HopeScope talks TV watch time, growth on YouTube

Are you approaching content creation any differently, knowing that a large portion of your audience is watching this way?

Hope: I’ve seen a lot of creators, myself included, making longer content which impacts the way people view it. We also started filming both videos and live streams in 4k. It’s one of those things that a lot of people might not even notice, but I think they do sense that change in quality that we made about eight months ago. It's just the little improvements that you can make that create a more high quality experience that you want to put on your TV and have on in your living room.

I was a little surprised to discover that a good amount of people are watching Shorts on their TV. Do you do this? Do you notice your audience tuning in that way?

Hope: My viewers totally do it, especially families and younger teens. They pull up a Short to show to their friends or their family, and then they just end up scrolling the feed together. TV watch time has definitely gone up for Shorts too and I didn’t think that would happen. It’s kind of cool.

What excites you most about your channel’s — and YouTube as a whole’s — continued growth?

Hope: I just feel like, now more than ever, so many creators are trying new formats, topics, styles of recording and creating content that had never been done before. It’s really cool to see how YouTube has progressed from people filming skits in their bedroom to people with studios and teams. There are so many creators whose content quality rivals traditional television and documentaries.

I grew up watching the Disney Channel and I wanted to be like Kim Possible or Hannah Montana. Now, young girls are watching me on TV. It’s crazy! I just love YouTube so much and I’m proud.