The olds are falling in love with YouTube — and it's another alarm bell for Hollywood

• YouTube's TV viewership continues to grow, partly thanks to viewers 50 and older, per Nielsen data.
• Adults 65 and up nearly doubled their YouTube viewing on TV over the last two years.
• Traditional media has fed YouTube by putting more full-length TV episodes and movies there.

Traditional media companies have been fretting about losing kids to YouTube. But maybe they should also be worried about the 50-plus crowd.

YouTube grabbed the top spot in total US TV watching in February, beating out the likes of Netflix and Disney and getting its biggest share ever at 11.6%, per Nielsen's "Media Distributor Gauge," a measure of all streaming, broadcast, and cable viewing across distributors. And that's partly thanks to the gains it's making among older viewers.

YouTube's TV viewing among adults 65 and up has nearly doubled in the last two years (up 96%), with the demographic now representing a contribution similar to that from kids two to 11 (15.4% vs. 16.9%). People 50 to 64 grew their YouTube viewership by 62% in the same timeframe.

Overall, YouTube has steadily grown its share of TV watching — it's up 53% over the past two years. Nielsen's data also excludes the smaller YouTube TV (its cable TV competitor) and computer and mobile watching, which means it likely undercounts the platform's footprint.

YouTube's ascent, especially with younger audiences, has been well-documented. It's sounded alarm bells in Hollywood as their future customers increasingly prefer short-form and creator-driven content over traditional TV and movies. It's also sparked debate over what is "premium" TV, anyway.

Studios and streamers are taking note and increasingly seeking ways to use YouTube talent in their movies and shows, as well as distributing full-length TV episodes and movies on the platform.

But despite YouTube's rise, many in the industry have primarily viewed it as a young person's medium, so its surge among older viewers could come as something of a surprise. Maybe it shouldn't, given the vast amount of video content available on the platform — and older audiences' embrace of social platforms like Facebook.

YouTube's overall age distribution isn't as skewed as you might think. According to a 2025 EMARKETER estimate, people 18 to 44 made up 42.1% of YouTube users, while those 45 and older made up 37.4%.

Advertisers traditionally have obsessed over young people because of the assumption that they're not yet brand loyal. But they shouldn't overlook older people, who generally have more money to spend. As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Americans 55 and older held 73.2% of the country's wealth, per Federal Reserve data.