Business continues to boom for YouTube during the pandemic, Google revealed during its third quarter earnings call Thursday.
The video platform’s virtual pay TV service, YouTube TV, has surpassed the 3 million paid subscriber mark. This revelation comes just seven months after Google announced the passing of the 2 million mark for the vMVPD service. That’s an indicator of accelerated growth, as that Feb. 2 million announcement came a full two years after the platform launched.
YouTube TV’s growth came despite the platform upping its base price from $50 to $65 a month at the end of the third quarter, following a carriage deal with ViacomCBS to carry legacy Viacom cable networks.
YouTube TV is now the second biggest virtual pay TV service, trailing Hulu with Live TV—it finished the second quarter with 3.4 million paid users.
YouTube’s music and premium paid subscriber base, meanwhile, reached 30 million paid subscribers in the third quarter.
And YouTube advertising revenue was up 32% year over year to $5 million
Due to the pandemic, Google/Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told investors, people generally have a lot more time on their hands to surf the internet for video.
“As a sign of the times, views for guided meditation videos are up 40% since mid March, while DIY face mask tutorials have been viewed over 1 billion times,” Pichai said.
