YouTube has announced a variety of initiatives designed to attract more TV ad dollars to Brandcast’s platform, an annual prepaid event for advertisers. In particular, Google-owned video services are expanding their ties with the NFL, and will exclusively stream the NFL’s first Friday game for the 2025-2026 season. They are also preparing to pilot new ways to reach viewers who watch YouTube on TV through easy-to-organize TV shows.
The latter was first announced on YouTube’s Neal Mohan, created at YouTube’s YouTube event last September. CEO Neal Mohan explained that creators make up the majority of revenue on television screens is up over 30% year-on-year. New features provided for selecting creators in pilot programs allow you to organize your content into seasons and episodes, just like a “real” TV show.
In addition to new initiatives around “shopping-able TV” and tools that allow advertisers to target major cultural moments such as the Awards season and the PGA Championship, the company, for example, is sending messages to advertisers that they are not just online video services, but in fact in a new way.
As part of the NFL deal, YouTube says it will only stream its first Friday game hosted in Sao Paulo, Brazil to viewers around the world. This marks the first time YouTube has served as an NFL live broadcaster. (In the US, the game will be available to YouTube TV subscribers.) The company attracted over 6 million live views last year, users watched over 350 million hours of NFL content on the platform, and streamed the NFL Super Bowl Lix Flag football game, according to internal data. The expanded deal with the NFL believes it will be streaming its flag football games over the next few years.
For creators, YouTube’s pitch focuses on bringing content into the living room.
Hundreds of creators will be part of the first pilot, scheduled to be released in the US this summer, allowing content to be organized into a viewing experience designed for the larger screen. Creators like Michelle Khare’s challenge embrace a good morning of mythical mornings using Rhett & Link, using new tools to turn content into “seasons” and “episodes” to make content more enveloped on television.
The company also deploys ways to shop from YouTube using QR codes and other Send-Fhone features, focusing on Gemini AI to match ads to general and relevant content.
During Brandcast, YouTube featured a variety of case studies from brands such as Volvo, Inspire Brands (Dunkin’), Hilton, and State Farm. YouTube also reminded marketers that as of March 2025, YouTube was number one in streaming time for watch time in the US, ahead of Netflix, Disney and Prime Video.