Documentaries, TV shows, and films are keeping users on the platform for longer, growing audiences and creating new revenue streams, according to consumer research by Ampere Analysis.
The move towards more traditional TV and film content on the platform means that documentaries, TV shows, and films are included in the top five most-watched content types.
YouTube has the largest active user base of all online video platforms globally, with 84% of internet users watching it monthly, 73% weekly, and 59% daily.
“The behemoth that is YouTube, the most-watched online video platform globally, has come a long way since its early days of short, low-quality, user-generated pranks, memes, and vlogs,” said Daniel Monaghan, Senior Research Manager at Ampere Analysis.
“Those types of content are still extremely popular, but we now see more full-length TV shows and movies uploaded from the leading studios, producers, and broadcasters. On one hand, this risks cannibalising some owned-and-operated audiences. On the other hand, the sheer scale and reach of YouTube mean the benefits of extending the addressable audience cannot be ignored, while also opening up new revenue streams via ad-share agreements with the platform.”
38% of YouTube monthly active users (MAUs) watched documentaries or TV shows/films in the month prior to the latest wave of Ampere’s consumer research, fieldwork for which ran in February and March 2025. Researchers also found 24% of monthly active users watched documentaries, making it the fourth most popular content type. TV shows/films were fifth, watched by 23% of YouTube’s MAUs.
Smart TVs are a popular device for long-form viewing: 34% of those who watched both documentaries and TV shows/films on YouTube in the past month used a smart TV for at least some of their viewing, versus 22% of YouTube MAUs in general (smartphones and computers/laptops remain the most popular devices overall for YouTube content among this cohort, at 77% and 37%, respectively).
Monaghan said he expected engagement to grow, especially as YouTube continues to establish itself more firmly in the viewer’s living room on smart TVs, beyond their phones and laptops.
