34 Live Streaming Statistics (2024 Guide)
Looking for the latest live streaming statistics? I’ve got you covered.
In this post, I’ll be sharing a bunch of interesting facts and figures about live streaming, pulled from all the latest industry reports.
These stats will shed light on the current state of the live streaming industry, including the size and shape of the market, the platforms and streamers leading the pack, the audiences who watch live content, and more.
Let’s start with our top picks…
Top picks
- Over a quarter of internet users watch live streams weekly (Wistia, Statista1, Statista2)
- Over 8.5B hours of live streams were watched in the last quarter, up +10% YOY (Stream Hatchet)
- Twitch is the leading live streaming platform and accounts for 60.3% of watch hours (Stream Hatchet)
- The global live streaming market has an estimated valuation of over $60B (CMI)
- There are estimated to be over 12.3 million active live streamers across platforms (TwitchTracker, Adam Connell)
- The top 1% of live streamers get 80% of watch hours (Stream Hatchet)
- KaiCenat is currently the most watched live streamer with 43.8 million total watch hours this quarter (Stream Hatchet)
- 47% of US live streamers earn money from their streams (Statista8)
Live streaming usage statistics
Let’s start by looking at some general live streaming statistics that reveal how many people watch live streams across the world, and how viewership has changed over time…
1. 28.5% of internet users now watch live streams
Over the last few years, live streaming has become more mainstream. Around 28.5% of internet users reported watching a live stream weekly at the end of last year.
That figure is up by +0.8% quarter-over-quarter. However, it’s down from its peak of 30.4% in Q3 2021, when livestream viewership was at its highest due to the pandemic.
Source: Wistia, Statista1, Statista2
2. 22.7% of people primarily use social media to watch live streams
In their latest annual report, We Are Social looked at data from a survey that asked social media users aged 16-64 what their primary reasons for using social media were.
According to the results, around 22.7% (almost a quarter) of social media users primarily use social to watch live streams—making it the ninth most popular response. It makes sense to include live streams in your social media marketing strategy to cater to these users, alongside other social media post ideas.
In comparison, 49.5% primarily use social media to keep in touch with family and friends (the number one response).
Note: You can find more insights about the ways users use social media in my roundup of social media statistics.
Source: We Are Social
3. Viewers watched 8.5 billion hours of live stream content this quarter…
The latest quarterly data we have at the time of writing comes from Q2 2024.
During that quarter, viewers watched a combined total of 8.5 billion hours of live content across all streaming platforms. That’s over 970,000 years’ worth of live streams!
Source: Stream Hatchet
4. …That’s up by 10% year-over-year
The 8.5 billion watch hours of live stream content represents an increase of around 10% YOU. However, it’s still down from its peak of 9.8 billion watch hours in a single quarter, which was reached in 2021 at the height of the pandemic.
Source: Stream Hatchet
5. Viewers watched 654 million hours of live-streamed esports content this quarter
live streams of esports—organized gaming tournaments and competitions—often bring in a large number of viewers. These types of streams accounted for 654 million of the 8.5 billion hours watched this quarter.
Source: Stream Hatchet
6. The average daily concurrent live stream viewership is over 3 – 3.6 million
At any one point, over 3 million people are watching live streams across Twitch and YouTube Gaming alone. That figure varies depending on the season and whether it’s weekend or weekdays, with peak times reaching the top end of the scale.
Keep in mind that this doesn’t even factor in all the people watching live streams on other platforms like Kick, TikTok Live, Facebook Live, and Rumble. If we did factor those in, the figure may be much higher.
Source: Stream Hatchet
7. 43 years’ worth of live stream content is watched every minute
Every single minute, live video viewers all over the world watch a combined total of 43 years worth of content. That includes 48,000 hours of live stream content viewed per minute on Twitch alone.
Source: Statista5
8. 42.8% of Gen Z internet users in the US watch live streams
It’s clear from the statistics that live streams are much more popular amongst younger audiences.
42.8% of surveyed social media users in the Gen Z demographic said they watch live streams, which is significantly higher than the general population.
