Timing matters in the streaming wars - that's our takeaway from one of our most recent pieces of research into how users engage with content across different platforms.
It is no secret that YouTube typically outperforms SVOD services when measured by audience reach - it is, after all, a free global service offering near instantaneous access to a wealth of content both niche and mainstream, making it a highly personalised platform experience.
However, there are times when users will eschew YouTube for SVOD services - specifically, on the weekends.
The chart above tracks users with access to both YouTube and at least one SVOD service and demonstrates, with an inverse correlation, how a significant number are only watching one or the other on any given day.
Taking June 2025 as a sample, we see high preference for YouTube usage during weekdays, which we suggest indicates regular casual viewing, while a higher number of these same users turn to SVOD services at the weekend for what we believe to be more engaged viewing.
As noted on the chart above, it takes a global streaming phenomenon, such as the launch of the third season of Squid Game on Netflix, to move users to SVOD-only viewing over YouTube-only viewing outside of a weekend.
This data was taken from our ASI Copenhagen 2025 presentation Reaching Beyond, click on the link to to view the full deck.
