In your spare time have you ever watched a video or a stream of your favorite games? Well you aren’t alone. Streaming is big, bigger than anyone of us I think ever expected it to be. But how big is streaming? And how does streaming stack up against things like prime time television?
The Stats
TwitchTV (twitchtv.com) is reputed to reach over 35 million unique viewers each month. This means that over 35 million different people tune in to the streaming website each month, and on average watch a hour and a half of streams daily. The number of viewers alone is staggering, but how does this affect the casters or the people who stream themselves? A quick glance at Day9, famous in his own right as a Starcraft 2 caster, and who streams to TwitchTV, can show us what a big name in streaming is capable of. Day9 has over 109,000 followers on TwitchTV, over 351,000 on YouTube, and over 87 million views on his YouTube channel. Day9 is not alone, and is one of many popular streamers to watch.
How Does TwitchTV Stack Up Against Regular Television?
Sure streaming is big, but can it really compete with regular tv? I think the answer might just surprise you. While it is hard to make a perfect comparison between TwitchTV and television here are some quick numbers to help make sense of all this. On Sunday July 26, 2013 Family Guy had about 3.3 million viewers during prime time. The show roughly has an average of between 5.5 and 10 million viewers weekly. That means in a month approximately between 22 and 40 million viewers. This means TwitchTV’s 35 million viewers doesn’t stack up unfavorably against popular television shows, like Family Guy.
What Does This All Mean?
While it is unlikely that TwitchTV will completely replace television anytime soon, there is promise in its tremendous success. TwitchTV is just over two years old now, and with its number of viewers, and success stories, the winds of change might just be blowing in entertainment.
