2% relying exclusively on standard videos.
Demographic Growth Uneven
YouTube usage increased across all measured age groups between 2024 and 2025, but growth was not uniform. The 55-64 age group recorded the largest absolute gain in average daily minutes, rising 11.1 minutes from 70.3 to 81.4. The 18-24 demographic remains the heaviest users, averaging 111.0 minutes per day in 2025.
Gender patterns diverged within those trends. Female users across all age groups increased their daily YouTube usage year-over-year, with women aged 18-24 recording a 14.5% rise. Male users aged 25-44 watched less YouTube in 2025 than in 2024, while men aged 55-64 posted the strongest growth of any demographic group, at 15.3%.
South Korea Leads, France and Spain Grow Fastest
South Korean YouTube users averaged 161.5 minutes per day in 2025, the highest figure among the 18 measured countries, followed by Japan at 128.5 minutes and the United States at 111.6 minutes. Italian users averaged the lowest at 50.5 minutes per day.
France and Spain recorded the largest year-over-year growth rates. French users increased daily viewing by 33.6%, from 57 minutes in 2024 to 77 minutes in 2025, while Spanish users grew 31.9%, from 44 to 58 minutes. The United States saw the smallest growth, at 3.8%.
Traditional Media Channels Lead on Reach
Netflix’s official YouTube channel reached 78.2 million accounts globally in 2025, the highest of any measured channel. NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, The Walt Disney Company, and Amazon also placed channels within the top 10 for traditional media reach, with NBCUniversal placing four channels in that group.
However, Digital i’s data separates reach from engagement. Among U.S. channels ranked by hours viewed, niche creator-led channels generated substantially higher average viewing hours per account than high-reach traditional media properties. Gaming channel Asmongold TV, with 6.1 million accounts reached, accumulated 40.4 average hours per account annually. Education channel Ms Rachel and gaming channel CoryxKenshin both reached approximately 5 million accounts, but averaged over 42 hours per account. By contrast, Netflix’s U.S. channel reached 31.6 million accounts but averaged just 0.4 hours per account.
YouTube and Netflix Serve Distinct Content Models
The data also highlights structural differences between how audiences use YouTube versus subscription streaming services. During 2025, Netflix concentrated 32% of its total viewing time within its top 100 titles. YouTube’s top 100 channels, excluding Shorts, generated just 6% of total platform viewing time over the same period.
YouTube users without a Netflix account averaged 120.3 minutes per day on the platform. Heavy Netflix viewers also emerged as above-average YouTube users, averaging 109.9 minutes per day on YouTube, suggesting cross-platform viewing is common among high-consumption audiences.
The report covers active YouTube and Netflix accounts across 18 countries throughout 2024 and 2025. Digital i states all figures are estimations and may vary from first-party data.
Image source: Digital i 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.
YouTube overtook Netflix in average daily minutes per user in 2025, reaching 99.1 minutes per day globally compared to Netflix’s 93.4 minutes, according to new research from audience measurement firm Digital i.
The report, titled “The YouTube Era: 2025 in Review,” draws on panel-based viewing data from 18 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Korea, and Japan.
Netflix averaged 100.5 daily minutes per user in 2024, while YouTube averaged 87.2 minutes during the same period. By 2025, those figures had reversed, with YouTube gaining 11.9 minutes year-over-year as Netflix declined by 7.1 minutes. The report notes that YouTube’s 2025 figure did not surpass Netflix’s 2024 peak.
Living Room Viewing Gains Ground
YouTube’s share of viewing time on TV sets rose steadily from 28.2% in Q1 2024 to 33.7% in Q4 2025, while mobile’s share fell over the same period. Web viewing remained relatively consistent quarter-on-quarter.
Long-form content consumption reinforced that trend. The share of YouTube viewing time attributed to videos of 20 minutes or longer increased from 63.6% in January 2024 to 67.7% in December 2025. Despite that growth, Shorts remain a primary reach driver: more than half (53.8%) of the top 500 channels by reach now rely heavily on the short-form format, with only 5.2% relying exclusively on standard videos.
Demographic Growth Uneven
YouTube usage increased across all measured age groups between 2024 and 2025, but growth was not uniform. The 55-64 age group recorded the largest absolute gain in average daily minutes, rising 11.1 minutes from 70.3 to 81.4. The 18-24 demographic remains the heaviest users, averaging 111.0 minutes per day in 2025.
Gender patterns diverged within those trends. Female users across all age groups increased their daily YouTube usage year-over-year, with women aged 18-24 recording a 14.5% rise. Male users aged 25-44 watched less YouTube in 2025 than in 2024, while men aged 55-64 posted the strongest growth of any demographic group, at 15.3%.
South Korea Leads, France and Spain Grow Fastest
South Korean YouTube users averaged 161.5 minutes per day in 2025, the highest figure among the 18 measured countries, followed by Japan at 128.5 minutes and the United States at 111.6 minutes. Italian users averaged the lowest at 50.5 minutes per day.
France and Spain recorded the largest year-over-year growth rates. French users increased daily viewing by 33.6%, from 57 minutes in 2024 to 77 minutes in 2025, while Spanish users grew 31.9%, from 44 to 58 minutes. The United States saw the smallest growth, at 3.8%.
Traditional Media Channels Lead on Reach
Netflix’s official YouTube channel reached 78.2 million accounts globally in 2025, the highest of any measured channel. NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, The Walt Disney Company, and Amazon also placed channels within the top 10 for traditional media reach, with NBCUniversal placing four channels in that group.
However, Digital i’s data separates reach from engagement. Among U.S. channels ranked by hours viewed, niche creator-led channels generated substantially higher average viewing hours per account than high-reach traditional media properties. Gaming channel Asmongold TV, with 6.1 million accounts reached, accumulated 40.4 average hours per account annually. Education channel Ms Rachel and gaming channel CoryxKenshin both reached approximately 5 million accounts, but averaged over 42 hours per account. By contrast, Netflix’s U.S. channel reached 31.6 million accounts but averaged just 0.4 hours per account.
YouTube and Netflix Serve Distinct Content Models
The data also highlights structural differences between how audiences use YouTube versus subscription streaming services. During 2025, Netflix concentrated 32% of its total viewing time within its top 100 titles. YouTube’s top 100 channels, excluding Shorts, generated just 6% of total platform viewing time over the same period.
YouTube users without a Netflix account averaged 120.3 minutes per day on the platform. Heavy Netflix viewers also emerged as above-average YouTube users, averaging 109.9 minutes per day on YouTube, suggesting cross-platform viewing is common among high-consumption audiences.
The report covers active YouTube and Netflix accounts across 18 countries throughout 2024 and 2025. Digital i states all figures are estimations and may vary from first-party data.
Image source: Digital i
The full report is available here
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