Twitch dominates livestreaming but faces growing competition

The news: Twitch grabbed a commanding lead in the video streaming industry, accounting for 82.3% of all livestreaming hours in Q3 2024, per Streamlabs. 

Twitch reported 5.14 billion hours watched and 212 million total hours streamed, dwarfing competitors like YouTube Gaming, which posted 1.94 billion hours of watch time, and Kick, at 533.9 million hours.

Its community—rooted in video games but expanding into esports, music, talk shows, and even cooking—attracts a diverse base of creators, resulting in high watch-time numbers. We forecast that Twitch will have 36.4 million users by the end of 2024, accounting for 10.6% of the US population.

By the numbers: 

• Twitch hosts 85.6% of unique streaming channels, per Streamlabs, with 9.2 million unique channels on its platform in Q3.
• It also captures about 60% of global streaming watch time, showcasing a broad but less concentrated audience.
• Twitch claims 60.8% of total watch time, while YouTube Gaming, Kick, and AfreecaTV are slugging it out for the remainder.

Keys to maintaining success: While it has a comfortable lead, Twitch could face growing competition, especially from YouTube, which has worked lucrative deals to attract some of Twitch’s biggest stars, per The Shortcut.

• Twitch can enhance revenue-sharing models to retain top talent and attract more creators.
• It can also introduce AI-powered moderation and personalization features to engage audiences.
• Promoting itself beyond gaming content can lead to opportunities like streamed events or long-form video.

Advertising angle: With viewers spending an average of 95 minutes per day on Twitch, per Quintly, advertisers get access to highly engaged audiences and targeted reach. 

Twitch’s demographics also skew toward millennials and Gen Z, which are harder to reach through traditional channels.

Our take: Twitch has shown it can tap into community-driven engagement and diversify beyond gaming content. However, competition is growing, making it imperative for Twitch to continue innovating to maintain its lead. 

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