YouTube Shorts started out for phones, but more people are now watching these vertical videos on their TVs.
Viewers watch over 2 billion hours of Shorts on TVs each month, which is impressive for a format made for scrolling on smartphones. This change is a surprising shift in how people watch short videos, saying short-form content is no longer just for mobile devices.
The milestone shows how far YouTube has pushed beyond its original web and mobile roots. Shorts clips can now run up to three minutes, and the format is increasingly appearing in the same living-room environment where viewers also watch long-form videos, podcasts and streaming shows.
YouTube says the living room is now its fastest-growing screen
YouTube leaders see this growth as part of a bigger change in how people watch videos.
TechCrunch stated that Kurt Wilms, YouTube’s senior director of product management for YouTube on TV, said that the living room is YouTube’s fastest-growing screen. He said more viewers want to watch their favorite content on the biggest screen at home, whether it’s a long video, a podcast, or a Short.
The broader TV numbers support that strategy. U.S. viewers alone watch more than 200 million hours of YouTube content daily on television screens. YouTube also surfaces Shorts in search results for TV users, meaning viewers may encounter short clips even when they did not open the app specifically to watch vertical video.
Google is giving Shorts more visibility on the big screen
YouTube’s parent company Alphabet is also helping push short-form video deeper into the living room.
Google TV recently introduced a “Short videos for you” row on its feed, a move designed to boost discovery and watch time for short-form clips.
The platform has also adapted the viewing experience for television. Because vertical videos leave unused space on a horizontal TV screen, YouTube has updated Shorts on TV to display comments beside the video. Sarah Ali, vice president of product management for YouTube Shorts, said the company is tailoring Shorts for the big screen to create a more immersive way for fans to engage with creators.
A shift for creators and advertisers
TechBuzz framed the 2 billion-hour figure as a strategic win for YouTube in the streaming market, saying Shorts on TV turns short-form video into something closer to a modern version of channel surfing.
Instead of choosing a full movie or show, viewers can lean back and move through quick videos while YouTube’s algorithm programs the feed.
That change could affect creators who originally optimized Shorts for mobile viewing. Producers may now need to think about how vertical videos look on much larger screens, especially as living-room viewing becomes part of the format’s growth story.
The TV shift could create fresh advertising opportunities as brands reconsider short-form video outside the phone screen.
Podcasts point to the same viewing habit
Shorts are not the only YouTube format gaining traction on TVs. Viewers watched more than 700 million hours of podcasts each month on living-room devices in 2025, up from 400 million monthly hours in 2024.
That growth suggests YouTube’s TV strategy is not limited to traditional video; it is also turning audio-first formats into watchable living-room content.
For YouTube, the message is clear: short-form video is no longer just for phones or competing with TikTok. As Shorts appears on TV screens, YouTube is becoming both a mobile video platform and a living-room entertainment service.
The 2 billion-hour milestone proves that viewers are happy to watch even quick, vertical videos on their biggest screens.
