YouTube viewers know they can find cute cat clips or the latest music videos on the video-sharing service. The short-length videos aren’t the only content attracting viewers, a new study revealed.
The questionnaire distributed by Frank N. Magid Associates found that 38 percent of respondents chose YouTube to watch TV shows, according to the June study provided to CNET. The number compares to 33 percent for Netflix, 17 percent for Hulu and 14 percent for Amazon Prime.
The other three video-streaming services still have a much larger selection of TV shows. The questionnaire’s 2,400 respondents may have had a broad definition for what constitutes a TV show, according to Variety. This could include clips from TV shows or YouTube original episodes that average no more than 15 minutes.
"The joke in the industry is it's all babies burping and cats meowing, and maybe YouTube was that," Mike Vorhaus, president of Magid Advisors, told CNET. "When they actually go and use it, people are surprised by the breadth of content that's there."
YouTube offers episodes for purchase from networks such as FX, HBO, AMC and The CW. Fans can also find episodes from foreign series, full-length compilations and older TV shows.
“If you think of these services as brands, the brand of YouTube has the most people," Vorhaus said. "The big message I get is that people have changed their brand perception of YouTube."
The video service wants to keep the talent that has already developed content for its site in-house. YouTube will invest more in its established content creators to produce more original programming.
“Now, we feel the time is right to make another important investment in our creators,” Alex Carloss, head of originals at YouTube, told Variety. “That’s why we’ve decided to fund new content from some of our top creators, helping them not only fulfill their creative ambitions but also deliver new material to their millions of fans on YouTube.”
The study’s respondents chose Netflix as their No. 1 destination for movie viewing at 35 percent. YouTube came in second with 24 percent, which surpassed Amazon Prime, Hulu and HBO Go.
The number of people watching online videos daily has increased substantially over the last two years from 22 to 32 percent, according to the study.
