The grainy 19-second YouTube video that began all of it hardly had the makings of a viral sensation.
Shot on the San Diego Zoo, the primitive video clip confirmed Jawed Karim, the platform’s co-founder, complimenting the elephants within the body behind him. “The cool thing about these guys is they have really, really, really long trunks,” Karim mentioned.
The clip, titled “Me at the zoo,” was the primary video uploaded onto YouTube 20 years in the past, opening the door to a brand new medium of tv.
From these modest beginnings, the location opened the gates for customers from around the globe to put up humorous, viral movies that would take the web by storm, racking up thousands and thousands of views and incomes some thousands and thousands of {dollars}.
A hair salon set at Dhar Mann Studios in Burbank.
YouTube has advanced into not a mere tech operation, however a formidable drive in tv.
Common music artists akin to Justin Bieber rose to fame on YouTube and social media stars together with MrBeast turned their massive followings into highly effective leisure corporations. The vacation spot for selfmade movies akin to “Charlie bit my finger” is now the streaming residence to massive music festivals like Coachella and NFL soccer video games.
Google-owned YouTube’s income final yr was estimated to be $54.2 billion, which might make it the second-largest media firm behind Walt Disney Co., based on a latest report from analysis agency MoffettNathanson, which referred to as YouTube “the new king of all media.”
“We can never underestimate what a big thing YouTube was when it came out,” mentioned Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse College’s Bleier Middle for Tv and Common Tradition. “When that debuted 20 years ago, that was a sign of major important changes, not only in the way that we watch TV, but in what we even thought of as TV.”
YouTube, run by Chief Government Neal Mohan since 2023, accounted for 12% of U.S. TV viewing in March, greater than different rival streaming platforms together with Netflix and Tubi, based on Nielsen.
Greater than 20 billion movies have been uploaded movies to YouTube, the corporate mentioned on Wednesday. On common, there are over 20 million movies uploaded each day.
Extra persons are watching YouTube on TV units moderately than on smartphones and laptop screens, consuming greater than 1 billion hours on common of YouTube content material on TV each day, the corporate mentioned on its web site.
“Its unmatched reach, strong brand, and omnipresent distribution channels mean that it can connect creators, advertisers, and viewers like no other platform can,” MoffettNathanson analysts wrote of their report.
That has opened up alternatives for video creators like Dhar Mann, who began posting movies on YouTube in 2018 with no movie background. Mann beforehand had a enterprise that offered provides to develop weed.
Right this moment, his firm, Burbank-based Dhar Mann Studios, operates on 125,000 sq. toes of manufacturing house, employs roughly 200 individuals and works with 2,000 actors a yr on household pleasant packages that contact on how college students and households take care of matters akin to bullying, narcolepsy, continual inflammatory bowel illness and hoarding.
Mann made $45 million final yr, based on Forbes estimates. The vast majority of his firm’s income comes by YouTube.
“I didn’t have to wait two years for a studio to green light my deal and send me a check,” 40-year-old Mann mentioned. “I was able to get instant access to monetization as soon as I got people watching my videos, so YouTube has changed my life. I don’t think it’s just the future of TV — it is TV, and the world is catching on.”
Humble origins 
Head manufacturing supervisor Ruben Ortiz at Burbank-based Dhar Mann Studios. The corporate creates household pleasant packages for its YouTube channel.
When YouTube first began in San Mateo, its founders weren’t pondering they might tackle the tv business.
They envisioned it as a relationship website the place individuals would add movies and rating them. When that didn’t work, the founders determined to open up the platform for all types of movies. Customers drove visitors to YouTube by sharing movies on MySpace.
“We’ve given creators and folks this way to find a global audience and share their passion with the world,” mentioned Amjad Hanif, vice chairman of product for YouTube in an interview. “Before YouTube, there was no way to do that. And now, whether you’re in the U.S., or in Thailand, Southeast Asia, South America — you have access to this global network of creators to learn, educate, entertain.”
One of many key methods YouTube constructed a big following was by embracing (and, crucially, paying) its video creators — the individuals who had been posting content material on the location.
In 2007, YouTube launched a partnership program, offering a manner for creators to earn cash by advertisements. This financially motivated creators to maintain posting, which introduced extra eyeballs and advertisers to YouTube.
“YouTube was the place where you went to for an exciting new art form,” Thompson mentioned. “This idea of the user-generated video, whether it’s something somebody made, whether it’s some clip they just found and posted, it was different. It wasn’t just another sitcom or reality show.”
Clockwise from prime left: Totally different units on the Dhar Mann Studios in Burbank embrace a restaurant, tea store, and a faculty’s inside and exterior.
