Could This New Feature Make YouTube TV More Accessible?
By Movieguide® Contributor
YouTube revealed it is testing a new feature for its TV service that would allow users to continue audio playback of content while away from the video feed.
While the ability to continue audio playback while away from the video has long been available to premium subscribers, this feature has only recently been tested for YouTube TV subscribers.
“I can confirm that we are running an experiment that enables YouTube TV playback to continue after the phone screen is locked for Android and iOS mobile users,” Allison Toh, a product communications manager for YouTube, told The Verge. “If a viewer has the YouTube TV app on and then goes to lock their phone, playback will continue. If users want to avoid background playback, they can pause the video before locking their phone.”
This feature, if it were to be fully implemented, would be useful for those hoping to listen in on live TV events, such as the play-by-play of a football game while using their phone for something else, like GPS or directions.
The feature is currently available for select iOS and Android users and does not have a timeline for when, or even if, it will be fully rolled out.
The ability to continue audio feedback would be one of many features recently introduced to the streaming platform within the past year. As YouTube has built up its streaming platform, it has created an experience that sets it apart from other streaming platforms through offerings such as NFL Sunday Ticket or its multistream view, which allows users to watch multiple programs at once.
It is through these offerings that YouTube has emerged as a dominant player in the streaming wars, becoming the most-watched platform across all of television — accounting for 10.4% of all TV usage in July.
Movieguide® previously reported:
YouTube was the top TV content distributor in July, dethroning Disney for the first time since Nielsen began tracking this data.
YouTube accounted for 10.4% of all TV usage in July, becoming the first streamer to break the double-digit mark. Its 0.5% jump is largely attributed to kids who were home on summer vacation.
Since Nielsen launched its new metric, combining streaming data with cable and broadcast to reveal legacy companies’ total TV distribution, Disney has remained at the top thanks to strong streamers — Disney+ and Hulu — and numerous popular cable offerings. While Disney’s total TV usage has remained relatively steady since November of last year, YouTube has seen significant growth, rising from 9% to where it is today.
YouTube’s dominance also helped boost streaming’s overall TV usage to an all-time high, accounting for 41.4% of all TV usage during the month. Its percentage would have been markedly higher had the Olympics not caught the last three days of the month. The Games accounted for the top five and seven of the top 10 broadcasts in July, with peak viewership coming on July 28 when 19 million homes tuned into NBC.
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