According to Business Insider, YouTube is on track to surpass Disney in becoming the world’s biggest media company.
Moffettnathanson analyst Michael Nathanson found that YouTube made US$54.2 billion in revenue in 2024, just $5.5 billion behind Disney, making it the second-biggest media company last year. Nathanson estimates that YouTube is likely to overtake Disney in 2025.
YouTube is estimated to be worth between $475 billion to $550 billion, which is around 30% of its parent Alphabet’s, YouTube’s parent company, valuation.
This comes as YouTube’s viewership hit a record share of monthly TV viewing in February.
According to Nielsen’s February 2025 Media Distributer Gauge, YouTube captured 11.6% of time spent watching TV across the month, even besting Disney’s 10%.
Nielsen reported that YouTube has experienced steady growth over time, with time spent watching on a TV growing 53% from two years ago and its share of TV growing from 7.9% to 11.6%.
The Nielsen study showed that YouTube is now longer just for young people, with older audiences driving the viewership increase. Viewers in the 65+ category have nearly doubled over two years and now represent a similar viewing contribution to children aged two to 11.