Getting that first paycheck inspired some early creators to pursue YouTube as a profession. The flexibility to simply document oneself and put up movies on-line for the world to see modified the way in which contemporary expertise may very well be found by Hollywood.
“The walls broke down for me where it’s not just five places where you can go and discover talent,” mentioned Sam Gray, CEO of comedy studio and expertise administration agency Stapleview, who has signed comedy purchasers based mostly on social media movies. “You don’t have to move to one of the big cities. You can really do it from anywhere, and the cream will rise.”
Patrick Starrr, who produces make-up tutorial movies, mentioned he made his first $1 million by YouTube on the age of 25. He left his job at retailer MAC Cosmetics in Florida and moved to L.A.
It was nonetheless a fledgling profession path on the time. Creators realized as they went, determining who to rent for his or her groups and negotiate their very own model offers. Some handled skeptical mother and father.
“My mom would always give me so much crap about it — she would say, ‘Why do you want to do YouTube?’” mentioned Chucky Appleby, now an govt at MrBeast. His reply: “Mom, you can make a living from this.”
MrBeast’s holding firm, Beast Industries, which employs greater than 400 individuals, made $473 million in income final yr, based on Enterprise Insider. Within the final 28 days, MrBeast content material — which incorporates challenges and stunt movies — obtained 3.6 billion views on YouTube, Appleby mentioned.
Appleby, 28, mentioned he’s since purchased a Jeep for his mother.
Piracy and security considerations 
A grocery retailer set at Dhar Mann Studios in Burbank.
Google tried to handle the leisure business’s considerations by launching Content material ID, which flags unauthorized content material for media companions and permits them to decide on whether or not to take these movies down or accumulate income from advertisements positioned on them.
That, together with the YouTube Companion Program, “really ended up creating that full cycle that allowed the economy to thrive and YouTube to grow,” Hanif mentioned.
The corporate additionally navigated considerations from mother and father over what youngsters might see on the platform.
In 2015, YouTube launched a youngsters app with child-appropriate movies and parental controls. In 2019, YouTube and Google reached a $170-million settlement with the Federal Commerce Fee and the New York lawyer basic that alleged YouTube collected knowledge on kids youthful than 13 with out their mother and father’ consent. Since then, YouTube has modified the way in which it handles promoting on content material meant for kids.
The corporate says it limits knowledge assortment of movies for youths to solely what is required to help the operation of the service and doesn’t serve customized advertisements on these movies.
Rising competitors 
The manufacturing crew at Dhar Mann Studios in Burbank.
YouTube’s ambitions expanded when it launched YouTube TV in 2017, a service with greater than 40 reside tv networks. The providing was engaging to a rising variety of cord-cutters and individuals who grew up watching YouTube.
YouTube additionally more and more grew to become the house for must-see occasions, together with Coachella beginning in 2011. In 2023, YouTube started streaming out-of-market community TV broadcasts of NFL Sunday ticket video games.
As soon as thought of a less expensive possibility for cable-less younger individuals, YouTube TV now prices $82.99 a month after a rise that annoyed many customers.
YouTube benefited from being a video pioneer, but it surely faces rising competitors from social media rivals together with Instagram and TikTok that attempt to woo influencers to put up content material on their platforms.
In 2020, YouTube launched its personal type of shorter movies referred to as “Shorts” to raised compete with TikTok. Right this moment, YouTube says Shorts has on common 70 billion each day views.
The corporate has additionally diversified the way in which that creators can earn cash past advertisements and model offers, together with by particular person channel memberships. Creators say that YouTube stands out from the competitors based mostly on the quantity of income the corporate is prepared to share with creators, its knowledge analytics and its attain.
Not each technique was profitable. Beginning in 2016, YouTube introduced a slate of premium scripted exhibits to its subscription service to compete with Hulu, however a lot of the exhibits didn’t achieve sufficient traction on the platform. “Cobra Kai,” a sequence based mostly on the “Karate Kid” movie franchise, started as a YouTube Authentic and ended up turning into successful for Netflix.
Media corporations are noticing what works on YouTube too, together with the recognition of video podcasters. Spotify is attempting to capitalize on the video podcasting house, whereas Netflix can be exploring methods in.
Ian Hecox, president of comedy community Smosh, described the final 20 years on YouTube as waves, with up intervals, down intervals and algorithmic shifts. Nonetheless, he feels assured concerning the future. Smosh’s YouTube viewers consists of individuals who watched Hecox as teenagers who now are adults with kids who watch too.
“It’s really just kind of a wild thing to see,” 37-year-old Hecox mentioned. “I have full-grown adults come up to me and tell me that I was their childhood.”
