Updated: Dec 30, 2024
Live streaming is the ability to broadcast and disseminate video content in real-time. Live streaming is sometimes called Webcasting when it's used for broadcasting a particular event as it happens. Live streaming is also used as a marketing tool to promote an event or company. Live video can be streamed through a desktop, mobile device or TV through various services such as YouTube, Facebook Live and Twitch. Viewers can interact with what's on the screen by commenting, liking and sharing clips on social media channels.
The number of platforms in the live-streaming market has increased dramatically in recent years with the arrival of services such as Periscope from Twitter, Facebook Live from Facebook, and Snapchat from Snap Inc.
Just like TV shows, Millennials and young adults watch live videos. They find it entertaining and informative. YouTube, Facebook Live, and Twitch are all examples of live video platforms.
The viewer's expectation for live streaming is high video quality, videos from brands, and videos from a favourite team. A speaker, performer, or influencer can expect viewers to have higher expectations and will be more likely to produce better content. Brands are becoming more popular because of their exposure through live streaming.
The live streaming market is booming, Different people have different preferences when it comes to watching the video. They watch live streaming on different devices. Twitch is a popular live streaming platform that has been in use for a long time, but now, many people at Twitch also use Microsoft Mixers. YouTube gaming is also gaining popularity among gamers as it provides new gameplay strategies and techniques of popular games. Mobile devices are also a very popular way of viewing live streamed video because they are portable, and it is easier to watch the video anywhere.
For a better understanding, here are some amazing live-streaming stats you must know.
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Infographic by GO-Globe Bahrain Web Design
Live-streaming video advertising is a new and cost-efficient way for businesses to interact with their customers, engage them in real-time conversations, and buy products after watching them. The number of marketers planning to use Facebook Live is increasing continuously. Facebook is ready and waiting to be the new home of live video streaming. With more than 1 billion monthly active users on the platform, now would be a perfect time for Facebook Live marketing to go mainstream.
Overview | By 2027, it is anticipated that the live-streaming market will be worth $184.3 billion. |
In comparison to video on demand, live video garners 27% more watch time per viewing, or roughly 6 more minutes, at 24.41 minutes on average (slightly fewer than 18 minutes) | |
The live video streaming market is anticipated to reach $149.34 billion by 2026. | |
With 82.9 million live views, Coachella in 2019 has the most viewers of any live music event. | |
80% of consumers say they would rather watch a live video than read a blog. | |
Audience | More than half of people between the ages of 18 and 49 watch very little or no television. |
Millennials are the greatest segment of live content viewers, with 63% of them routinely watching live-streaming videos. | |
In the US, the majority of young adults who watch TV do it via online streaming. | |
Ages 18 to 34 make up 55% of Twitch users. | |
Around 40% of computer and mobile viewers are 13–34 years old | |
47% of live streaming video viewers worldwide are watching more live videos than a year ago | |
Viewers Expectation | When watching a live stream, 67% of viewers feel that the most critical part is the quality of the video. |
OTT platforms are at risk of losing roughly 25% of their revenue by using content of lower quality | |
When watching a live stream, 67% of viewers feel that the most critical part is the quality of the video. | |
OTT platforms are at risk of losing roughly 25% of their revenue by using content of lower quality | |
Buffering is down 41%, video start failures are down 33% year over year, and picture quality is up 25%. | |
85% of viewers prefer more brand videos. | |
67% of viewers of live streams bought tickets to the same event the following time it was held. | |
How Viewers Watch | In the US in 2020, 232 million individuals used all types of devices to watch streaming or downloaded video. |
The average daily time spent watching videos on mobile devices is 16 minutes. | |
The majority of Millennials (56%) use smartphones for watching live video, while 44% say they prefer a tablet. | |
Mixer, a streaming service from Microsoft, saw a 149% increase. | |
Twitch features more than 500,000 active daily streamers, 3 million content creators, and more than 15 million unique daily visitors. | |
52% of live stream watchers prefer to watch ad-supported content to subscription-based content. | |
Content Types | The most popular Twitch streaming category is games. |
In the US, 86% of live streaming is from sporting events. | |
Tfue, who outperformed Ninja and Shroud in terms of popularity, had more than 87 million hours of live-streaming viewers in 2019. | |
51% of live video material streamed on mobile devices is user-generated content. | |
Video Streaming for Business | For business presentations, live video is used by 55% of companies. |
65% of companies claim to have live-streamed to several locations. | |
For live, exclusive, or on-demand videos from their preferred presenter, 45% of audiences are willing to pay. | |
54% of consumers would like to see more video content made by the brands they support | |
29% of businesses stream or broadcast live video every day, with 53% doing so at least once a week. | |
Live Video Streaming for Marketing | When Millennials shop online, over 75% agree that watching videos helps them compare products. |
35% of marketers use live video, up 20% year over year. | |
32% of marketers intend to include Facebook Live in their approach to video marketing. | |
Eighty per cent of people prefer watching live videos from brands to reading their blogs. | |
82% of viewers feel live streams are preferable to a brand's social media updates. | |
For long-form videos, ad views have increased by 27%, while for short-form videos, they have increased by 20%. |
The current growth of the video streaming industry is jaw-dropping. As per the live streaming stats of 2024, the current live streaming market valuation is about $670 billion. In 2023, this market was projected to surpass $2.49 trillion by growing at a compound rate annual growth rate of 17.8%.
