You should pay attention to Kai Cenat
Live streaming is becoming more pervasive and a bigger part of our media diets, according to a new report
Lately I’ve become obsessed with live streaming. I think it remains one of the last mainstream content format that hasn’t become fully ubiquitous. Yes, plenty of live streamers are A-list creators, our future president was interviewed live on Kick, but live streaming in itself is still not a content format that millions of adult internet users utilize or consume.
I think that is going to change soon though, especially as people become more interested in communal experiences online. Kai Cenat’s current subathon is something I’ve been following very closely.
In just his first couple weeks into the 30 day event, Kai shattered viewership records, generated millions of hours watched and showed what deep emotional connection streamers can build with their audiences. He has generated a non-stop stream of pop culture news, peppering his show with appearances from celebs like Benny Blanco, Chris Brown, and others. Cenat’s subathon success, I think, will be looked at as a pivotal moment for the format and for Cenat as a creator.
Meanwhile, TikTok is leaning into TikTok Live, Netflix is diving into more live programming like the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight last week, and YouTube has been aggressively expanding its live-streaming offerings, investing in creators like Ludwig. Kick, another livestreaming platform, has been pouring money into the space and Twitter/X has been pushing its live-streaming capabilities during political events and sports games.
These are all signals that live streaming is becoming more pervasive and a bigger part of our media diets. People are craving interactive events and content, and traditional media struggles to replicate the participatory experience that live streamers provide.
Stream Hatchet, a streaming analytics platform’s, latest report on the live streaming space, which just published today, shows significant overall growth in both the format itself and its viewership.
This quarter, live streaming viewership reached 8.5 billion hours watched, a 12% year-over-year increase—the highest growth since the beginning of the pandemic, Stream Hatchet reported. The growth of platforms like Kick and YouTube Gaming contributed heavily to this bump, with top creators drawing global audiences.
“Live streaming is at the forefront of a broader shift in how audiences engage with entertainment,” said Justin Kenna, CEO of GameSquare, which owns Stream Hatchet.
Esports anchored the growth of live streaming over the past quarter, accounting for one-fifth of all live streaming hours watched. An 8% rise in total esports hours watched also shows that competitive gaming remains a cornerstone of the live streaming ecosystem, not just for gamers but also for platforms looking to drive engagement and revenue.
Platform dynamics are also shifting. YouTube Gaming and Kick have emerged as significant challengers to Twitch’s dominance. YouTube Gaming grew its market share to 23%, driven in part by attracting high-profile talent.
The rise of Kick, YouTube Games, and myriad other up and coming live streaming apps, shows that we’re also starting to see a lot more fragmentation of the live streaming ecosystem.
Kick exploded with a 163% increase in hours watched, fueled by prominent streamers like xQc leveraging the platform. Twitch’s market share, meanwhile, dropped to 60%. Facebook Live also fell from the top five, with newer platforms like AfreecaTV and Rumble gaining traction.
“As video continues to dominate the entertainment industry, platforms like YouTube Gaming and Kick are seizing opportunities to reshape the competitive landscape,” said Kenna. “This data underscores a trend where audience attention—and platform strategies—are diversifying, fueling innovation and growth in live streaming as a primary medium of engagement.”
At the creator level, the live streaming market is also becoming more decentralized. The top 5% of streamers now account for 86% of total hours watched, which is notably down from 98% in 2019. As viewers explore niche communities and new voices, the live streaming creator world is becoming more nichified (something that happened on YouTube too as it grew).
But, that doesn’t mean top creators are losing relevance. Kai Cenat and VTuber Twitch streamer Ironmouse both set major records recently.
Kai Cenat saw a 78% increase in viewership over the past quarter, while Ironmouse garnered 320,000 subscribers during her “Subtember” event. It will be interesting to see what they and other creators have planned for 2025 as streamers continue to construct a blueprint for the next chapter in media and entertainment.
What I’m reading
The Fantasy of Cozy Tech
From the “cozy gaming” trend to a new generation of A.I. companions, our devices are trying to swath us in a digital and physical cocoon. - New Yorker
Ben Mezrich’s Foolproof Formula for Hollywood Success
How a gleefully unscrupulous hitmaker became one of the most bankable writers in the business. - Vulture
Brunch, Interrupted
Americans elected Biden in the midst of crisis. Instead of understanding that, Democrats went back to brunch. - The Gauntlet
More fun stuff
People are taking the lyrics of defying gravity and really holding space with that. (I have watched this video no less than 100 times)
Jamie Janejira, a popular beauty content creator known for her makeup videos, announced that she’s quit wearing makeup all together, and people on Twitter are debating whether women being pressured to wear makeup 24/7 is a form of “psychological trauma.”
‘PDF to Brainrot’ study tools are popping off.
Nicki Camberg, a data journalist at Hearst, created a timeline of celebrity lookalike contests:
“Rancho Gordo, a seller of heirloom bean varieties such as Christmas lima and King City Pink, has an approximately $200-a-year subscription bean club with 26,000 members and a wait list of about 20,000,” the WSJ reports.
This thread full of responses to the question, “What is the greatest, rarest PDF that you have saved down?”
There is officially now a Talk Tuah companion podcast called Talking Talk Tuah.
Logan Paul has created a deceptively edited hit piece, aka exactly what he is accusing the BBC of doing.
X-Files fans: David Duchovny (Mulder) and Gillian Anderson (Scully) did a podcast episode together discussing their relationship during the filming of the show.
A website where you can see what scene you’re currently living if your life was a movie.
A British teenager dubbed 'God's influencer' is set to be made the first millennial saint by the Pope.
A Rachel Sennott lookalike contest is scheduled for November 24th in New York.
Posts by Elon on X before and after purchasing Twitter, this man has a serious case of posting disease:
Amazon Prime teamed up with Gymnasium, the production company behind “Boy Room,” for season 2 of the hit show.
Please take a minute to appreciate the insane decor of this feminist hotel. It’s giving Ruthkanda.
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Best Livestream app is still Whatnot, second only to AliExpress live. If you're going to consume bleak content you might as well make it as dystopian as possible.