Nielsen’s April data shows YouTube’scontinued growth in TV screen viewership. But it’s not a straight line — likeall media, viewership fluctuates. April was particularly strong, and sinceJanuary 2024, YouTube has been steadily chipping away at everyone else.

Which brings me to the real question I’ve been wondering for ages: Where’s thecollaborative response from US TV networks?

Elsewhere in the world, broadcasters are teaming up — cosying up to streamers,uniting their platforms, working together with JICS — all to present a strongernarrative for “TV” and to fight back against the rise of social and digitalvideo. They also present data together; showing the reach (and working togetherto measure it) of all the major broadcasters combined to paint a better andclearer picture.

I won’t get into the "Is YouTube TV?" debate — but it’s clear thatstreamers, broadcasters, and traditional TV players need to respondcollectively.
Outside the US, YouTube has done an outstanding job selling itself as TV, siphoningoff huge chunks of TV budgets as a result.

So again: Why isn’t the US doing what other markets are doing/trying to do;discussing? Why is it just down to markets outside of the US to collaborate?

Why can’t US networks do these things:

·      Pool inventory
·      Sell it together
·      Ring-fence it with consistent measurement
·      Cut the ad tech tax
·      Offer scale, simplicity, and transparency

Look at the chart I pulled together — if Paramount, NBCU, FOX, WBD, Scripps,and others worked together, they’d dominate. Collectively, they have the scale.

Forgive how crap my graph building skills are. *All this data is from Nielsen'sThe Gauge data and a big thanks to Lauren Pabst who has to deal with all my stupid questions. Sorry about thegraphics!! 😬

YouTube isn’t a channel. It’s everything: podcasts, music videos, tutorials,Shorts, fireplace loops — you name it. Its long tail is its strength. And it’snot all TV!

So why not play the same game? Work together. Build scale. Offer efficiency andconsistency.

Give advertisers a product they can trust. Fight back, together!

I don’t get it. What am I missing? Am I off my trolly?

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