Among the largest streaming platforms, Netflix stands at first with over 260 million subscribers. The second one is Disney+ which has 157 million subscribers as of May 2023. Amazon Prime Video is third with over 165 million subscribers as of 2024.
Here’s a look at the growth in video streaming subscriptions and TV usage:
Proportion of US Households with Streaming Subscriptions
Year | Proportion of Subscriptions (by Household) |
2015 | 52% |
2017 | 64% |
2018 | 69% |
2019 | 74% |
2020 | 78% |
2021 | 78% |
2022 | 83% |
2023 | 83% |
As per the live streaming statistics, With the rise of digital media usage, the consumption of platforms in the live streaming market has increased drastically.
Here is an overview of digital media usage over the years, which has a strong impact on live streaming stats:
Month, Year | Streaming | Cable | Broadcast | Other |
Dec, 2021 | 27.7% | 37.3% | 26.1% | 8.9% |
Jan 2022 | 28.9% | 35.6% | 26.4% | 9.1% |
Feb 2022 | 28.7% | 35.4% | 26% | 10% |
Mar 2022 | 29.7% | 36.9% | 24.9% | 8.4% |
Apr 2022 | 30.4% | 36.8% | 24.7% | 8.2% |
May 2022 | 31.9% | 36.5% | 24.4% | 7.2% |
Jun 2022 | 33.7% | 35.1% | 22.4% | 8.8% |
Jul 2022 | 34.8% | 34.4% | 21.6% | 9.2% |
Aug 2022 | 35% | 34.5% | 22.1% | 8.5% |
Sep 2022 | 36.9% | 33.8% | 24.2% | 5.1% |
Oct 2022 | 37.3% | 32.9% | 26% | 3.8% |
Nov 2022 | 38.2% | 31.8% | 25.7% | 4.3% |
Dec 2022 | 38.1% | 30.9% | 24.7% | 6.3% |
Jan 2023 | 32.8% | 30.4% | 24.9% | 11.9% |
Feb 2023 | 34.3% | 30.2% | 23.8% | 11.7% |
Mar 2023 | 34.1% | 31.1% | 23.3% | 11.6% |
Apr 2023 | 34% | 31.5% | 23.1% | 11.5% |
May 2023 | 36.4% | 31.1% | 22.8% | 9.7% |
Jun 2023 | 37.7% | 30.6% | 20.8% | 10.9% |
Jul 2023 | 38.7% | 29.6% | 20% | 11.6% |
Aug 2023 | 38.3% | 30.2% | 20.4% | 11.1% |
Sep 2023 | 37.5% | 29.8% | 23% | 9.6% |
Oct 2023 | 36.6% | 29.5% | 24.6% | 9.3% |
Nov 2023 | 36.1% | 28.3% | 24.9% | 10.7% |
Dec 2023 | 35.9% | 28.2% | 23.5% | 12.5% |
Jan 2024 | 36% | 27.9% | 24.2% | 11.8% |
Sources: Nielsen, Leichtman Research Group, Statista, Forbes, EarthWeb
As per the survey, here is what most of the users look into streaming platforms before purchasing a subscription:
Video Streaming Attributes | Proportion Who Think it is Important |
Cost | 84% |
Ease of use | 81% |
Variety/availability of content | 79% |
Streaming/playback quality | 77% |
Speed (menu selection, loading content) | 74% |
Accessibility/search of desired content | 71% |
Availability across devices | 58% |
Resolution available (4k Ultra HD, HD) | 56% |
Skipping ads features | 52% |
Ad-free | 48% |
Content available for downloading/offline | 40% |
Menu Recommendations | 38% |
Content available live | 37% |
Here is what features of streaming platforms attract the users most:
Feature | Percentage of users |
Shorter ad break | 43% |
Ability to earn rewards | 42% |
Shorter ad length | 41% |
Single ad in a break | 41% |
Target ads | 34% |
Short ads from sponsor | 33% |
Categories you choose | 33% |
Time countdown | 31% |
Below is the overview of the generation of users and how they interact with the streaming platforms.
