culture

Max Knoblauch2/11/25

YouTube hits major inflection point, says more people watch it on TV than on phones

YouTube has leveled up to the small screen (from an even smaller screen). Alphabet’s massive video platform said Tuesday that most of its viewership is happening on TVs, overtaking mobile in the US.

According to the platform, viewers are watching more than a billion hours of YouTube every day, and for the first time, more of those views are happening on TV. YouTube has been making itself more TV friendly, adding the ability to break videos up by “season.”

The milestone was revealed in YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s annual priorities and outlook letter. YouTube has consistently topped Nielsen’s streaming platform viewership gauge for the past two years, handily beating Netflix. On the overall TV distributor list, it’s hot on Disney’s heels — even overtaking the studio in July.

Since 2023, YouTube TV, Alphabet’s paid streaming service, has raised its subscription prices by about 28%.

YouTube Viewership On TV Screens Exceeds Mobile For First Time In U.S.

YouTube Viewership On TV Screens Exceeds Mobile For First Time In U.S.

The milestone was revealed in YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s annual priorities and outlook letter. YouTube has consistently topped Nielsen’s streaming platform viewership gauge for the past two years, handily beating Netflix. On the overall TV distributor list, it’s hot on Disney’s heels — even overtaking the studio in July.

Since 2023, YouTube TV, Alphabet’s paid streaming service, has raised its subscription prices by about 28%.

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Why people are flirting on LinkedIn — and job hunting on Tinder

The job market is tough, and so is dating. Americans are starting to mix the two.

Man Handing Man Box of Roses

newborn ultimatum

Despite the government’s best efforts, China’s birth rate just hit a new low

Deaths in the nation, meanwhile, have never been higher in the 21st century.

Empty baby stroller on stone steps on a sunny day

culture

Millie Giles1/14/26

OpenAI set to air a minute-long Super Bowl ad for a second consecutive year, per WSJ

OpenAI is expected to broadcast a lengthy commercial at Super Bowl LX, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Having aired its first-ever paid ad at last year’s Big Game, the ChatGPT maker is set to take another 60-second ad slot during NBC’s broadcast on February 8, according to people familiar with the matter.

Exclusive | OpenAI Set to Run Another Super Bowl Ad as Chatbot Competition Heats Up

Big winners at the Golden Globes could indicate this week’s Oscar noms

With the Academy’s nominations voting opening today, the results of the Globes might signal the direction of certain Oscars categories (statistically speaking).

Chalamet with award at the Golden Globes

culture

Millie Giles1/9/26

Tamagotchis are making a comeback, 3 decades after first becoming a global toy craze

If you were a ’90s kid, you might remember the craze around little egg-shaped toys with an 8-bit digital screen, displaying an ambiguous pet-thing that demanded food and attention.

Now, on the brand’s 30th anniversary, the Tamagotchi — the Japanese pocket-sized virtual pet that launched a thousand cute and needy tech companions, from Nintendogs to fluffy AI robots — is making a minor comeback.

Tamagotchi Google Search Trends — Sherwood News

Looking at Google Trends data, searches for “tamagotchi” spiked in December in the US, up around 80% from just six months prior, with the most search volume in almost two decades.

While the toys are popular Christmas gifts, with interest volumes often seen ticking up in December each year, the sudden interest might also have something to do with the birthday celebrations that creator and manufacturer Bandai Namco are putting on, including a Tokyo exhibition that opened on Wednesday.

Game, set, hatch

More broadly, modern consumers appear to have a growing obsession with collectibles (see: Labubu mania), as well as a taste for nostalgia (see: the iPod revival, among many other trends).

But, having finally hit 100 million sales in September last year, the brand itself is probably just glad to exist, giving a whole new generation the chance to experience the profound grief of an unexpected Tamagotchi death.

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