Skip to main content

Screen Wars Thought Leader Interviews are also available on

SpotifyApple PodcastGoogle Podcast
State of the Screens

YouTube Takes New Aim at TV Advertising Budgets

By May 7, 2018No Comments

Big news: YouTube continues its assault on the video advertising budget with the launch of ads inside YouTube TV.

What is YouTube TV? YouTube TV is live TV (ESPN, NBC, Fox News, etc) delivered entirely through an app over the internet. This is a replacement for the video service part of your cable bill (aka pay-TV).

How many people have signed up? ≈ 300K by the end of 2017.

Daily hours of YouTube watched on connected TV:
1) 2017–100M
2) 2018–150M (↑ 50%)

Quick math on ad $ opportunity:
1) 2
minutes/hour of ad time
2) 4 30s spots per hour
3) $25 CPM
4) $0.10
per hour of viewing
5) 150M hours of viewing on connected TV
6) $15M per day in ad revenue
7) $450M per month

More #1: Google to Sell YouTube TV Ads Through ‘Google Preferred’ Network

More #2: TV Needs To Be Good, Not Just Well-Targeted, And It’s Time The Digital Invaders Learned That Lesson

More #3: Twitter says more than half of its business is video — what does that mean?

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.