Adapted by:
Javier Márquez
WriterI've been in media for over a decade, but I've been marveling at the possibilities that technology brings us much longer. I believe we live in a world where the digital revolution is changing everything and that Xataka is the best place to write about it.
Alba Mora
WriterAn established tech journalist, I entered the world of consumer tech by chance in 2018. In my writing and translating career, I've also covered a diverse range of topics, including entertainment, travel, science, and the economy.
“So here we are, in front of the elephants.” With that simple and somewhat clumsy phrase, the history of YouTube began. It was April 24, 2005, when co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded a 19-second video from the San Diego Zoo. There were no tripods, no handheld microphones, and no editing plan–just one person talking about animals with long trunks on a cool spring afternoon.
No one realized then that those 19 seconds would mark the beginning of a revolution.
In January 2005, PayPal employees Chad Hurley and Steve Chen attended a dinner party. People there were taking photos and recording videos. However, sharing those videos was a nightmare due to incompatible codecs, formats, and software. “We tried to simplify this process and make it as easy as possible to share these videos online,” Chen explained in a television interview a year later.
With that frustration in mind, Hurley, Chen, and Karim began developing a site that would allow users to upload and share videos without hassle. The first prototype was inspired by a dating site called HotOrNot. It soon evolved into a broader platform where anyone could showcase anything.
YouTube found a significant ally in MySpace. Young people filled their profiles on the most popular social media platform of the moment with videos. The big push came in December 2005 when a Saturday Night Live sketch circulated like wildfire, boosting YouTube’s traffic by 83%. Online videos suddenly became a part of popular culture.
Viral Explosion and Leap to Google
In October 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion, making co-founders Hurley and Chen overnight millionaires. However, they faced several challenges ahead. The platform needed to navigate copyright lawsuits, maintain a sense of community, and transform attention into revenue.
YouTube originated as a platform for spontaneous content. There were no film sets or meticulous post-production–just people recording in their rooms and others uploading commercials, music videos, and TV clips. With the introduction of the Partner Program in 2007, creators began to professionalize. Videos evolved into a thriving industry of vlogs, sketches, tutorials, and gameplay videos, many of which now boast television-quality production.
YouTube’s homepage in January 2006.
In the early years, homemade videos featured handcrafted miniatures, focusing more on fun than pleasing algorithms. Over time, however, the platform shifted, leaving behind its spontaneous spirit as it became more professionalized and adapted to new dynamics.
In 2012, Vine introduced six-second clips to the scene. Although it shut down in 2017 due to issues with its parent company, Twitter, it planted the seed for the short clips that TikTok would later embrace. Despite its origins in spontaneous home videos, YouTube also needed to adapt. In 2021, it officially launched Shorts.
The distinction between YouTube and traditional television is becoming increasingly blurred. Every day, more than a billion hours of content are consumed on smart TVs. “YouTube is the new television,” YouTube CEO Neal Mohan recently said in a blog.
This statement rings true because people now watch YouTube on TVs, while traditional TV networks upload their shows to the platform. The landscape is rapidly changing. For instance, Disney+ has released the first episodes of Andor on YouTube. Meanwhile, other networks are fully committed to sharing their content there.
Is YouTube the New Television?
The evolution of YouTube has shattered several barriers. MrBeast, with more than 388 million subscribers, leads a generation of creators who no longer film home videos. They produce elaborate projects with movie-like budgets. Alongside him, creators such as the Sidemen, Mark Rober, and Dude Perfect exemplify how professionalized the platform has become.
While traditional television still exists, content access is no longer exclusive. By simply opening YouTube, you can watch live news, sports events, entertainment programs, and debates in real time, on any device, and without fixed schedules.
Major streaming platforms have also embraced this transformation. Services such as Netflix and Max now offer live broadcasts, sporting events, and news channels. Streaming, which initially emerged as an alternative to linear TV, increasingly resembles traditional television offerings.
In recent years, the number of ads on YouTube has increased significantly, with many users noticing more frequent and longer commercial breaks. Meanwhile, Max has adopted the usual dynamics of cable TV: content packages, scheduled broadcasts, and quality limitations based on the subscribed plan. The initial promise of absolute freedom is fading amid more conventional market strategies.
To celebrate its first two decades, YouTube released statistics that highlight its colossal growth. More than 20 million videos are uploaded every day, more than 100 million comments are posted, and users give more than 3.5 billion “likes” daily. More than 300 video clips have surpassed 1 billion views, a number that continues to grow.
According to SimilarWeb, YouTube is the world’s second most visited website, only behind Google. Users spend an average of more than 20 minutes per visit and view more than 13 pages per session. Two decades after that first video at the San Diego Zoo, YouTube isn’t only still thriving. It dominates a significant portion of global Internet traffic.
20 years later, YouTube, now part of Google’s ecosystem, remains stronger than ever. However, in the world of technology, nothing lasts forever. While Microsoft celebrates its 50 years of history, other giants such as Nokia and BlackBerry have risen, shone, and ultimately faded.
Will YouTube still be around in the next two decades? Or will people consume content in ways we can’t even imagine today?
Images | Christian Wiediger | YouTube
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