Source: Statista3
9. 40% of US adults aged 55+ say they’ve never watched a live stream
While live streaming has become increasingly popular amongst younger internet users, almost half of all those in the 55+ age range have still never seen a single live stream. What’s more, 17% of those aged 34-54 also have never seen a live stream.
Source: Statista4
Live streaming platform statistics
Next, let’s take a look at some statistics that tell us more about the different live streaming services & platforms, including their market share.
10. Twitch is the most popular live streaming platform (with a 60.3% market share)
Despite only being the 16th most popular social media platform, Twitch is by far the most popular platform for live streaming with a 60%+ market share. Of the 8.5 billion hours of live stream content that audiences tuned in for this quarter, 5.1 billion of those watch hours happened on Twitch.
Clearly, then, Twitch still dominates the live streaming space despite growing competition from platforms like YouTube Live, Kick, and Rumble.
That said, it’s worth noting that Twitch’s market share has fallen year over year. Last year, it accounted for 70% of watch hours, down to 60% this year—a significant plummet. This suggests that Twitch’s dominance may be weakening.
Source: Stream Hatchet
11. YouTube Gaming is the second most popular live streaming platform (with a 23% market share)
YouTube Gaming live streams accounted for 2 billion watch hours this quarter, which is around 23% of total live stream watch hours. This makes YouTube the second top live streaming platform after Twitch.
Interestingly, though, there are signs YouTube may be beginning to close that gap. Its market share of live stream watch hours is up from 17% last year, an increase of +6% YOY. In the same period, Twitch’s share dropped by -10%.
Source: Stream Hatchet
12. Kick is the third most popular live streaming platform (with a 5.5% market share)
Kick is a new live streaming platform that exploded onto the scene in 2022—over a decade after Twitch and YouTube Live.
Despite their head start, Kick has been closing the gap with these rival platforms and now accounts for around 5.5% of live streaming watch hours (463 million watch hours in this quarter).
After Kick, AfreecaTV ranks fourth with a 3.4% market share and 290 million watch hours, and South Korean platform Chzzk ranks fifth with a 2.1% market share and 177 million watch hours. Other platforms collectively accounted for the remaining 5.3% with 451 million watch hours.
Source: Stream Hatchet
13. Facebook Live has a live streaming market share of <1%
A while back, Facebook threw its hat into the live video streaming ring and began to invest in signing popular streamers.
Unfortunately, it looks like those efforts didn’t pay off, as Facebook Live no longer even ranks in the top five live streaming platforms, with a share of less than 1% of watch hours.
Source: Stream Hatchet
14. Rumble is one of the fastest growing live streaming platforms
Rumble was only the 7th most watched live streaming platform this quarter by watch hours, but it’s one of the fastest growing platforms, having increased its market share rapidly.
Interestingly, unlike other platforms, Rumble’s viewership is heavily concentrated among a handful of streamers. The top 10 channels account for over half of all viewership on the platform. Most of these are talk shows or news broadcasts in the political niche.
Source: Stream Hatchet
15. Kick offers the most generous revenue share of any live streaming platform
Creators on Kick keep 95% of their subscription revenue. This makes it the platform with the most generous subscription revenue share.
In comparison, creators only keep 50% of their subscription revenues on Twitch, or 70% if they’re eligible for the Partner Plus Program. Likewise, creators keep between 50% and 70% of their earnings on YouTube, depending on revenue source.
The only other platform that has offered a larger share of subscription revenue than Kick is Rumble, which lets creators keep 100% of their earnings from monthly subscription badges. However, that was only a temporary offer that applied until the end of 2023 – it’s not clear what Rumble’s current revenue share is.
Source: Statista11
16. Twitch has around 2.3 million average concurrent viewers…
According to the latest 7-day average on TwitchTracker, there are around 2.3 million people watching live streams on Twitch at any one moment.
What’s more, there are, on average, around 91,400 creators that are live on Twitch concurrently.
So, some quick math tells us that there are around 25 viewers for every live stream on Twitch at any given time.
Source: TwitchTracker
17. There are around 7.4 million active streamers on Twitch
According to TwitchTracker, there were around 7.4 million active streamers on Twitch last month at the time of writing (July 2024). That gives some indication as to just how competitive the live streaming market is.
