London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Dec 13, 2025

TikTok is gaining on YouTube, now leads in average watch time in the US

TikTok is gaining on YouTube, now leads in average watch time in the US

TikTok eclipsed YouTube in viewership by more than 10 hours back in June

TikTok is catching up to video giant YouTube according to new data.

Users are spending more average watch time each month viewing content on TikTok than YouTube, which "could shake up the rankings in years to come," according to a new study from App Annie, which provides app market and advertising analytics.

In June of this year, the average monthly hours per user for TikTok was about two hours more than on Google’s video platform, according to App Annie.

POLAND - 2021/04/26: In this photo illustration a TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone with stock market percentages in the background.


And TikTok has been leading YouTube for most of the past 12 months, according to the per user data from App Annie.

In the U.K., it’s no contest: The average monthly hours per user for TikTok is about 10 hours more than YouTube in June.

The average monthly hours metric cited in the report only covers Android phones. Nevertheless, the data shows TikTok’s swift rise with its three-minute videos.

YouTube remains the leader in the overall streaming, social and photo and video space "due to both depth and breadth of engagement," according to the report.

"The landscape has evolved from text and chat features to photo sharing, to video sharing and ultimately, to live streaming," App Annie said, adding that "at the heart of these trends is the importance of video, live streaming and the creator economy."

Other important data cited in the report include:

Consumers are shifting to a model of paying for content creators instead of professionally produced content.

Social apps occupied 740 billion hours of consumer time in the second quarter of 2021, which is equal to 44% of all time spent on mobile.

Seventy-four billion social apps downloaded to date: 4.7 billion downloads in first half of 2021.

Total time spent in the top 5 social apps that emphasize live streaming are set to surpass half a trillion hours on Android phones in 2021 (outside of China).

$78 billion forecast to be spent on social apps through 2025, with an estimated $6.78 billion spent via social apps this year.

Viewers are purchasing in-app gifts to support their favorite streamers with two regions dominating: U.S. and Japanese consumers spent more than $1.5 billion in social apps in the first half of this year.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ex-ICC Prosecutor Alleges UK Threatened to Withdraw Funding Over Netanyahu Arrest Warrant Bid
UK Disciplinary Tribunal Clears Carter-Ruck Lawyer of Misconduct in OneCoin Case
‘Pink Ladies’ Emerge as Prominent Face of UK Anti-Immigration Protests
Nigel Farage Says Reform UK Has Become Britain’s Largest Party as Labour Membership Falls Sharply
Google DeepMind and UK Government Launch First Automated AI Lab to Accelerate Scientific Discovery
UK Economy Falters Ahead of Budget as Growth Contracts and Confidence Wanes
Australia Approves Increased Foreign Stake in Strategic Defence Shipbuilder
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson proclaims, “For Ukraine, surrendering their land would be a nightmare.”
Microsoft Challenges £2.1 Billion UK Cloud Licensing Lawsuit at Competition Tribunal
Fake Doctor in Uttar Pradesh Accused of Killing Woman After Performing YouTube-Based Surgery
Hackers Are Hiding Malware in Open-Source Tools and IDE Extensions
Traveling to USA? Homeland Security moving toward requiring foreign travelers to share social media history
UK Officials Push Back at Trump Saying European Leaders ‘Talk Too Much’ About Ukraine
UK Warns of Escalating Cyber Assault Linked to Putin’s State-Backed Operations
UK Consumer Spending Falters in November as Households Hold Back Ahead of Budget
UK Orders Fresh Review of Prince Harry’s Security Status After Formal Request
U.S. Authorises Nvidia to Sell H200 AI Chips to China Under Security Controls
Trump in Direct Assault: European Leaders Are Weak, Immigration a Disaster. Russia Is Strong and Big — and Will Win
"App recommendation" or disguised advertisement? ChatGPT Premium users are furious
"The Great Filtering": Australia Blocks Hundreds of Thousands of Minors From Social Networks
Mark Zuckerberg Pulls Back From Metaverse After $70 Billion Loss as Meta Shifts Priorities to AI
Nvidia CEO Says U.S. Data-Center Builds Take Years while China ‘Builds a Hospital in a Weekend’
Indian Airports in Turmoil as IndiGo Cancels Over a Thousand Flights, Stranding Thousands
Hollywood Industry on Edge as Netflix Secures Near-$60 Bln Loan for Warner Bros Takeover
Drugs and Assassinations: The Connection Between the Italian Mafia and Football Ultras
Hollywood megadeal: Netflix acquires Warner Bros. Discovery for 83 billion dollars
The Disregard for a Europe ‘in Danger of Erasure,’ the Shift Toward Russia: Trump’s Strategic Policy Document
Two and a Half Weeks After the Major Outage: A Cloudflare Malfunction Brings Down Multiple Sites
UK data-regulator demands urgent clarity on racial bias in police facial-recognition systems
Labour Uses Biscuits to Explain UK Debt — MPs Lean Into Social Media to Reach New Audiences
German President Lays Wreath at Coventry as UK-Germany Reaffirm Unity Against Russia’s Threat
UK Inquiry Finds Putin ‘Morally Responsible’ for 2018 Novichok Death — London Imposes Broad Sanctions on GRU
India backs down on plan to mandate government “Sanchar Saathi” app on all smartphones
King Charles Welcomes German President Steinmeier to UK in First State Visit by Berlin in 27 Years
UK Plans Major Cutback to Jury Trials as Crown Court Backlog Nears 80,000
UK Government to Significantly Limit Jury Trials in England and Wales
U.S. and U.K. Seal Drug-Pricing Deal: Britain Agrees to Pay More, U.S. Lifts Tariffs
UK Postpones Decision Yet Again on China’s Proposed Mega-Embassy in London
Head of UK Budget Watchdog Resigns After Premature Leak of Reeves’ Budget Report
Car-sharing giant Zipcar to exit UK market by end of 2025
Reports of Widespread Drone Deployment Raise Privacy and Security Questions in the UK
UK Signals Security Concerns Over China While Pursuing Stronger Trade Links
Google warns of AI “irrationality” just as Gemini 3 launch rattles markets
Top Consultancies Freeze Starting Salaries as AI Threatens ‘Pyramid’ Model
Macron Says Washington Pressuring EU to Delay Enforcement of Digital-Regulation Probes Against Meta, TikTok and X
UK’s DragonFire Laser Downs High-Speed Drones as £316m Deal Speeds Naval Deployment
UK Chancellor Rejects Claims She Misled Public on Fiscal Outlook Ahead of Budget
Starmer Defends Autumn Budget as Finance Chief Faces Accusations of Misleading Public Finances
EU Firms Struggle with 3,000-Hour Paperwork Load — While Automakers Fear De Facto 2030 Petrol Car Ban
White House launches ‘Hall of Shame’ site to publicly condemn media outlets for alleged bias
×