YouTube Announces New Initiatives to Attract TV Ad Dollars
YouTube recently unveiled a series of initiatives aimed at drawing in more TV advertising dollars during its annual Brandcast event for advertisers. One of the major announcements was the expansion of its partnership with the NFL, which includes plans to exclusively stream the NFL’s first Friday game of the 2025-2026 season. Additionally, YouTube is set to test a new feature that will allow creators to organize their content into easily digestible TV show formats, catering to audiences watching YouTube on TV screens.
At last year’s Made On YouTube event, CEO Neal Mohan revealed that creators earning a significant portion of their revenue from TV screens had increased by over 30% year-over-year. Now, select creators will have the opportunity to structure their content into seasons and episodes, mirroring traditional TV shows.
Aside from these developments, YouTube is also focusing on enhancing its “shoppable TV” capabilities and providing advertisers with tools to target key cultural moments such as awards ceremonies and sporting events like The PGA Championship. By emphasizing its role as a leading platform for TV viewing, YouTube aims to attract a larger share of TV ad budgets.
As part of its collaboration with the NFL, YouTube will exclusively stream the first Friday game of the season in São Paulo, Brazil, to a global audience. This marks YouTube’s debut as a live broadcaster for the NFL, with the game also available to YouTube TV subscribers in the U.S. The company highlighted the success of its NFL content in 2024, with users collectively watching over 350 million hours of NFL content and attracting more than 6 million live views during the NFL’s Super Bowl LIX Flag Football Game stream. The extended partnership will see YouTube continue to stream the Flag Football game for multiple years.
For creators, YouTube’s focus is on optimizing content for the living room experience. A pilot program set to launch in the U.S. this summer will enable hundreds of creators to structure their content for TV screens, offering viewers a more engaging and binge-worthy experience. Creators like Michelle Khare and Rhett & Link will leverage these new tools to present their content in a season-based format.
In addition, YouTube is introducing features like QR codes and send-to-phone functionality to facilitate shopping directly from the platform. The company is also leveraging Gemini AI to match ads with popular and relevant content, enhancing the overall viewer experience.
During Brandcast, YouTube showcased success stories from brands like Volvo, Dunkin’, Hilton, and State Farm, highlighting their effective use of YouTube’s advertising tools. The platform reiterated its dominance in streaming watch time in the U.S., surpassing competitors like Netflix, Disney, and Prime Video since March 2025. Furthermore, YouTube emphasized its growing presence in the podcasting space, with over 1 billion monthly active podcast users.
