Just about every analyst in the media industry will acknowledge that the so-called “Streaming Wars” are essentially over. Netflix out-earns everyone in the streaming market, and it has a bigger customer base than anyone else too, with almost 270 million global subscribers. But is it time to start thinking about YouTube as a Netflix competitor? New data from Ampere Analysis suggests that perhaps the answer is yes; YouTube spends more on non-sports content than any company in the world besides Disney, and its model for making revenue ensures that it will continue to be able to churn out content at a high rate.

Key Details:

• YouTube will spend almost $20 billion on original and acquired content in 2024.
• This year will be the fourth consecutive one in which YouTube is the third-largest content investing company in the world.
• YouTube is always ahead of subscription video services in terms of total TV viewing as measured by Nielsen.

YouTube’s investment in content differs from that of traditional TV and movie studios. Most of its outlay on content comes in the form of its revenue-sharing program with content creators, who get a percentage of ad revenues generated by views of their videos.

Even so, Ampere has measured that YouTube’s total expenditure on content this year is set to exceed $20 billion. Nearly all of that comes from entertainment, and just a small percentage of the company’s outlay is for live sports. YouTube’s total expenditure will be the third largest worldwide for the fourth consecutive year when taking into account sports rights spending. YouTube is set to invest more in non-sports content than Netflix, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, and other big-name studios in 2024, backed by forecasted advertising revenues of $35 billion.

Because YouTube generates so much money from its ads, it can keep the pipeline open as long as viewers continue to watch user-generated content on its platform. Best of all, YouTube was unaffected by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, so it didn’t see a slowdown in production or a gap in revenue generation because no new shows or movies premiered for months.

Most streaming services were already slowing down their content spends in 2023 before the strikes, as each tried to find the best way to make itself profitable. Netflix has long stood alone as the only consistently profitable subscription streaming service, having done so thanks to its massive subscriber base, but also because it has kept its content budget more or less even in recent years, which its executives have not failed to point out.

In short, YouTube faces unique financial pressures as compared to other streaming services because its business model is so different. It has a massive audience because its content is free and ad-supported, and its popularity is reflected even in Nielsen’s viewership metrics. In May, YouTube accounted for 9.7% of all TV watched or streamed in the month of May, more than any subscription streaming service by a wide margin.

“Despite limited re-licensing opportunities on other platforms, YouTube continues to invest significantly in content through revenue sharing with content creators, and has secured the second highest spot for non-sports content spend globally,” said Jaanika Juntson, senior analyst at Ampere. “YouTube’s unique business model sets the platform apart in the media market yet it plays a key role in the entertainment sector.”

In January, Ampere forecasted that the global content spend on video would rise as the American entertainment sector shook off the effects of last year’s strikes. But YouTube is expected to remain near the top, and the more advertising revenue the platform generates, the more it will be able to increase its lead on even the biggest streaming services in the world.