Many of those millions of streamers have little to no viewers—it’s tough to break through the noise and grow an audience.
Source: TwitchTracker
Live streaming market statistics
Here are a couple of statistics that tell us more about how much the live streaming market is worth in dollars and cents.
18. The live streaming market was estimated at over $60.63B last year…
According to projections by CMI, the live streaming market was supposed to reach that valuation last year (2023). Keep in mind, though, that this is just one valuation and other estimations vary.
Source: CMI
19. …and is expected to reach $256.56B by 2032
Experts see plenty of room for growth in the live streaming market, as the valuation is expected to increase at a CAGR of 28% from 2023 to 2032. By then, it’ll be worth an eye-watering USD 256.56 billion.
Source: CMI
Live streamer statistics
How many live streamers are there? And who are the most popular streamers currently? Let’s look at some more live streaming statistics to find out.
20. There are an estimated 12.3 million active live streamers across all platforms
There are no reliable figures out there that tell us the total number of live streamers in the world. The best we have to go off is data from TwitchTracker, which tells us there are 7.4 million active live streamers on Twitch.
Given that Twitch has roughly 60.4% of the market share, we can extrapolate from that to estimate that there are around 12.3 million active live streamers in total across all platforms.
Keep in mind, though, that this is just a rough estimate. The actual number of live streamers may be significantly lower or higher.
Source: TwitchTracker, Adam Connell
21. The top 1% of live streamers account for 80% of all hours watched
What’s more, the top 5% of live streamers account for 86% of all hours watched, the top 0.01% account for 33% of all hours watched, and the top 0.1% account for 61% of all hours watched.
Evidently, then, live streaming is still very much dominated by the most successful creators, with smaller creators struggling to gain a substantial audience.
However, there are some signs that this is beginning to change. The share of viewership held by top channels has decreased over the years, making more room for smaller creators to grow.
Source: Stream Hatchet
22. The most watched live streamer by total watch hours is KaiCenat
At the time of writing, KaiCenat is the most popular live streamer by watch hours, with a whopping 43.8 million total hours watched this quarter. The table below shows the top five most popular live streamers by watch hours.
| Top live streamers | Total watch hours per quarter (Q2, 2024) |
| 1. KaiCenat | 43.8 million |
| 2. Gaules | 23.8 million |
| 3. Jynxzi | 22.9 million |
| 4. Ibai | 20.1 million |
| 5. xQc | 19.2 million |
Source: Stream Hatchet
23. The most watched female live streamer by total watch hours is Mira
Mira is the most popular female streamer by watch hours at the time of writing, according to data from Stream Hatchet. She racked up 5.2 million total watch hours this quarter. The table below shows the top five most popular female live streamers by watch hours.
| Top female live streamers | Total watch hours per quarter (Q2, 2024) |
| 1. Mira | 5.2 million |
| 2. Amouranth | 4 million |
| 3. Jinnytty | 3.9 million |
| 4. Valkyrae | 3.9 million |
| 5. IJenz | 3.4 million |
Source: Stream Hatchet
24. The most live streamed VTuber by total watch hours is Kuzuha
VTubers are streamers who use virtual avatars in place of themselves as part of their streams on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok.
According to the data, Kuzuha is the most popular VTuber by live streaming watch hours, with 10.8 million total watch hours this quarter.
| Top VTuber live streamers | Total watch hours per quarter (Q2, 2024) |
| 1. Kuzuha | 10.8 million |
| 2. Pekora Ch. | 10.5 million |
| 3. 叶ちゃん ねる | 7.8 million |
| 4. Miko Ch. | 7.7 million |
| 5. ironmouse | 6.2 million |
Source: Stream Hatchet
25. The most watched live streamer by average concurrent viewers is KaiCenat
KaiCenat doesn’t just have more total watch hours than any other streamer this quarter, he also has the highest average concurrent viewership at 120,000. The table below lists the top five live streamers by average concurrent viewers.
