The streaming sector threatens traditional television, but has not yet managed to defeat it

With the rise of platforms streaming, a large part of the population has asked the same question: “Are YouTube and Twitch going to end television as we know it?” The answer is no. Viewers are still interested in the small screen and they spend practically the same hours enjoying it as more than a decade ago.

The media are increasingly echoing the influence that these new audiovisual entertainment channels have on young people. Although this visualization is necessary, it is also true that they are rarely compared to traditional channels. The reality is that those fantastic data that the streamers they have not stolen television audience.

Now more hours of television are consumed than in the past

Considering the increase in viewing hours of these transmission media, it could be understood that they originate to the detriment of the hours that television programs are consumed. However, it would be a statement very far from reality.

According to data from Barlovento, a consulting firm specializing in audiences, in 2006, viewers spent 217 minutes a day watching television. The current data, far from falling, has increased. In January 2021, daily consumption per person reached 251 minutes.

However, the first thing you might think is that older people are the ones who raise the average, and it would be true. The segment of the population that consumes the most television are the people over 45 years old. However, this trend was the same in the past and the audience data for young people has not changed significantly since 2006.

According to the consultancy, young people between 13 and 24 years old, who could be treated as the target audience of the platforms of streaming, they consumed 143 minutes of television per day in 2006. Today, spend 38 minutes less.

These data do not show that alternative channels have gained ground to television. If viewers have not stopped watching television programs but the audiences of channels such as YouTube or Twitch are increasing, means that the viewer has notably increased their audiovisual consumption.

Channels streaming they receive millions of viewers

The reality is that these new platforms have taken an important position in the global entertainment industry. While they haven’t stolen hours of television viewing, its consumption is increasing.

A great example of this is the appearance of these channels in an event that, until today, was the domain of television networks: the new year’s chimes. This Christmas was news because, for the first time in history, a streamer competed with the audiovisual moguls. Ibai Llanos, a well-known protagonist of these platforms, broadcast the bells through his Twitch channel.

Notably, it did not outperform any major chain. However, it reached a peak audience of 552,000 viewers. For its part, TVE was the most watched channel, with 7.3 million viewers; 2 million more than the second in the ranking, Antena 3.

In fact, the influence of characters like Ibai Llanos in society is increasingly notable. The streamer it was positioned as the second most watched interview of the journalist Jordi Évole, with something more than 2.3 million viewers; surpassing other episodes such as Lionel Messi, world star of FC Barcelona, or José María Aznar, former president of Spain. The only program that has surpassed that of Llanos has been that of Pope Francis, which had 3.5 million viewers.

Television has to serve young people

Considering the massification of these new platforms and the 38 minutes of youth audience that television has declined in front of them, traditional consumption has some pending duties. The first one is cater to the new interests of the younger population. For example, as the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, pointed out in an interview a few months ago with The Chiringuito de Jugones, this segment of the population is no longer interested in watching football matches.

On the contrary, young people are interested in broadcasts of sports. In 2019, there was a global audience for this type of event of 395 million, including enthusiasts and occasional spectators, and it is expected that by 2023 this number will exceed 645 million people, according to data from Statista. However, in Spain, the vast majority of these tournaments are broadcast through Twitch or seen on YouTube.

On the other hand, these content creators are knowing how to connect very well with this population segment. “The fight of the year”, a boxing event that pitted the youtubers Reven and Elmillor, got to get 1.5 million viewers on Twitch at its peak audience, as stated by TVTop, an analyst of the platform of streaming.

In fact, the big televisions do not even have to see these platforms as an element to tear down, but as a new way of reaching young people. Programs like The Chiringuito de Jugones are aware of it, reaching the top 3 of streamers with an average of 63,400 spectators and peaks of 148,000 during the month of May.

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