YouTube Ad Revenue Surpasses Hollywood’s Big Four Studios

Online video platform YouTube generated $40.4 billion in advertising revenue in 2025, surpassing the combined ad revenue of Hollywood’s four major studios—The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros. Discovery—which together earned $37.8 billion from advertising. The news was reported by The Hollywood Reporter citing new data from research firm MoffettNathanson, according to TechCrunch.

According to the report, YouTube’s advertising revenue stood at $36.1 billion in 2024, which was lower than the combined $41.8 billion earned by the four Hollywood studios. However, the situation has completely changed within a year.

For decades, these Hollywood studios dominated the entertainment industry through big-budget films and hit television shows. But traditional television viewership is now declining while production costs are rising. Meanwhile, YouTube has been advancing rapidly. Although the studios have invested millions of dollars in their own streaming platforms, keeping pace with YouTube’s growth has become increasingly difficult.

Last month, YouTube’s parent company Alphabet Inc. announced that the platform’s total revenue exceeded $60 billion in 2025. A significant portion of this came from subscriptions, including YouTube TV, YouTube Premium, YouTube Music, and NFL Sunday Ticket. By comparison, the annual revenue of Netflix stood at $45.2 billion.

However, YouTube’s advertising revenue remains far lower than the $196.2 billion generated by Meta Platforms. Nevertheless, advertisers are increasingly turning to YouTube as audiences—particularly younger generations—are spending more of their time on the platform. In the fourth quarter of the current year alone, YouTube generated $11.4 billion in advertising revenue.

YouTube is also increasing its investment in artificial intelligence technologies. Recently, the company announced the expansion of its likeness detection technology to a pilot group consisting of government officials, politicians, and journalists. The technology identifies AI-generated deepfakes and allows users to request their removal if they violate YouTube’s policies.

DBTech/BMT/OR