23 DEC 2022

Is Netflix versus TikTok the new battle to watch?

According to new research from eMarketer, Netflix will easily dominate when it comes to viewers and viewing time, but TikTok’s ad revenue lead will be difficult for Netflix to overcome.

23 DEC 2022

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Just over two-thirds of TV content viewers aged 18 to 34 watch short-form videos and other non-TV content daily, according to April 2022 data from Horowitz Research. Furthermore, adults in the United States will spend an average of 40 minutes per day watching social videos in 2023, eMarketer forecasts. That amounts to more than 5% of daily media time.

However, US adult viewers will spend more time watching Netflix than users will spend on either TikTok or YouTube through 2024. Netflix also has a sizable lead in total viewers: its monthly users will top 172 million in the United States in 2023, compared with about 102 million for TikTok.

On the other hand, Netflix’s ad revenues will be a fraction of TikTok’s in 2023. According to eMarketer, in its first full year of selling ads, the streamer will generate only US$830 million in the United States, versus US$6.83 billion for TikTok. Meanwhile, YouTube will get squeezed from both sides, eMarketer noted. It leads in viewers but will face increased competition for ad dollars in 2023 from both streaming platforms and TikTok.