Digital i has released a new report charting YouTube engagement trends, with the social platform recording gains across demos, especially among men aged 55 to 64.
The YouTube Era: 2025 in Review charts continued growth in daily viewing on YouTube, as recorded across 20 major markets. Average daily usage per account rose from 87.2 minutes to 99.1 minutes from 2024 to 2025. In contrast, Netflix’s daily engagement slipped from 100.5 minutes to 93.4.
Gen Z is still the most engaged audience on YouTube at 111 minutes a day, but the biggest gains were seen among men 55 to 64, with usage up 15% year on year. Usage by women across demos also rose, with the biggest gain among women aged 18 to 24. Overall, daily usage among the 55 to 64-year-olds rose to 81.4 minutes.
Geographically, South Korea is out front at 161.5 daily usage minutes, while France had the biggest gain, rising 33.6%, followed by Spain and then Brazil.
The top five markets by daily YouTube viewing are South Korea, Japan, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
“YouTube’s evolution from a social video service into a dominant global attention platform is one of the defining media shifts of the decade,” said Matt Ross, Digital i’s chief analytics officer. “Our data shows audiences increasingly treating YouTube not as social media, but as a primary entertainment destination.”
Vicky Vipond, Digital i’s research team leader, added, “Steady quarter-on-quarter growth in TV set viewing and long-form content consumption between 2024 and 2025 highlights how YouTube is increasingly used as a primary entertainment service, rather than a short-form video platform. However, our data shows that short-form is still a vital reach engine.”
Netflix remains a significant player on YouTube; Digital i says its official channel had the highest reach (78.2 million unique accounts) of any channel in 2025, followed by IGN (gaming), LadyGagaVEVO, Movieclips and RHINO (music). Entertainment brands in the top ten outside of Netflix are Saturday Night Live’s channel, Universal Pictures, The Tonight Show, and YouTube Movies. Other “traditional” outlets with strong YouTube reach are ABC News, NBC News, CNN, Prime Video, and Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“YouTube certainly competes for audience attention with global SVOD services, but the platform also provides them with a significant avenue for additional reach, along with other major Hollywood brands,” said Elena Mozzato, senior analyst at the research firm. “Netflix emerged as the YouTube channel with the highest global reach in our measured countries in 2025, while NBCUniversal, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Amazon also used the platform to connect with audiences at a significant scale. However, as our data shows, high reach does not always translate into high engagement on YouTube, and more niche channels can generate substantially higher viewing hours from super users.”
Those niche channels winning when it comes to hours viewed include Law&Crime Network, the gaming channel Asmongold TV, news and politics with MeidasTouch, and A+E’s HISTORY brand.
Digital i measures YouTube and Netflix across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, and Spain.