Generation | Cancelled SVOD in the Last 6 Months | Cancelled Then Renewed in Last 6 Months |
Gen Z | 57% | 38% |
Millennials | 62% | 43% |
Gen X | 43% | 20% |
Boomers and older | 24% | 7% |
Average | 44% | 24% |
Notable, Millennial user bases mostly make changes in their subscriptions. On the other hand, boomers don’t take much interest in making any changes.
Here are the habits of users under various age brackets and their activity among streaming platforms.
Age Bracket | Binge-watchers | Non-binge watchers |
13-17 years | 60% | 40% |
18-29 years | 69% | 31% |
30-44 years | 70% | 30% |
45-64 years | 62% | 38% |
65+ | 41% | 59% |
When it comes to altering their video streaming subscriptions, generational preferences vary significantly.
Notably, Boomers and older generations are the least likely to make changes compared to younger age groups.
Breakdown of Subscription Changes by Generation
The following table shows how different generations have adjusted their video streaming subscriptions in the past 6 months:
Change Made | Gen Z | Millennials | Gen X | Boomers and Older | Average |
Cancelled a paid subscription to save money | 30% | 32% | 30% | 15% | 26% |
Switched from paid to free ad-supported service | 21% | 31% | 19% | 8% | 19% |
Signed up for a bundle to lower costs | 17% | 18% | 14% | 4% | 13% |
Added a new paid subscription to replace costly activities | 13% | 15% | 14% | 6% | 12% |
Switched from ad-free to ad-supported subscription | 16% | 18% | 10% | 4% | 11% |
Made at least one change | 54% | 66% | 51% | 25% | 47% |
So, all of these stats of the live streaming market clearly show that young users love to make a lot of changes in their video streaming subscriptions. On the other hand, older ones are mostly happy with the current choices they have made.
In the growing live streaming market, many organizations realize that a direct-to-audience strategy is a more effective key for reaching target audiences in real-time. To create tremendous high-quality, engaging live-streaming content that can elevate a brand's online presence, businesses need to work with experts who have an understanding of their strategies and processes. From conceptual planning to the technical execution of a plan, GO-Globe has crafted its services to help businesses overcome all realms of the live-streaming landscape in effect.
Whether it is hosting a new product launch, facilitating a virtual event, or giving an in-house look into the way brands work, GO-Globe can pull off creating engaging content with audiences and build brand loyalty.
At GO-Globe, these three main areas of content strategy, technical support, and audience engagement are the focus points of live streaming content. Every live stream is properly matched with the objectives specific to each client, ensuring that the content aligns with the brand's messaging and reaches the right target audience.
We begin by consulting with the client to determine what core message the stream should bring out. What are the objectives and themes the content is meant to communicate? To educate, entertain, or inform, GO-Globe's team of experts develop a customized strategy that will help achieve the aims and take advantage of this rapidly growing live streaming market.
Technical excellence is the core of the service at GO-Globe. Live streaming requires very high production standards to keep viewers and GO-Globe ensures that their clients will benefit from reliable, visually appealing, and professional streams. We put everything in place from the right equipment to the live broadcast to go smoothly and engage the audience.
Our technical team can make use of the latest streaming technology that provides stable connections, crisp visuals, and clear audio. Through the support of GO-Globe, businesses can show their live streaming content less going the way live broadcasts characteristically do.
Among the things that GO-Globe emphasizes is interaction with the audience. Live streaming can enable businesses to connect in real-time with their audience, and GO-Globe always advises clients to use this feature in its totality. Through live Q&A sessions, polls, and comments, businesses can interact with the target audience directly, making the viewer valued and respected.
The engagement by the business will make the viewer experience better and increase the likelihood of returning viewers for subsequent streams. The success of such a community can be ensured through proper guidance to clients as they come to understand and apply such engagement tactics for live streaming content on GO-Globe.
In summary, GO-Globe’s end-to-end services equip businesses to leverage the live-streaming market effectively, making it possible to reach broader audiences and strengthen brand connections. From strategic content planning to technical execution and real-time engagement, GO-Globe provides the support needed to make live streaming a powerful tool for any business.
With their expertise, clients can create live streaming experiences that are not only engaging but also aligned with their brand’s goals, ensuring every stream leaves a lasting impression on the audience.