Popular digital creators helped YouTube become the world's dominant source of video. Now it is fighting to keep their loyalty.
The streaming platform, which is owned by Alphabet's Google, faces growing competition from Netflix on turf it has controlled for two decades. The platform known for "Stranger Things" and "KPop Demon Hunters" is writing big checks to lure the producers of shows like "Good Mythical Morning" and "Alan's Universe" to make Netflix their second home.
At an event Wednesday, YouTube rolled out better tools for digital producers that could help it to keep more of their content exclusively.
The company announced new features for YouTubers who want to make microdrama series, translate livestreams into Spanish, or use artificial intelligence to help edit scripts and videos.
"We pride ourselves on the fact that because we've created a home for creators, it has created all these other amazing opportunities for them," YouTube Chief Executive Neal Mohan said of the Netflix rivalry.
The fight over creators is yet another sign of their increased importance in the media business, with more viewers just as happy to watch their content as Hollywood studios' output and advertisers line up to work with them.
Fending off Netflix is a tricky task for Mohan because YouTube's business model is to share advertising revenue with creators, not write big upfront checks. YouTube creators typically get 55% of the advertising revenue generated from their videos.
YouTube has told creators considering a deal with Netflix that it might have a harder time setting them up with lucrative brand deals or giving them time in the spotlight at advertising events like the company's annual Brandcast.
"When you're speaking to an advertiser, they have to have some understanding about where this content is available and when," Mohan said. "A creator's posting strategy has implications."
Netflix's move into YouTube's turf began with shows from children's creators, like "Ms. Rachel," "Mark Rober's CrunchLabs" and "Danny Go!" They are now among Netflix's most popular content with kids. It next moved into video podcasts, another business YouTube dominates, and started recruiting some of that service's top shows for adults.
The deals are typically global and let the creators work with Netflix and YouTube, but not other streaming services.
Netflix executives have been looking for ways to reverse a downturn in the amount of time subscribers spend on the service, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. YouTube accounted for 14.2% of streaming video viewing on televisions in the U.S. in July-nearly twice as much as No. 2 Netflix, according to Nielsen.
Digital-creator deals potentially increase viewing at a fraction of the cost of premium productions like "Bridgerton." Other media companies including Amazon.com and Disney have started making deals with creators, but none as aggressively as Netflix.
Working with Netflix has had a mixed impact on creators' YouTube viewership, according to data from Tubular Labs. The strategy firm found some creators' YouTube views have decreased and some have increased.
Tim Katz, YouTube's vice president of partnerships, said his team is keeping a close eye on those trends internally, so that creators "understand the decisions that they're making."
YouTube remains the only viable platform for producers making content longer than a TikTok video to build a channel with millions of subscribers. Leaving isn't a realistic option for most creators, which is why Netflix's deals call for creators to cross-publish or make additional content on top of their existing YouTube output.
At its Made on YouTube conference this week, the company is announcing a new feature that could help creators reach the right audience at the right moment. Viewers will be able to create custom feeds depending on their mood and interests, so they won't get political commentary when they want comedy.
For producers, it is unveiling a tool for one of the hottest genres in entertainment: microdramas. Creators of YouTube Shorts, its TikTok-like vertical video feature, will be able to produce episodic series of videos that stream one after another.
YouTube is also launching an AI storytelling assistant that can analyze scripts and rough cuts based on what has worked and what hasn't on that channel. Another tool will let creators A/B-test videos by publishing different cuts, then take down the one that isn't performing as well.
YouTube is increasingly home to live streams from individual creators and big cultural events like the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. YouTube said it has renewed its deal for the festival, which it will now livestream exclusively on the platform through 2030.
In addition, live streamers can soon enable live AI-dubbing from English to Spanish-a first step toward automatic translation into many languages. "That's a way of eliminating what I would argue is potentially the sole barrier between them and new audiences today," said Mohan.
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