YouTube reaches 12.7% of streaming time, above Netflix and Disney+
According to the Nostradamus report cited by Lamina1, YouTube accounted for 12.7% of total streaming time last year, surpassing Disney+ (9.9%) and Netflix (8.4%). The report predicts that film, TV, streaming, creator media, fandom, and games will converge into a single audiovisual ecosystem defined by fan participation by 2026.
Key Takeaways
- YouTube reached 12.7% of total streaming time last year, per the Nostradamus report cited by Lamina1.
- Disney+ held 9.9% of total streaming time, trailing YouTube by 2.8 percentage points.
- Netflix registered 8.4% of total streaming time, below both YouTube and Disney+.
- The 2026 Nostradamus report says film, TV, streaming, creator media, fandom, and games are collapsing into one audiovisual ecosystem.
- That ecosystem is described as being defined by fan participation by 2026.
Why It Matters
The immediate takeaway is that YouTube now represents a larger share of streaming time than Disney+ and Netflix, underscoring how viewing attention is spreading beyond the traditional subscription-video stack. The broader competitive signal in the Nostradamus report is that film, TV, streaming, creator media, fandom, and games are converging into one audiovisual ecosystem, with fan participation as the defining feature. For StreamingMeme readers, the key data point to watch next is whether future reports show YouTube sustaining a double-digit share while the 2026 ecosystem framing becomes more explicit in industry measurement.
Additional Context
The trend of YouTube’s dominance on the television screen has been consistently supported by third-party data. Per Nielsen’s July 2025 report, YouTube reached a record 13.4% share of total U.S. TV viewing, maintaining its position as the top media distributor for six consecutive months. This growth comes as traditional linear TV usage continues to contract, with streaming hitting a historic high of 47.3% of total TV viewing in the same period. Analysts from Digital i reported in June 2026 that YouTube has surpassed Netflix in average daily minutes per user, reaching 99.1 minutes globally compared to Netflix’s 93.4 minutes. Simultaneously, the industry is increasingly focused on the 'superfan' economy to offset slowing subscriber growth. According to a March 2026 Deloitte report, 80% of consumers now identify as lifestyle fans who spend 27% more per month on streaming than non-fans. These high-value users are driving demand for more integrated, co-creative experiences, such as AI-assisted content tools and virtual world participation. This supports the Lamina1 forecast, suggesting that platforms must move beyond passive video libraries toward modular environments that aggregate social feeds, gaming, and creator interactions.
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