| Top live streamers | Average concurrent viewers (Q2, 2024) |
| 1. KaiCenat | 120,000 |
| 2. iShowSpeed | 79,100 |
| 3. n3on | 56,800 |
| 4. SXB | 54,500 |
| 5. Westcol | 53,900 |
Source: Statista9
26. The most watched female live streamer by average concurrent viewers is Emiru
Emiru ranks number one by average concurrent viewers amongst female streamers, with around 17,600 people tuning into her stream at any one time, on average. Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the top 5 female streamers by average concurrent viewers.
| Top female live streamers | Average concurrent viewers (Q2, 2024) |
| 1. Emiru | 17,600 |
| 2. Alondrissa | 15,900 |
| 3. rivers-gg | 15,400 |
| 4. Valkyrae | 9,700 |
| 5. Kyedae | 8,800 |
Source: Statista10
27. 47% of live streamers in the US earn some money from their content
Even though the top 1% of streamers account for the vast majority of watch hours and viewers, almost half of all live streamers nonetheless manage to earn at least some money from their content.
Monetization mainly comes through viewer tips/donations, sponsorships, and subscription & advertising revenue.
Source: Statista8
28. 27% of streamers go live a few times a week
According to a survey, over a quarter of live streamers in the US say they go live a few times a week. A further 22% said they go live daily, while 16% said they go live once a week. Added together, this suggests that almost two-thirds of live streamers go live at least once weekly.
Of the remainder, 17% said they go live a few times a month, 6% said they do so once a month, and 12% said they go live even less than that.
Source: Statista7
Most popular live stream categories
Next, let’s look at some statistics that tell us what the most popular live streaming categories and games are.
29. The most watched live stream genre is FPS games
This quarter, viewers collectively watched over 1.2 billion hours of live streams of creators playing FPS (first-person shooter) games across Twitch, YouTube gaming, and Facebook, making this the most-watched livestream genre.
The second most popular genre is ‘non-gaming’, which reached a total of 965 million watch hours this quarter. Action-adventure games ranked third with 831 million watch hours, MOBA ranked fourth with 821 million watch hours, and Action came fifth with 655 million watch hours.
Source: Stream Hatchet
30. The most watched live stream game this season is GTA V
Viewers collectively watched 510 million hours of live streams of creators playing GTA V (Grand Theft Auto V). This makes GTA V the number one most popular game for live streams.
League of Legends (LoL) is ranked the second most popular game for live streaming with 439 million total watch hours. Valorant ranked third with 299 million watch hours, Counter-strike ranked fifth with 215 million watch hours, and DOTA 2 ranked fifth with 172 million watch hours.
Source: Stream Hatchet
31. 34% of US monthly live stream viewers stream ‘breaking news’ content
According to data on Statista, over a third of live stream viewers in the US say they stream ‘breaking news’ content, making it the top live stream video category. Sports games and matches ranked second at 29%.
Source: Statista6
Live streaming statistics for marketers
Before we wrap up, here are a few live streaming statistics that relate to marketing.
32. 35% of surveyed marketers utilize live events in their marketing playbook
Live streaming is becoming an increasingly important part of digital marketing.
A recent survey shows that over a third of marketers now host live events as part of their digital marketing strategies. Of those, 94% host live webinars, 41% hold live internal meetings, 25% hold live virtual conferences, and 14% go live on social media.
Source: Wistia
33. 47% of surveyed businesses use live streaming platforms to make videos
When asked which tools and platforms they use to create marketing videos, almost half of those surveyed pointed to live streaming platforms.
Source: Wistia
34. 14% of surveyed marketers want to try live streaming videos for their businesses
Of those who aren’t yet utilizing live streams for marketing, 14% say they want to try it, suggesting that we may see much wider use of live streams for marketing over the next few years.
Source: Wistia
Final thoughts
I hope you found these live streaming statistics interesting.
As they show, live streaming continues to grow in popularity and viewership, and the market valuation is expected to increase substantially over the next decade.
Twitch continues to be the most popular platform, but it’s facing increasing competition from YouTube Live, as well as emerging platforms like Kick and Rumble.
While you’re here, you might want to take a look at some of my other stats roundups. I’d suggest checking out these YouTube Shorts statistics, Facebook Video statistics, and influencer marketing statistics.
You might also enjoy this roundup of Instagram video ideas to help you grow your following.
