I wonder what the breakdown of this is with active watchers vs restaurants/businesses that just have like a youtube playlist or live stream on constantly as a source for audio or background entertainment. I know personally that my dentist, barber and a few different takeout places around me do that.
Also curious that shorts are popular on TV? Maybe it's kids or people without a dedicated device using smart TV features or a console to watch?
najarvg 33 days ago [-]
Sample size of 1 so caveat emptor! In my household YT shorts on TV is used precisely for that reason by my kid who does not have a dedicated device. I personally like to watch travel videos or train videos which display a lot better on a larger screen TV since they are essentially documentaries with lots of visuals that should be "experienced"
tssva 33 days ago [-]
Myself, my 18 year old and my girlfriend all watch YouTube on our TVs. I don’t watch shorts in general but the other 2 watch shorts. All of us have an iPhone and either a MacBook or iPad so it isn’t a case of no other device.
dbl000 33 days ago [-]
I didn't think that people would enjoy watching them in a TV format (with the giant margins) because mentally shorts/vertical form content is linked to the phone for me. Do you know why they tend to prefer the TV instead?
tssva 33 days ago [-]
We all prefer to use TVs for non-shorts YouTube because of the larger screen size. Since they are already using their TVs to watch regular YouTube there is no reason to switch to another device to watch shorts.
nozzlegear 32 days ago [-]
My wife and I have a couple Apple TVs in our house which are primarily used for watching YouTube and Law and Order reruns. We watch mostly "normal" content on YouTube, but I'll queue up shorts as well if they look interesting. I typically watch educational content on YouTube so I like the bite-sized snippets that you get with shorts.
But I think one of the biggest factors for shorts on YouTube TV is that they're not separated out into different rows or areas like they are on mobile/desktop. On the tv, they're mixed in with the rest of your regular subscription videos.
everforward 32 days ago [-]
I watch shorts on my TV sometimes. They're short enough that my resistance to clicking on them is low. The long form stuff I have to really think about whether I care enough for a 15 minute video where I'm going to have to scroll past sponsored segments.
I rarely watch several in a row, but I typically watch one when I scroll past the Shorts section.
thatguy0900 33 days ago [-]
From my personal experience native YouTube app on my TV is awful and laggy, I assume because my TV is underpowered. I would assume most are though. If it's that big a part of their revenue I would expect it to be a little more optimized though.
Also curious that shorts are popular on TV? Maybe it's kids or people without a dedicated device using smart TV features or a console to watch?
But I think one of the biggest factors for shorts on YouTube TV is that they're not separated out into different rows or areas like they are on mobile/desktop. On the tv, they're mixed in with the rest of your regular subscription videos.
I rarely watch several in a row, but I typically watch one when I scroll past the Shorts section.
More users are watching YouTube on TV than mobile
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43012880