1 FEB 2021

LIVE STREAMING INDUSTRY SUSTAINS ITS MOMENTUM AFTER THE LOCKDOWNS

Despite a slight decrease in Q3, viewers watched a record 8.26 billion hours of content in Q4 alone, closing the year with a massive 27.89 billion hours watched in 2020, according to Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet.

1 FEB 2021

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The live streaming industry is sustaining the momentum it gained earlier this year. Despite a slight decrease in Q3, viewers watched a record 8.26 billion hours of content in Q4 alone, closing the year with a massive 27.89 billion hours watched in 2020, according to Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet’s Q4 “Live Streaming Industry” report.

During 2020, viewers watched 27.89 billion hours of content across all platforms, up 78.44% from 15.63 billion hours watched in 2019.

Year-over-year, viewership across all platforms in Q4 2020 reached 8.26 billion hours, nearly double the 4.16 billion hours watched in Q4 2019. Quarter-over-quarter, hours watched is up 14.2% from 7.23 billion hours in Q3 2020.

Streamers broadcasted 916 million hours of content across all platforms in 2020, a 45.4% increase from 629 million hours streamed in 2019.

In Q4 2020, streamers broadcast 255 million hours of content across all platforms. That is a 75.9% increase year-over-year, from 145 million hours in Q4 2019 and a 12.8% increase from 226 million hours in Q3 2020.

Twitch continues to reign supreme as the de facto leader in the streaming industry. While they are historically known for their gaming content, Twitch is also attracting creators outside of this category. From broadcasting live NFL games, adding a dedicated music category, and a greater interest in political content, Twitch is continuing to expand beyond gaming to bring a more diverse audience to the platform.

In 2020, viewers watched 18.41 billion hours of content on Twitch. That is up 67.36% from 11 billion hours watched in 2019.

In 2020, streamers broadcasted a total of 761 million hours of content to Twitch, up 76.2% from 431 million hours streamed in 2019. Year-over-year, the number of hours streamed to Twitch increased by 127.7%, from 101 hours in Q4 2019 to 203 hours in Q4 2020. Therefore, Twitch now represents 90% of the market share for hours streamed compared to Facebook and YouTube.