20 years since the first video was uploaded to YouTube, the business is now estimated to be worth about half a trillion dollars. In 2024 it had estimated revenues of $54 billion. YouTube TV is also the largest online multichannel television provider in the United States and could become the leading aggregator of online video services.
The first video was uploaded to YouTube on 23 April 2005. “Me at the zoo” is 19-second video featuring Jawed Karim, one of the three co-founders of YouTube, which was original conceived as an online dating site, with the slogan “Tune In, Hook Up”.
In the video, Jawed simply says: “Alright, so here we are in front of the, uh, elephants, and the cool thing about these guys is that, is that they have really, really, really long, um, trunks, and that’s, that’s cool. And that’s pretty much all there is to say.”
The video has been viewed 354 million times in its 20 years on YouTube. It has 17 million likes and has attracted over 10 million comments.
YouTube accounted for 11.6% of time spent watching television in the United States in February, up from 7.9% in two years. That put it ahead of Disney in terms of share of total viewing.
YouTube generated global advertising revenue of $36.15 billion in 2024. It had annual subscription revenue of over $15 billion from YouTube TV, YouTube Premium, and YouTube Music Premium.
If YouTube were a standalone business, it would be worth between $475 billion and $550 billion, or about 30% of Alphabet’s current valuation, based on a multiple of revenues, according to MoffettNathanson analysts.
“YouTube has substantial runway for further growth — not just in monetization but also in expanding into new business segments, such as becoming the premier streaming aggregator,” the analysts wrote in a research note. “If executed effectively, this could further widen the gap between YouTube and the other media players.”
Although YouTube may be best known as a free online video site, YouTube TV is the largest online multichannel television service provider in the United States with more than 8 million subscribers.
As subscriber numbers for traditional television platforms in the United States continue to collapse, the analyst firm expects YouTube TV to emerge as the industry leader, at least online. It suggests that YouTube has the potential to become the central aggregator for professional video.