YouTube adds Views (Co-Viewed) metric to count TV co-viewers for brand deals

YouTube announced on September 9 a new creator-only metric, Views (Co-Viewed), that estimates how many people watch a video together on a TV screen. The company says viewers watch more than 1 billion hours of YouTube on TV screens every day. The new number is meant for brand-deal pitches.

Rene Ritchie points creators to brand-deal negotiations

Rene Ritchie, YouTube’s Creator Liaison, presented the metric in a short video. Tubefilter quoted him saying it shows “the full impact and value of a creator’s content on TV” in sponsorship talks. Until now, YouTube counted every playback on a TV as one view, whoever was in the room.

Creators who sell sponsored videos on YouTube have so far pitched brands with the public view count. That count sits under every video and is the same for everyone. The new figure is different. Only the creator can see it.

A family of three watching twice counts as six views

YouTube Help defines Views (Co-Viewed) as an estimated total view count that includes multiple people watching together. The example in the help page: a family of three watches a video together twice, and the counter shows six co-viewed views. The metric covers YouTube TV and the YouTube app on TV sets, the screens advertisers file under connected TV, or CTV. It appears in the All section of the Content tab in YouTube Analytics. Public view counts do not change.

YouTube declines to say how it counts people on a sofa

Tubefilter asked YouTube how it knows how many people sit in front of one screen. The company gave no details and pointed to Ritchie’s video. The video does not explain the method. So an advertiser cannot check the estimate against anything.

Agentio found public view counts overreport by 40%

Tubefilter set the new metric against research by Agentio. That study found YouTube’s public view counts overreport actual engagement by about 40%. Brands that price deals on those counts may overpay by roughly 67%, the research said. The co-viewed figure moves the other way. It adds viewers on top of the public count.

For marketers, the practical step is simple. Ask any creator who quotes co-viewed views for the standard view count next to it. The gap shows how much of the reach is YouTube’s estimate. Price the deal on the number you can verify. Write the estimated figure into the contract as context, not as the basis for the fee.