Fun Chart of the Day: YouTube Surpasses Netflix in Revenue

By Daniel Frankel
( NextTV )
published

So who’s the biggest in video streaming? With nearly $7 billion in ad revenue during Q4, Google’s ad-supported platform zoomed past the No. 1 SVOD

YouTube is now the biggest streaming video company in the world, at least in terms of quarterly revenue. 

The Google platform generated $6.9 billion in ad revenue in the fourth quarter, which surpassed subscription service Netflix’s $6.64 billion. 

Is this the first time YouTube has surpassed Netflix in quarterly sales? That’s difficult to say, since Google only started breaking out YouTube quarterly performance last year, and we only have quarterly revenue figures dating back to the fourth quarter of 2019.

Suffice it to say it’s the first time in the last five quarters that YouTube has made more ad revenue than Netflix generated subscription dollars. 

Why does this matter? It probably doesn’t. It’s just fun to consider. Shout out to Erick Mokaya (@ekmokaya), who publishes a running tally of this data-driven dialectal on Twitter.

Netflix vs. YouTube in quarterly revenue.

(Image credit: Future)
Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!